KENSINGTON, BROOKLYN — A Kensington 15-year-old is now the nation’s top youth fencer.
During Team USA’s silver medal-winning effort at the Cadet World Cup in Budapest this weekend, Skyler Liverant earned a bronze medal that put him at the No. 1 spot on the national youth fencing rankings.
“I was very focused throughout the competition, both bouts in direct elimination for top 64 and 32 came down to one touch to decide the winner but I stayed calm, relaxed and confident about what I was going to do and I believed I could do it!” said Liverant, who lives in Kensington and attends Brooklyn Prospect Charter School.
Liverant, who is now ranked 5th in the world, will seek to qualify for the fencing World Championships, which will be held in April 2020 in Salt Lake City.
Team USA coach Alex Zurabishvili said that while competing for the bronze medal, “Skyler was fighting for every touch, very focused and coachable, high level of focus, determined to win.”
Misha Mokretsov, Liverant’s coach at New York Fencing Academy, also heaped praise on the Kensington resident.
“Skyler is one of the youngest athletes on the traveling USA team (top 20 athletes), but nevertheless was the most experienced since he is the only one who made Team USA last year and participated in the World Championships!” he said. “We expect him to keep up his level of fencing and lead other USA fencers. He is very hard working and trained non-stop the whole summer while many were on vacation.”
Mokretsov added, “Hard work pays off and we will keep working hard to qualify for World Championships in Salt Lake City and fight for medals there!”
(L-R): Coach Dwight Smith, silver medalist Isaac Herbst, gold medalist Nicholas Lawson, Coach Sergey Danilov and top-eight finisher Skyler Liverant. Photo Credit: Sergey Danilov.
Lawson and Herbst Go 1-2 at Bonn Cadet European Cup
By Kristen Henneman
November 27, 2018
USA Fencing
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Podium finishes at Cadet European Cups have become the norm for Nicholas Lawson (New York, N.Y.) and Isaac Herbst (Houston, Texas) as the two Americans won gold and silver in Bonn this past Saturday.
Lawson has now medaled at two of his last three Cadet European Cups, winning his first gold in Germany over the weekend. Herbst, a 2018 Youth Olympic team bronze medalist, had finished on the podium at the last four Cadet European Cups he’s attended dating back to November of 2017.
The final between the Americans would be their second matchup this month as Herbst defeated Lawson 15-11 in the semifinals at the November North American Cup. This time it would be Lawson’s turn to come out on top, but only by a point as the match for gold went down to the final touch, 15-14, in Lawson’s favor.
Both Lawson and Herbst went 5-1 in pools before holding their table of 128 opponent to single digits as Lawson overcame teammate Colin Neibergall (Lone Tree, Colo.), 15-8, and Herbst bested Alexander Ebnoether (SUI), 15-5.
After edging out Fabio Murru (GER), 15-12, in the table of 64, Lawson defeated teammate Stafford Moosekian (Los Angeles, Calif.), 15-10, and Iino Heurlin-Vazquez (FRA), 15-6.
A 15-8 victory in the quarter-finals over Niels Roubailo (NED), and a 15-11 win against Matteo Wicht (SUI) guaranteed Lawson a spot in the gold medal final.
Herbst controlled his first two bouts against Tobias Schulz (GER) and Pierreck Rousseau (FRA) by scores of 15-8 and 15-9, respectively.
With a 15-10 victory over Allan Diane (FRA) in the 16, Herbst advanced to the quarters, where he faced Diane’s teammate, Paul Fortin (FRA).
Herbst continued to cruise, guaranteeing a medal with a 15-8 victory over Fortin and earning the opportunity to fence for gold with a 15-5 win against Jonathan Fuhrimann (SUI).
Herbst and Lawson currently rank No. 1 and 2 in the Cadet European Fencing Standings.
Competing at just his second Cadet European Cup, fourteen-year-old Skyler Liverant (Brooklyn, N.Y.) claimed his first top-eight result.
Liverant picked up quick victories against two Frenchmen in this first two bouts, outscoring Tristan Turakiewicz, 15-6, and Vincent Macarez, 15-7.
Following a 15-12 victory over teammate Daniel Gaidar (Staten Island, N.Y.) in the 32, Liverant advanced to the 16 for the first time in his career and held off Theo Brochard (SUI), 15-11. However, Liverant came up one win short of a medal, falling to Fuhrimann, 15-12.
In the newly released USA Fencing Men’s Epee Cadet Team Point Standings, Herbst has a strong grasp on first place with more than a 2,000 point lead over Liverant as he seeks to qualify for a second Cadet World Team in 2019. Lawson ranks third, holding a slim lead of less than 100 points over Moosekian.
In the team event on Sunday, USA 2 came within one point of a medal, finishing fourth. The United States had five teams competing in Bonn with two earning top-eight results and two taking top-16 finishes.
Represented by Liverant, Mossekian, Michael Mun (Tustin, Calif.) and Ethan Nguyen (Las Vegas, Nev.), Team USA went 4-1 on the day after entering as the 12th seed.
Despite dropping the first bout to Germany 3 in the table of 32, the Americans won or tied the next five to create enough of a cushion and go on to win, 39-32.
In the 16, USA 2 blazed past Poland 4, 45-27, only dropping one bout throughout the match.
The United States earned a come-from-behind victory over Germany in the quarter-finals. Down 16-13 after four rounds, USA 2 won or tied the next four, including 13-5 victory in the eighth, to secure a 45-36 win and a place in the medal rounds.
Continuing its momentum, the U.S. squad went up 14-9 after the first three bouts, but couldn’t hold on against Poland 1, falling, 45-33.
In the bronze medal match, USA 2 once again built a lead after three rounds at 15-11, but Switzerland 1 responded the following bout to take a one-point lead at 19-18. The Americans took control in the next four rounds to take a three-point lead into the final bout, but Switzerland finished strong to secure a medal, 45-44.
Bonn Men’s Individual Épée Cadet European Cup
1. Nicholas Lawson (New York, N.Y.)
2. Isaac Herbst (Houston, Texas)
3. Matteo Wicht (SUI)
3. Jonathan Fuhrimann (SUI)
5. Jan Bulandra (POL)
6. Niels Roubailo (NED)
7. Paul Fortin (FRA) 8. Skyler Liverant (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
18. Ethan Kushnerik (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
23. Daniel Gaidar (Staten Island, N.Y.)
24. Stafford Moosekian (Los Angeles, Calif.)
28. Spencer Vermeule (Cambridge, Mass.)
33. Mihir Kumashi (Houston, Texas)
35. Justin Haddad (Bethesda, Md.)
37. Daniel Shifron (Del Mar, Calif.)
39. Miles Weiss (Houston, Texas)
40. Mateusz Kozlowski (The Woodlands, Texas)
44. Aaron Lee (Las Vegas, Nev.)
55. Daniel Ra (New City, N.Y.)
60. Gabriel Insler (Providence, R.I.)
68. Ethan Nguyen (Las Vegas, Nev.)
73. Michael Mun (Tustin, Calif.)
107. Colin Neibergall (Lone Tree, Colo.)
165. Ethan Kim (Leesburg, Va.)
177. Russell Cha (Closter, N.J.)
Bonn Men’s Team Épée Cadet European Cup
1. Poland
2. Switzerland 2
3. Switzerland 1 4. USA 2
5. USA
6. Germany
7. France 2 8. USA 4
On point: Midwood High School sophomore Jaclyn Khrol, who earned bronze at a Kansas City fencing competition earlier this month, celebrates with coach Misha Mokretsov.
Two Kings County fencers scored big at a national tournament held in Missouri last weekend, including one freshman at a Windsor Terrace charter school who defeated grown men six years his senior, his coach said.
“Skyler is only 14 and was having a blast fencing some of the best 17–20 year olds in the country, so when he beat them, he was ecstatic,” said New York Fencing Academy coach Misha Mokretsov, boasting of champ Skyler Liverant.
Liverant, who started school at Brooklyn Prospect Charter High School earlier this year, earned fifth place in the Juniors category usually reserved for competitors four years his senior, and is now ranked number two nationally, putting him in the running for a national fencing squad to represent the United States at the 2019 Jr. Olympics, according to his coach.
Midwood High School sophomore Jaclyn Khrol (inset with coach Mokretsov) also gave a stellar performance, earning bronze in Juniors just a week before the 15-year-old is expected to represent Team USA at the Junior World Cup fencing tournament in Puerto Rico.
And Jaclyn’s sister, eighth-grader Caralina Khrol, seems to be following in her sibling’s footsteps, as the youngster took home a bronze medal in the under-14 group.
Hewlett High School senior Alan Temiryaev, second from right, captured his second junior national fencing title. From left Ian Sanders, Steven Grams, Howard Zhao, Skyler Liverant, Jonathan Piskovatskov, Ryan Griffiths, Temiryaev and Isaac Herbst.
By Jeff Bessen
November 21, 2018
Long Island Herald
Alan Temiryaev, a senior at Hewlett High, won his second junior national title at the North American Cup in Kansas City, Mo., from Nov. 9 to 12. The victory buoys the New York Fencing Academy member’ chances of making the U.S. Junior National team after a seesaw start to his fencing season.
“I won my first four bouts, then twisted my ankle badly and lost the next two,” said Temiryaev, who has who has verbally committed to fence at Columbia University. “But I’m glad I was able to overcome the pain and win.”
He had to defeat his club mates, New York University fencer Sam Bekker and Skyler Liverant, and then upended World Championship silver medalist, Ryan Griffiths and Youth Olympics bronze medalist, Isaac Herbst, in the finals. Temiryaev’s next competition is at the World Cups in Riga, Latvia and in Luxembourg.
NEW YORK FENCING ACADEMY 