Local Fencer Wins Silver Medal at National Competition

Dateline Oct 11th

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 8:43pm local time Caroline Kleiner finished a competition that started at 1:30pm that afternoon, drenched in sweat and a Silver Medal. 900 miles away from home and her family; her Mother and Sister sat anxiously at Nyack Fencing Academy continually clicking the refresh button on the computer trying to find out the latest score. Every time a new score popped up Caroline was emerging the bout victorious and in dominating fashion. After the seeding round, a round robin format against a cross section of 6 other of the tournaments competitors she emerged with a 3-3 record and the 55th seed out of 103 fencers. The Fencers then are entered into a NCAA style bracket, with Direct Elimination. She had to fence the 74th Seed Janine Powers in her first round. Janine is a crafty veteran from the Hudson Berkshire region, and a difficult bout despite her seed.  Caroline won handily 15-8. She then had to Fence the tenth seed, Jessica Steuber of Colorado, of the event whose result gave her a bye into the next round. Caroline won by the same decisive score of 15-8. She had reached the top 32, a bench mark at these events and at then point most fencers feel they had accomplished their goal. Caroline was not satisfied with just making the 32 and upset the 23rd seed of the event Georgian Caitlin Stanton in a close bout 15-12. Moving along at a steady pace Caroline then fleched past higher seeded Marissa Posner by a wide margin of 15-6. Ms. Kleiner then had to match up against the 2nd seed in the event and local rival Sofia Komar from NJ. Last time they Fenced Sofia won 1 to Nothing. This time Caroline would not be denied and cruised to a 15-8 Victory. Now in the Top 4 Caroline once again overturned a higher seeded opponent and Ohio Native Meghan O'Reilly by a lopsided 15-6 score. Caroline got to fence in the Gold Medal Bout, on the Final Stage, a $18,000 Fencing strip surrounded by the highest technology fencing has to offer. With a crowd supporting her; Caroline put up a valiant fight but fought all the way to come within five touches of a National Title. The title would have been a nice feather in the cap, but More Importantly she earned a national medal. College Coaches crave athletes with these medals as much as the athletes covet their winnings. And she earned her B13 rating. This is huge for such a young athlete as a B is the second highest rating one can achieve in the Sport of Fencing, with an A being the highest.  Surrounded by her teammates and Coaches Caroline proudly stepped up to the podium to receive her National Silver Medal and sporting the Nyack Fencing Academy Colors.