Oct. 14, 2012

U.S. Fencing coverage

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - For Stanford freshman Alexander Massialas, the whirlwind adventure that peaked at this summer's Olympic Games continued into mid-October. Massialis, who advanced to the men's Individual Foil round-of-16 in London, led a successful contingent of four Stanford fencers who competed at the North American Cup this weekend.

Massialis took gold in Division 1 Men's Foil, winning the first competition of the U.S. circuit. The San Francisco native and first seed out of the pools didn't disappoint, never yielding more than seven touches in his first four matches and winning his quarterfinal bout. Massialis fell behind his Olympic teammate, Race Imboden, in the semifinals before taking the bout, 15-10. He defeated another Olympic teammate in the finals when he battled Gerek Meinhardt, eventually winning 15-14.

Turner Caldwell finished ninth in Division 1 Men's Foil. The 2012 NCAA silver medalist lost to Imboden, but was able to secure the Cardinal's second top-10 finish in the event.

Francesca Bassa, who did not compete for Stanford as she prepared for the Olympics, took 33rd in Division 1 Women's Epee. Bassa was sixth after the preliminary round but fell in the round-of-64.

Paul Riviere placed 44th in men's epee. Seeded 25th after preliminaries, the sophomore lost in the round-of-32 to Harvard junior Michael Raynis.