August 2, 2009
Stab-N-Grab #16



Winner - Gehret Pugh


August 2nd Stabbers
Bruce Orisek
Dominic Morimando
Filip Preradovic
Frank Van Dyke
Gehret Pugh
Greg Beck
Ja Manapon
James Li
Jeff Knox
Jessica Williams
Libby Garry
Lisa Story
Michele Tayengeo
Parker Mason
Phillip Toussaint
Tank Andersen
Tony Johnson
William Lampe

Total Fencers 18



The August 2nd Stab-N-Grab was memorable in many ways. Gehret, the winner,
and his brother Parker were at their last Stab-N-Grab. The family will be
moving to Washington. Gehret was the very first Red Rocker. He was the first
student of Frank's at the newly formed Red Rock Fencing Center. Gehret and
Parker will both be missed. The rules of the event changed slightly for the
boys because it was their last Stab-N-Grab. For one time only, the finalist
had to beat both Gehret and Parker to win the event. I'll explain how that
all played out below. It was quite a day for upsets, including Frank getting
the GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD. With eighteen people we had two strips
running until the semi-finals so we could stay close to the hour time frame
and were pretty much able to do that. With the low turn-out the past several
weeks it was exciting to see the room filled with fencers again.


With so many people we had to use a 32 person tableaux. This meant we only
had two bouts the first round with everyone else getting a bye. Greg and
Phillip T. were the first bout. Greg had been smack-talking again about
how Pierre Reposte was to be his today. Of course other people had other
plans. Greg however was able to slip by Phillip to go to the next round.
The other first round bout was Frank and Bruce. Bruce was one of the two first
timers, giving us a total of 59 participants to date! Frank showed no mercy
to the newcomer and also moved up.


Round two had everyone fencing. Gehret and Greg fought with Greg showing no
concern about it being Gehret's last time. He only had eyes for Pierre. Filip
and Libby were next with Libby dropping 4-5, maybe next time. Ja and Tony
were next. It was great to see Tony back after being out for about four weeks
with a probable cracked rib. However, Ja was on track for Pierre and Tony was
a little out of practice and Ja moved up. Tank and Parker were next with Tank
living up to his name and rolling over Parker. Michelle and Lisa were next and
the Epee fencer, Lisa, topped the foil fencer, Michelle. William and newcomer
James were next with William's experience topping James' height. Jessica and
Dominic were next with a surprise win by Dominic. Frank and Jeff were the last
bout of the round. Unfortunetly for Jeff he had made an assumption that the
director who had been given a stopwatch was actually using it. It turns out that
Jeff's strategy of running the clock down didn't work and Frank took full
advantage. Once Jeff realized that there was no clock he was getting tired and was
a little upset. Unluckily for him, as it is not an USFA sanctioned event there
was no recourse but to finish the bout and complain to the organizer who did not
seem very sympathetic.


And so we move on to round three. Greg and Filip were up next. Filip with two wins
and Greg with one. After all Greg's smack talking the crowd was clearly on Filip's
side and Filip was able to dash Greg's hopes for a second dance with Pierre. Ja
and Tank were up next with Ja, a two time winner stopping Tank in his tracks. Lisa
and William were up next. William had plans to win but Lisa was able to move past
him to the semi-finals. Last of the round were Dominic and Frank. Dominic's Dad
was offering Frank bribes but not quite enough to get Frank to drop the bout.


Next round saw Filip face off with Ja. We have seen this match-up before with wins
going both ways. Today, however, Ja took the win but it is a joy to match such
competitors fence. Next Lisa and Frank were up. Lisa made a valiant effort and
did an entertaining little victory dance when she got a touch on Frank but Frank
was determined to get a win today. The final was Ja and Frank. Ja started two
down and Frank down three. Ja fenced his heart out but lost. However, the fun does
not end here. Because it was Parker's and Gehret's last Stab-N-Grab they were
given the opportunity to fence the winner and take the prize. For Frank to keep
Pierre and get this fourth win he had to defeat both boys. Parker was up first
and tried his hardest but was unable to beat Frank. Gehret was up next and ready
to do battle. The crowd was clearly on Gehret's side as nobody wanted to see
Frank win his fourth and they wanted Gehret to leave town with a victory.
The final outcome was that Gehret was able to get the drop on Frank and win his
second Stab-N-Grab. This is where Frank gets the "GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP
AWARD", because if he had wanted to he could have said no to the conditional
added for the win. However, he gracefully lost and showed no poutiness about
not getting his fourth win. Although I expect there will be more smack talk in
the near future.



Red Rock wishes the best of luck to Parker and Gehret!
We expect we will be seeing them at competitions in the
future. Just remember that they got their foundation at Red Rock!
Soooo Red Rock attitude!

REMEMBER AUGUST 23RD we're going for the Stab-N-Grab Record!
Mark you calendars and show up!

AUGUST 29TH, 1PM is the IRONMAN COMPETITION.
All competitors will fence all three weapons.
If enough women show up we'll have a separate event, otherwise it will be mixed.
There will be a $10 entry fee and pre-sign-up is encouraged
so we can make sure we have enough equipment for everyone.

All Saturday morning classes are now open to adults, this means sabre and epee. If we
want a beginner foil class Frank is willing to add one so people can train for the
Ironman event.

All Stab-N-Grabs are held at Red Rock Fencing Center
Sunday afternoons from 2pm to 3pm. Contact Red Rock Fencing Center for more information
5275 S. Arville St., Suite #332, Las Vegas, NV 89118, 702-222-1901

Return to Stab-N-Grab Home
Return to Libby's website