The first part of 1984 saw the resumption of the North American Circuit. The most successful participant from the Gulf Coast Division continued to be Tim Glass. He had come in 17^th out of 99 epeeistes in the Cherry Blossom and 21^st outs of 97 in the same tournament’s foil competition.

March 24-25 the North Texas Division hosted the Texas State Championships. A contingent of fencers from the Gulf Coast Division attended and did rather well for themselves. Judy Cull took 3^rd place in women’s foil. August Skopik took first place in men’s foil. Clarence McCraw won the sabre event.

The 1984 Harold Van Buskirk Memorial Tournament was held March 10-11 at Rice University. Once again Clarence McCraw won the sabre event and became to only fencer to win the Van Buskirk Cup four times in the 17 years the Van Buskirk had been held As one fencer recalling those days, decades later, mused, "Talk about a name from the past, Clarence McGraw. I saw some video of him and he was blinding fast. Back when running was still legal in sabre."

Now, however, he was moving out of state and had to part with the prized Van Buskirk Cup. McCraw remembered, "I gave it back to Roland Reed in 1984, the same year I left Houston for New Mexico. I would love to have kept the original trophy, as it meant so very much to me. I am one of the few people (maybe the only one) to have won it three times and I have the dubious honor of being the last person that Mr. Van Buskirk saw win it as he was in attendance at that tourney and he either died later that year or early the next before the next tourney. It was one of the high points of my fencing career."

"I can't remember whether I won it in 83 or 84 or both. For a while, it seems that I was unbeatable, especially when it came to this tourney. I do remember having it for a couple of years, but, before I moved to New Mexico, Roland called me and asked me to return it. I didn't want to because all the nameplates on the trophy was full (with my name on the last two slots) and I thought they would have to buy a new trophy anyway. But at Roland's insistence, I did return the trophy to him so it could remain in the tourney as the tourney itself and Mr. Van Buskirk's memory is more important that any one fencer."

McCraw also recalled the Franks Memorial, but not as well. "I don't remember much about the Franks except for winning it. It was not nearly as big as the Van Buskirk. I do remember it was held in
September. Once again, Roland Reed or Sonny would be your info source on this as I think the Bellaire Club (of which Roland ran) put on the tourney."

Some twenty years later, Oscar Barrera recalled the leading sabre fencers and tournaments of this era, "I spoke with Howard Williams, who used to be a pretty serious sabre fencer in the 70's and 80's. He, Paul Anderson and Clarence McGraw used to trade out 1st place in sabre in the Texas tourneys then. He recalls that his last Van Buskirk, which was about 10 years ago, Clarence won the Van Buskirk loving cup. He also seems to have a memory of the Franks trophy being a mounted sword. He has no memory of when he last saw it, though."

August Skopik recalled, "Dwaine Blakeley, Nancy Sumpter, Ray French and maybe Kirby Rassenfoss were division officers in the Gulf Coast Division in 1984 - 1985, and the cup was not there then. I became chair in 1985 - 1986 and the cup never appeared again at least through 1993 when I quit for a while."

Whatever was done with the Van Buskirk Cup, it disappeared about this time. Its location remains unknown to this day.

Spring brought with it the 1984 Southwest Section Championships, held in Oklahoma. Almost no fencers from the Gulf Coast Division competed. Paige Fox and Jimmy Livings from the Houston Fencers’ Club was there, as was young Katie Kowalski, still listed as fencing for the Fencing Center of Dallas. Perhaps distance was an issue. It was held in the division furthest from Houston. Perhaps Sebastiani’s departure had pulled out the competitive plug.

Around this time, August Skopik moved to Houston. Sebastiani was gone, but instructors could still be found. "When I graduated I came to Houston and took lessons from Claude Caux, and it was working with Claude that I continued to improve. Unfortunately, the foil competition around here was not at the elite level and while there were years that I dominated local competition one mistake at the NACs and you were out. Claude was an excellent technical coach."

Chicago was the site of the 1984 USFA summer National Championships.

The men’s foil competition drew 138 competitors. Tim Glass, fencing for the new Bayou City Blades, finished in 21^st place. P. Schmidt, still listing Sebastiani as his affiliation, ended in 37^th place. J. Flint, who finished in 64^th place, also fenced for Sebastiani. W. Dixon and R. French, who each fenced for the Bayou City Blades, placed 114^th and 132^nd, respectively.

The indomitable Vinnie Bradford from the South Texas Division captured first place in women’s foil from a field of 134. In 60^th place was N. Walters, fencing for the Bayou City Blades. Others fencing for the new club in this event included Marie McCarthy (77^th) and Colleen Tremonte (90^th).

Bradford also scooped up first place in women’s epee from a field of 68. Colleen Tremonte finished in 38t^h place. A. Snell, from Texas A&M , came in 57^th. Marie McCarthy came in 62^nd.

Men’s epee boasted 126 competitors. Sebastiani Fencing Club’s B. Lee finished in 7^th place. The Bayou City Blades’ Tim Glass made it to 13^th, while Sebastiani fencer J. Flint finished in 37^th. M. Goldsmith, also fencing for Sebastiani, placed 44^th, just ahead of J. DuBose of the Bayou City Blades, who finished in 46^th place. Fellow Bayou City fencers W. Dixon and R. French came in 109^th and 123^rd places, respectively.

Peter Westbrook once again won men’s sabre, fighting past a field of 94 entrants. Only one of them, however, came from the Gulf Coast Division, that was D. Garner of the Bayou City Blades, who placed 74^th.

The Gulf Coast Division also had a modest representation in the under-19 event. J. Livings from the Houston Fencers Club came in 28^th out of 44 in under-19 men’s foil. His club mate Paige Fox placed 21^st out of 33 in under-19 women’s foil. The division sent no competitors to the under-19 epee and sabre events.

At least one fencer from Salle Sebastiani was, as usual, striking off in his own direction. Richard Alvarez had continued his pursuits of historical combat and theatrical and historical fencing styles. Looking to earn a living, he encountered the Hanlon-Lees Action Theatre, which, among other things, put on the jousting event at the annual Texas Renaissance Festival outside Plantersville.

Alvarez recalled, "The Hanlon-Lees were the first joust company at TRF, way back in 1981(82?), if I recall correctly. That’s when I befriended Taso and Kent and Omms and Robin."

"They invited me to join the company, and I began jousting…"

On July 4, in Dallas, Anna Marie Wieder, the daughter of Russell Wieder, married Ricky Tumlinson.

On July 26, 1984 Maitre Gerard J. Poujardieu passed away while on vacation in France.

August began the 1984-1985 fencing season. The Southwest Section continued with David Ladyman as Section Chair and Martha Ladyman as Secretary-Treasurer. The Louisiana Division would host the next Southwest Section Championships, so Ben Price from Baton Rouge served as President of the Sectional Championships.

The Executive Committee of the Gulf Coast Division for the 1984-1985 season was made up of Ray French as Chair, Nancy Walters as Vice-Chair, Mitch Peterson as Secretary and Kirby Rassenfoss as Treasurer. Their additional director was Al Peters and Judy Cull was the alternate director.

On September 15, 1984 Nancy Walters married Randall S. Sumpter in Houston.

In the September-October 1984 newsletter to the Gulf Coast Division’s members there was a list of "active clubs in the division, that we know of," and their contacts. Kirby Rassenfoss was listed as the contact for the Bayou City Blades. Steve Farid remained the contact for the Houston Fencers’ Club. The contact for the Paladins was Judy Cull. Bill Dixon was the contact for fencing at Rice University. Texas A&M University listed two contacts, Alan Curry and Russell Smith. The Victoria Fencing Club listed Mike Babowicz as their contact.

According to the same newsletter, by this point in time, "Only beginner tournaments will be visual." Electric scoring had come to all other events held by the division.

Allan T. Curry recalled the immediate post-August Skopik season at Texas A&M. "After August left, there was a core group of fencers, me, Brad Myers, Russell Smith, Kelly Fergason, and probably a few others that I am forgetting. We kept the club going, Russell served as president of the club at least 1 year and possibly two (84-86). I serve as VP at least two (84-86). Kelly was our armorer for at least one and probably 2 years (84-86). Brad was President in 1987, I think. As the club leaders we took over instructing the new member. We would usually have a good influx of possible new members because A&M had a fencing PE elective. It wasn't particularly well taught. Anyone who wanted to wanted to really learn fencing had to come to the club--meager as our skills were. Some of them stuck around.

"Our general schedule was to fence on Tuesday and Thursday nights, with tournaments once or twice a month. After practice on most Thursdays we would retire to a local beer bar, Dudley's Draw, sweaty clothes and all, and drink beers. We would invite anyone who was at practice that night. I usually made it there."

The tournament season for the Gulf Coast Division began with the Franks Memorial Tournament on October 6-7 at the Duchesne Academy.

The Duel in Dallas, in November 1984, was a North American Foil Circuit competition.

Notwithstanding the passing of Maitre Poujardieu, Ft. Sam Houston continued to be a center of the epee universe. On November 17-18 they hosted the annual Marathon Epee tournament, which featured completely separate tournaments each day, with overall winners then calculated based on both day’s results. On the first day, the Bayou City Blades’ Tim Glass finished in 5^th place. The next day Al Peters, also with the Bayou City Blades, tied for 7^th place.

Early in January 1985, Tim Glass took time off from fencing when his wife, Marie, gives birth to a daughter, Samantha. It was the end of a great era. With his departure from major competitions, the Gulf Coast Division’s last major presence in those competitions flickered out for a time. Al Peters still competed on occasion, but his work at Rice University likely held him back some. Sebastiani was at Princeton. Bob and Tracey Hurley no longer competed as they had. Clarence McCraw had moved away.

In February, the 1985 Junior Olympics would represent how far the Gulf Coast Division had fallen in so short a time. The under-16 men’s foil competition featured a field of 70 competitors. There were 111 fencers to turn out for under-20 men’s foil. There was not a single competitor from the Gulf Coast Division among them. The under-16 men’s epee (35 competitors) was the same story.

One competitor from the Gulf Coast Division did show up for the under-20 epee event. Jimmy Livings of the Houston Fencers’ Club placed 65^th in a field of 78.

If anything, the under-16 men’s sabre event was worse. Again, only one fencer of the 34 competing came from the Gulf Coast Division. That was C. Chaput, who finished in 34^th place. There were no fencers from the division in the under-20 sabre event.

If there was a bright spot, it was women’s foil. Katie Kowalski placed 5^th out of 44 in the under-16 women’s foil competition. A little behind her, in 9^th place, was Paige Fox. Kowalski also tied for 33^rd place in the under-20 women’s foil event. Together, Kowalski and Fox represented the only bright light for the Gulf Coast Division in the Junior Olympics.

Katie’s colleague in the Bayou City Blades, August Skopik, however, almost got knocked out of the game entirely. "I blew out my knee first in 1985… In 1985 I heard the doctor tell me that I probably would not be able to walk again. I regained elite status…"

Others had left the fencing game entirely. Steve Lewis recalled, "I don't know if Roland Reed was active in fencing in the eighties, at least by the time I started (1985) the Bellaire Fencers (Fencing?) Club was no more."

On the whole, these were tough times for fencing in Houston. There were certainly some missed opportunities. In the spring of 1985 a young woman named Leslie McFarland graduated from Westchester High School. Her next stop was Duke University.

She had never encountered fencing while a young student in Houston. She was first exposed to fencing in a Duke Physical Education class. She became an Academic All-America in 1987-89. During her Blue Devil days, Duke University Fencing Coach Alex Beguinet invited five-time Olympian and eight-time national champion Michael Marx to Duke to participate as the star fencer in the event. He met Leslie, they started dating a year later and were married after her graduation. He then became her coach, and in 1993 they became the first American couple to win national fencing titles in the same year. Both were on the '96 Olympic team, another first.

The Harold Van Buskirk Memorial Tournament was held March 16-17, 1985.

Spring brought with it the 1985 Southwest Section Championships, held this season in the Louisiana Division. Ben Price served as President of the Championships. The tournament served as a qualifying path to the National Championships held each summer. This year it also served as evidence of how much momentum had been lost in by the Gulf Coast Division.

Jimmy Livings from the Houston Fencers’ Club went, finishing 7^th in a field of 13 for under-19 men’s foil. He also finished 4^th in under-19 men’s epee from a field of six.

The Bayou City Blades’ Katie Kowalski fenced in the women’s foil event, but did not qualify. Judy Cull, fencing for the new Paladins of Houston fared better, finishing in 4^th place in a field of twelve.

Kowalski and the Houston Fencers’ Club member Paige Fox both competed in the under-19 women’s foil event. In a field of 7 competitors, they finished second and third, respectively.

Other than these four, the Gulf Coast Division stayed away in droves.

This same spring, Chuck Hudson graduated from the University of Houston with his degree from the theatre arts department. There he, like so many others, had studied fencing, mime and movement under Claude Caux. Hudson was off to Paris to study fencing at the Paris School of Theatrical Fencing and to study mime at Marcel Marceau’s school. He was following a path similar to that already taken by Richard and Linda Alvarez a few years earlier. Eventually Hudson would return to the University of Houston.

At this time, there was a brief revival of the University of Houston Fencing Club. As Steve Lewis remembered it, sometime around 1985, "I stumbled onto the newly reformed UH fencing club and had the good fortune to be introduced to saber by David Hubbard; who is in no way responsible for any of my bad habits. He saw the many flaws of my game and tried valiantly to beat them out of me but to no avail. Mr. Hubbard had grown up fencing in the Bellaire club under Roland Reed. That's the closest I've come to have any structured instruction. After that incarnation of the UH club faded away (I was the only member who competed on a regular basis, and by that time hadn't been a student for years), I drifted around spoiling for saber bouts where ever I could find them, as there was very little saber in town in those days, and would fence foil if I had to."

David Hubbard no longer fenced competitively. August Skopik remembered, "David stopped fencing about 1981 or so competitively I think. He learned with Roland Reed, and was a good foil and sabre fencer. He learned with Brian Reed, an All-American sabre fencer at San Jose State."

The year 1985 also saw one local fencer coming back. Sinclair Oubre returned to his native Jefferson County, Texas. "In 1985, I finished my studies, and returned to the U.S. as an ordained deacon in the Roman Catholic Church. On my return, I wanted to continue my fencing, but for an SCA club [Bordermarch], there was no organized fencing in the Jefferson County area."

"There had been some fencing in the past. A couple had taught fencing at the West End YMCA in years past. Also, Lamar University had a club that was sponsored by the University. However, they had pulled out their support shortly before I came home. What I was told was that the university found out that to maintain their NCAA Division one status, they had to have a certain number of minor sports. At that time they had both a university sponsored fencing club and ROTC. Since ROTC had their own guns and bullets, the University substituted ROTC marksmanship for fencing, and saved money."

"There was also a fencing program at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in Port Arthur. Steve Popielski (sp.?) was the life sports teacher, and fencing was part of that program."

In October of that year Father Sinclair Oubre and Lamar fencer Glenn Weathington organized the Spindletop Cavaliers. The club initially drew fencers from St. Jude Catholic Church in Beaumont, where Oubre was a deacon, and Woodrow Wilson Middle School.

"After asking around, I got in contact with Glenn Weathington. Glenn had been one of the leaders in the Lamar program. We began fencing each other at St. Jude Catholic Church. Hazel Power saw Glenn and I fencing, and asked if I could teach her son Conor. At the same time, Glenn's brother Bart also was interested in fencing. While teaching these two, other people expressed interest. We held a couple of beginner tournaments in Beaumont at St. Jude's and St. Anne Catholic School Gym. Steve Popielski also held a number of tournaments at Woodrow Wilson."

"After I was transferred from St. Jude to St. Pius, we changed our fencing location to St. Pius' Church hall, then we moved to the Beaumont Community Center on Louisiana Street. When the city no longer wanted to give us space, we moved to our present site in Port Arthur. The facility had been a
carpenter's shop owned by my family. It had a tongue and groove oak floor built on piers. Though it was not much to look at, the floor was perfect for fencing, and cut down on the knee, hip and ankle problems that some of our club members suffered while fencing on linoleum over concrete floors."

Hazel Power’s husband, Peter, also joined the Spindletop Cavaliers. At the time, he suffered from arthritis to a degree he could barely grip his weapon. The Power Family, Peter and Hazel, their son Conor and their daughter became a core part of the club. Over the ensuing years, Peter Power would continue as a club mainstay, fencing in competitions into the 21^st century. Hazel Power, affectionately known as "den mother of the club," would often serve as the club’s official contact. Their daughter took up the sport. The son, Conor, would excel at the sport, ultimately going on to the fencing team at Notre Dame.

Oubre also recalled taking some small advantage from the loss of collegiate fencing at Lamar University. "(As a side note, the Spindletop Cavaliers were able to permanently borrow the stored fencing equipment, and it is still in use at the club today.)"

Glenn Weathington also recalled the beginnings of the club. "After my wife, Gloria, graduated, we moved away from the fencing until the mid-1980s when Sinclair called me one day to start up a new club here in Beaumont. We started with Sinclair, Peter Power and his kids, and me and Gloria and my younger brother Bart."

Sometime in 1985, local SCA members Don Robin and Baroness Adelicia had moved to Trimaris (Florida minus the panhandle). Advocates of SCA rapier (foil/epee) fencing, within a year they organized a fencing group there and published that region’s first rules. In spite of their missionary work in this field, any success was to be short-lived. The rapier group died out soon after they moved back to Ansteorra.

August Skopik had won the position of Division Chair for the 1985-1986 season. He saw as acute problems the lack of quality fencing instruction and high level competitor to fence against. As he noted in later years, "In the mid 80s, we could not buy an A- or even a B- foil competition in the SW US. I was Section Chair and Division chair, and I know that we discussed and began allowing the selected fencers to fence for free as incentives to have them attend. I don't claim credit or blame, but I know that I did it."

As to the missing Van Buskirk Cup, "I became chair [of the Gulf Coast Division] in 1985-1986 and the cup never appeared again, at least through 1993 when I quit for awhile."

The Duel in Dallas was held November 2-3, 1985. Katie Kowalski went to compete and placed 4^th in women’s foil.

By December of 1985, Katie Kowalski was spending two nights each week taking lessons from Claude Caux and two other nights were spent fencing at The Salle Club of the Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart. She was a member of the Bayou City Blades fencing club, and attending circuit meets in order to acquire qualifying points for the 1988 Olympics. She was also, this month, the subject of a feature article by reporter Teri Boyer in the Houston Chronicle. As Kowalski told Boyer, "I want to be the best. 1988 is my goal for the Olympics. If I don’t make it, I will go in ’92, ’96 or 2004."

Another colorful individual joined Houston’s fencing community in 1986. That year, a 68-year-old Salvatore E. Manzo joined the Rice Fencing Club. Manzo had been a child of the Brooklyn streets who got an appointment to West Point and picked up epee fencing along the way. Indeed, he was a 1939 intercollegiate epee champion with thoughts of the Helsinki Olympics of 1940 when military duties and the shadow of World War II got in the way. Manzo served 23-years with (what became) the U. S. Air Force and later wound up director of aviation for the City of Houston. After stepping down following conflicts with then-Mayor Louie Welch, Manzo took a post as assistant dean for executive development of the Jesse H. Jones School of Administration…where he discovered the Rice University Fencing Club.

The Junior Olympics were held February 15-17 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Garreth Sarosi of the Bayou City Blades placed 46^th out of a field of 91 in under-16 men’s foil. His club colleague Katie Kowalski fared even better, placing 2^nd out of 51 in under-16 women’s foil.

The Harold Van Buskirk Memorial Tournament was held March 8-9 at Rice University. A flier for the event noted, "There will be a hamburger, hot dog and beer party at the Colonial House Apartments game room Saturday night. Bring your swim suit and towel for pool, hot tub or sauna."

The host division did not fare well in the sabre competition. Fencers from the Dallas Fencing Club took the two top spots and Texas Tech carried off third place ina competition that drew 3o entries. The Bayou City Blades’ Tim Glass took first place from a field of 76 in men’s foil. Katie Kowalski of the same club took first place in women’s foil, with a field of 21. In epee, with 31 entries, Tim Glass won another first place award while second went to Rice University’s Al Peters.

Richard Alvarez, following his interest in historical fencing and the performing arts, formed a touring company that staged medieval jousts and period combat. This would be the beginning of decade he would spend mostly on the road.

Alvarez started as a jouster for the Hanlon-Lees Action Theatre. "They invited me to join the company, and I began jousting in…1984? By 1986, they had asked me to manage the company. It was re-organized as International Action Theatre, (d.b.a. Hanlon-Lees) with me as general partner, and the guys as limited partners."

On a more contemporary note, the news that Houston would host the 1986 U. S. Olympic Festival caused considerable excitement in the city’s fencing community. On the American side, the USFA would select ten top senior fencers from the National Championships held in June. Also to be sent would be the eight top fencers from the 1986 Junior World Team and the top two finishers in the 16-and-under division. Houston’s fencers had the opportunity to observed world-caliber talent in their own backyard.

One of those world class fencers, indeed, the only resident Texan, would be Tim Glass. The epeeiste from the now-defunct Salle Sebastiani, was now with the Bayou City Blades. Tim Glass was also among that cadre of fencers who married fencers. Glass described his wife, Marie, a foilist, as more of a classical fencer and himself as more of a "street fighter." "I always say to her, ‘If you trained at my level, I wouldn’t have a chance against you.’ "

Glass, recently back after taking a break from fencing with the birth of his daughter, finished 10^th in epee in the nationals in June 1986. "To be on this team was kind of a surprise, because I had trained for the nationals simply to see what I could do. Finishing high enough to be here was not really on my mind; it was just a step toward making the Olympic team in 1988."

The competitions were to be held at Jerabeck Athletic Center at the University of St. Thomas, from Saturday, July 26 to Monday the 28^th. There were to be competitions for men’s individual foil; men’s team foil; men’s individual epee; men’s team epee; men’s individual saber; men’s team saber; women’s individual foil; and, women’s team foil.

Among those competing would be sabreur Peter Westbrook. Westbrook had won the bronze medal in the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984. The Soviet Union had boycotted those games in reprisal for the American boycott of the 1980 games in Moscow, which had cost Tim Glass his shot. It had been the first Olympic-fencing medal for an American since 1960.

In Houston, Westbrook would be dueling for his sixth gold medal at a U.S. Olympic Festival competition. Among others, he was to face Steve Mormando, a former Olympian. Among the favored women foilists were Michelle Verhave, Elaine Cheris and National foil champion Jana Angelakis. Angelakis, of Massachusetts, was also a member of the team, with Glass, which went to Caracas in 1983.

Jerabeck Athletic Center, however, was not to be the only scene of world-class fencing in Houston that weekend. In addition to fencing, there were to be competitions in the modern pentathlon event. The epee fencing segment of that event was set for the Woodlands on July 27^th in the men’s event and on July 28^th in the women’s.

July 26 was the first day of fencing competition at the Olympic Festival. Tim Glass advanced to the quarterfinals in men’s individual epee and won 8 out of 10 matches in men’s team epee.

The Olympic Festival was terribly exciting for the local fencing scene. More importantly, it inspired some non-fencers to take up the blade. Suzanne Simpson flatly stated, "I started fencing after attending the Olympic Festival in Houston in 1986. I was 25 at the time." She never looked back and became a fixture on the local and sectional fencing scene into the next century.

Suzanne Simpson’s very first lesson was from Judith Cull, but it was a single lesson. Her first on-going coach was Steve Fared. She also took footwork from Claude Caux. "I started fencing [with] Steve at the Dad's Club YMCA in Spring Branch in 1986. He was employed by the Y [and] had a fencing class [and] helped [with] the swimming competitions (in addition to the store he owned)."

"A lot of Steve's history I knew from him directly. I think Steve told me he was born in Turkey. He told me… that they would fence at one tournament [and] drive over night to the next. They were indeed amazing when they were younger."

If Suzanne Simpson was taking her first steps into the fencing world, Garreth Sarosi was returning to the fold. "However, in 1985 or 1986 (you will have to check the dates) the Junior Olympics were to be held in the Twin Cities. My dad told me that I could visit my old friends if I could qualify for this tournament. So, he started coaching me in the driveway at home. Actually, he was a very good coach for the basics and even some more advanced stuff. In fact, the touch and timing my dad taught me was greatly superior to anything I received from any of my other coaches with one exception."

"To shorten this a little, I qualified and we went to the J.O.s."

"Now, I hadn't been in that many real tournaments by that point, but I somehow managed to make the final for the U-16 sabre. I did poorly in foil. I did both at the beginning, but was not as good at foil, by a long shot. I think I finished sixth (last) in the final in the U-16 saber, but it was, or so my father felt, somewhat of a feat. So I stuck with it. I did well, both locally at the tournaments like the Van Buskirk or the tournys in San Marcos at SWTSU, and nationally. I did really well in the Div. 2 nationals one year and got my B. Without looking at the medals, which are in Indiana with my parents, I routinely made the finals in the junior events, and was steadily around sixth to ninth overall on points in my "class". My "class" was the strongest until around 1996 or so. Tomasz Strzalkowski, John Maggio, and several other very strong national fencers were in my group (I'm not trying to include myself with some of these people - many were just better than I)."

For others, their fencing days were behind them. In 1986 Bryn Ralph, also known as Ralph Bryant, who had been a member of the Texas A&M Fencing Team from 1957-1962 under Russell Wieder paid a visit to his old mentor. "I renewed auld acquaintance [with] Mr. Wieder in the spring of 1986; he had suffered a loss of a leg due to an old wound he acquired during WWII. He was in fairly good spirits -- but longed for the long steel and students to continue training in the Italian method of both fioretto and spada."

With the fall, came the Texas Renaissance Festival. This year it meant a first-time experience for one actress. In 1999, she described the allure and event of TRF in that year of 1986. "I'd never been to a renaissance festival in my life (garbed or otherwise) when, in 1986, I was doing a production of [Edward] Albee's Everything in the Garden at a Houston non-equity professional theatre. Several of my fellow actors in the show "did TRF"… I got offered the role of Princess Isabel in the old TRF Robin Hood show: a 5-act musical/action show played serial-style throughout the day back in Sherwood Forest."

"This was a great gig for me. Despite the fact that it was outdoors and I'd have to camp (I'd never camped before in my life... my real life friends all kidded me that my idea of camping was checking into a hotel that didn't have a phone in the bathroom). It paid more than in-town acting jobs; so I whipped up a costume (I used a Butterick wedding dress pattern), borrowed an old canvas tent, folding cot and Coleman stove from a friend and headed out to TRF."

"So, for me, the first hook was the unique street-performance and improv venue. I took to improv like a duck to water. It's like dancing on a high wire without a net...it's like flying...and it's incredibly addicting. Stage acting, with set script and that third wall, is NOTHING in comparison."

"Then, I discovered the incredible sense of family that exists within the faire community. Much has been said about the feeling of coming home, but that's what I felt, too."

"The rest is history...I pretty much instruct/perform year-round now. Actually, I think there must have been some pretty powerful mojo in that old Robin Hood production. Fellow veterans of that show include Coy Sevier (now entertainment director at Scarby), Jeff Baldwin (now entertainment director at TRF) and The Bard O'Neil."

Allan T. Curry retained memories of collegiate fencing at A&M from this era. "We started the Heavy Metal Open tournament at A&M. It was in the 86-87 time frame. I think that A&M had sponsored a tournament in October for several years, but it was a generic three-weapon tournament, usually mixed. The idea was to have a tournament that focused on just epee and sabre. In those days it seems like everyone fenced foil and the tournaments all focused on foil, and the other weapons were an afterthought. And either the tournament was held all on one day -- making it hard and a PITA to fence more than one weapon, or epee and sabre were held on Sunday--after everyone was hung over. Kelly Fergason was really into sabre and was tired of it being the fencing stepchild at A&M. I think it was he and or Brad Myers that came up with the name. I fenced epee in those tournaments--my last one was in 1988."

Kelly Fergason noted that the, "first Heavy Metal Open was a 1-day event, epee and sabre.
Curtis James and myself didn't want any wimpy foils there... " He added the motto of the day, "Leave your lame at home."

Alan Curry also observed, "One [person] mentioned the annual Halloween Party the A&M Fencing club held (and hopefully still does). Traditionally it was the club VP's job to organize and put this thing on. It was a costume party, with the only rule being that no fencing garb was allowed. They were fun, and some were wilder than others.

"Other fencers… one that sticks in my mind… was Helen Valkavich. She was from San Antonio… little, quick and accurate and the best female fencer (foil) that I could name at that time. I always hated seeing her in my pool because she would hand it to me good. Her younger sister Lia fenced at A&M and was a member of the incoming group of fencers in '82. Lia and I were friends most of the time we were at A&M, but she was not very involved in fencing after 84 or so."

In March 1987, Dons Iolo and Dupre of the SCA demonstrated "The Machine" at Ansteorra's third Academy of the Rapier. These were active times for the SCA. Making use of a fortunate coincidence, they also occasionally could be found at the Texas Renaissance Festival’s facility during the long off-season. They rented the particularly well-suited period environment for their own events. Chris Zakes recalled, "At one time they rented out the grounds to the SCA. The Barony of the Stargate held several events there in years past, culminating in the SCA Twenty-Year Celebration."

On the competitive side, the 1987 Harold Van Buskirk Memorial Tournament was held March 14-15.

In men’s foil, with 65 competitors, San Antonio’s Les Bleamaster captured first place. The Bayou City Blades’ August Skopik came in second.

The women’s foil event drew 27 entries. The top three places went to unattached fencers from different areas: Tracy Hurley, Nancy Sumpter and Romana Vasquez, respectively.

There were 28 competitors for men’s epee and an unattached Bob Hurley captured first place. Mike Hall of the University of Texas was second. John Wahren, now fencing for Rice University took third place.

With 9 entrants, a women’s epee competition was held. Romana Vasquez captured first place and Tracy Hurley second. A UT fencer, Leith Askins came in third.

The men’s sabre event drew a field of 23. The Dallas Fencing Club’s Scott Clark won first place. Dwight Devine and Chris Trammell, both of the New Orleans Fencing Club, placed second and third, respectively. Clearly sabre was in a decline in the host division.

There was no women’s sabre competition, but, as always, there was a team sabre event. The Bastrop Athletic Club placed first. The New Orleans Fencing Club came in second. A Rice University Team came in third place.

On April 4, the Spindletop Cavaliers held a beginner’s fencing tournament. Bill Mangus from the host club came in first. The Bayou City Blades’ Dan Stowers came in second. Third place went to Ben Hill from the Round Rock Fencing Club. Another Spindletop fencer, Christian Respess, placed forth. Coming from UT Dion Carmona was fifth. Rice University’s John Kincher finished in sixth place. Seventh went to John Baladed from the Texas A & M University Fencing Club. UT’s Pat Sullivan was eighth, while Caroline Todd from Round Rock was ninth.

The weekend of April 11-12 was taken up with Sectional qualifiers.

That summer, Spindletop Cavaliers’ founder, Father Sinclair Oubre, was able to get some time and attend the USFA’s Coaches College in Colorado, for further training and certification.

As always, the big event in the summer was the national championships, held this year in Phoenix, Arizona. The leading local star was the Bayou City Blades’ Tim Glass, who captured first place in Division I men’s epee, from a field of 86 competitors. In Division II men’s sabre, fellow Bayou City Blades member Garreth Sarosi took 8^th place from a field of eighty. Sarosi also took 15^th in under-19 men’s sabre with 36 competitors.

On June 20, 1987, Rice Fencing Club member Salvatore Manzo competed in epee at the Senior Olympics, a part of the North American Fencing Championships. These first Senior Olympics sanctioned by the USFA were held in conjunction with the summer nationals. It was also the first tournament, with 76 competitors, in events in all three weapons for men and women. The Rice Fencing Club’s Salvatore Manzo took 3^rd place out of 20 entries in men’s epee.

In August 1987 the Officers of the Southwest Section took their places for the 1987-1988 fencing season. Mike Kowalski of Sugar Land, Texas assumed the post of Chair. August Skopik served as Vice-Chair, Randy Sumpter was the Secretary. Sara Kowalski was the Treasurer.

Another Houston fencer making a trek in order to compete was the Bayou City Blades’ Katie Kowalski. On August 26, she, along with the other four women and five men who made up the USOC’s cadet fencing team, her mother, Sadie Kowalski, and the team’s captain flew off to Mexico City. For Katie Kowalski the trip did not have an auspicious start since, by the time they were clearing customs, she had developed at fever of 102 degrees. It did not help that no one in the group knew how to reach the Olympic Village.

Happily a man from the Mexican Olympic Committee rescued them and got them to their rooms.

The individual competitions began on Friday, August 28^th, and continued into the next day. The American team defeated two Mexican teams, as well as teams from Guatemala and Guadalupe. Finally, they had to face the dread Cuban team. The US men’s team won 9-3. Right behind them, Kowalski and the women’s team defeated their Cuban counterparts 9-4. Kowalski, herself, placed 11^th in women’s individual foil.

Off to one side from Houston’s active sport fencing clubs, one local fencing instructor stood in the midst of the gala social event of the fall 1987 calendar. On Wednesday, September 2, 1987 the Houston Ballet celebrated the grand opening of the Wortham Theatre Center. The ballet staged Romeo and Juliet for a crowd of about 1,200, which included Broadway star Gwen Verdon, a long-time friend of the Houston Ballet’s artistic director, Ben Stevenson. The event began with a champagne reception. A coterie of performers from the Texas Renaissance Festival, including Bill Palmer as Merlin, mingled among the guests. There was Renaissance music and…swordsmen. University of Houston fencing and mime instructor Claude Caux had choreographed the swordplay. The duelists fought furiously in the Wortham’s upstairs lobby for the black-tie crowd, before the stage performance began.

Claude Caux was riding at the top of his game in these years. A number of his fencing students had moved on, cutting out their own niches in the fencing community at large. The University of Houston mime troupe was active and vital. He had worked with the U of H Children’s Theatre Festival and had written a play for them, Around the World with Babar. The same year he had been named a Master Teacher in the University of Houston’s College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Back on strip, a rather unique annual tournament was beginning to form, the "Braggin’ Rights of Texas" tournament. Founded by some officers of the North Texas Division, a constitution was drawn up in 1987. It read:

The Braggin’ Rights of Texas will henceforth be known as The Braggin’ Rights. It will be held the third weekend of September, and be hosted by each division on a rotating basis.

Article I: Purpose

The purpose of The Braggin’ Rights challenge is to promote fencing by providing a tournament for the fencers of the North Texas Division, the Gulf Coast Division, and the South Texas Division of the U.S.F.A.

Article II: Format

The tournament is to provided an opportunity for men and women to fence foil, epee, and sabre. The competition must offer the opportunity for a fencer to compete in all three weapons.

Article III: Location

The tournament is to be held in a neutral location equal distance between all three divisions if possible, giving no one a home field advantage.

Article IV: Braggin’ Rights Plaque

A rotating trophy, known as the Braggin’ Rights Plaque, shall go to the division with the most points. Points shall be awarded as follows: 1^st – 10 points, 2^nd – 7 points, 3^rd – 5 points, 4^th – 3 points, 5^th – 2 points, 6^th – 1 point for a total of 28 points per event. In case of a tie, a fencer from each division is chosen, and those fencers must fence-off a 3-bout match. One bout sabre, one bout foil, and one bout epee.

Article V: Amendments

This constitution may be amended by the unanimous vote of a committee consisting of the chairperson, secretaries and treasurers of the aforementioned divisions.

Founded by the officers of the North Texas Division 1987

John James

Randy Rausch

Al Wilson

Keith Black

Rice University hosted the Lois Goldthwaite Women’s Foil and Women’s Epee Tournament on October 24. There were 23 entries for women’s foil. Roland and Brian Reed’s former neighbor Tracey Hurley captured 1^st place. Katie Kowalski of the Bayou City Blades was 2^nd. Third place went to Nancy Sumpter.

Nancy Sumpter had married Randy Sumpter who was a beginning fencer during the last days of Salle Sebastiani. She was nearing the end of her time in the Gulf Coast Division, so it is not surprising she was a vague memory to one fencer just beginning her competitive career. Some decades later Suzanne Simpson noted, "I vaguely remember Nancy, but can't remember her last name, or her husband's name. Didn't they move to Florida?"

John Kincher recalled, "Randy & Nancy Sumpter. She was a lefty, and I think he was too. She was a B, and I believe you're correct that he was a D, although he may have later attained C ranking. Both fenced extensively at Rice in the late 80's. They moved away, but I can't remember where."

As August Skopik did remember them. "I know Randy Sumpter well, and he married Nancy Anderson [Walters] from Dallas and moved to Florida. He… fenced for Sebastiani as a beginner when the club disbanded.

"Randy also fenced for Bayou City Blades."

For women’s epee there were nine entries. Terry Lewis from US Modern Pentathlon took 1^st place. Second place went to Susanne Lindberg, while third went to Kerryn Rodriguez from the University of Texas in Austin.

Suzanne Simpson, who was just beginning her life as a competitive fencer at this time later wrote, "I placed just out of trophy winning (it being my first epee tournament). The trophies were pretty cool - "professional" photographer took nicely posed pictures of the winners which were put in frames [and] sent to winners. Lois donated all of her equipment to the club before she left for England… As I recall, the tournament was just held at Rice, because that's where most of the tournaments were due to availability of the gyms… Al Peters worked [with] the division on procuring tournament space. I think the division ran the tournament (you can check [with] Augie [Skopik] – he was Chairman)."

Tournaments still carried the odd risk. As August Skopik recalled, "I had to wear a bandana between my mask and lame when I won the Duel at Dallas in 1987 because I would get shocked tremendously if I got it even after my riposte."

Further to the east the still relatively new Spindletop Cavaliers, got some welcome publicity in the form of a feature article in the December 27, 1987 issue of the local Beaumont Enterprise. Club president Glenn Weathington and fencer Bill Mangus, along with founder/coach Sinclair Oubre were interviewed for the piece.

The article also noted the fencing family of Peter Power, his daughter and his ninth-grader son Conor. Conor Power and fellow Cavalier Chanda Aery were among five young members of the club who had qualified for the Junior Olympics the next February, in Cleveland, Ohio. As Father Oubre said, "Of course, some, like Conor, have natural talent."

Conor Power admitted a partiality to sabre; "To me it’s easier and takes less effort."

As Glenn Weathington later remembered, "Peter’s son, Conor, and Bart [Weathington, Glenn’s younger brother] were big in the under-16s and under-20s."

Years later, Sinclair Oubre would recall, "The best fencer we ever had was Conor Power. He was my first student, and the most successful one. He graduated Westbrook High School in Beaumont, and went to Notre Dame. Because of some screw-ups on the part of Beaumont Independent School District he was not able to attend on scholarship, but he made the fencing team his first year. His senior year at Notre Dame, they won the national championship, and he became the winningest fencer in the university's history. However, that was short-lived. The next year, his teammate proceeded to beat the new record. I believe that he is still listed as the second or third most victorious fencer in the school's history."

"I attribute his success to a tremendous personal desire to learn the sport, my passing on Mercado's basic methods, and his ability to study advanced fencing from Vinnie Bradford, the junior program that was available at that time at Olympic facility in Colorado Springs, and the outstanding caching he received from Michael Marx and the coaching staff at Notre Dame."

During the 1987-1988 season the Spindletop Cavaliers leadership consisted of Glenn Weathington, President; Steve Popielski, Vice-President; Father Sinclair Oubre, Coach; Dolores Respess, Secretary; Hazel Power, Treasurer; and Bill Mangus, Armorer.

The year 1987 closed, competitively, with the North American Circuit (NAC) #1 in Chicago, on December 11-13. Tim Glass managed to place 15^th out of a field of 135 in men’s epee, but he no longer fenced for the Gulf Coast Division. He had recently moved to Chicago.

The year 1988 was the year Arnold Mercado made his move to Florida. He came to Miami and eventually would teach fencing at Broward Community College, Miami Fencing Club, and the Hillel Day School.

With February came the Junior Olympics and the Gulf Coast Division sent its share of competitors.

In the under-20 men’s epee event, Paul Saunders placed 30^th in a field of 55, while Patrick Sullivan tied for 54^th. The Gulf Coast had a better showing in under-17 men’s epee, where the Spindletop Cavaliers’ Barton Weathington took 16^th place from a field of 56.

In the under-17 men’s sabre, Jack Randall "Randy" Sims III took 7^th place from a field of 55. Bart Weathington placed 17^th and Conor Power 44^th.

That same February Marcel Marceau was in Houston performing. During an interview with Houston Post theatre critic William Albright, it was noted that the fencing in Marceau’s "The Samurai’s Sword," had been coached by Marceau’s friend Maitre Caux.

Fencing could turn up connected to the most diverse people. In March of 1988, a sports columnist with the Houston Post interviewed Houston Astros relief pitcher Dave Smith. Previously something of a bad boy with a devil-may-care attitude, Smith reflected on his current contract which forbade him from engaging in roughly one hundred forms of "risky behavior, " including fencing. Smith added dryly, "That one is unfortunate, because sometimes when I get out of bed in the morning, I really feel like fencing."

For those who did feel like getting up and fencing, the Harold Van Buskirk Memorial Tournament was held March 19-20, at Rice University.

In men’s foil, Mike Perry of the Bayou City Blades captured first place. The next Gulf Coast Division fencer to place was Dwain Blakley, fencing unattached, in fourth place. Another Bayou City Blades fencer, August Skopik finished seventh.

In women’s foil, Pascha Odom won first place. She was from the Dallas Fencing Club in the North Texas Division. The best accomplishment by a local fencer was an unattached Nancy Sumpter, who made it to second place. Right behind her in third place was Ann Marie Walters from Texas A&M.

The Bayou City Blades’ Katie Kowalski was fourth. Judy Cul from the Paladins finished fifth.

The competition in 1988 left a lasting impression on August Skopik, a memory of the vagaries of electric foil fencing. "I beat him [Dwain Blakley] in 1988 in foil to win the Van Buskirk, and he was grounding out so badly that at one point I must have hit him 6 or 8 times in a phrase and actually picked him up slightly without it registering. If you were very sweaty in those days you could ground out when they hit your lame' and it would not register."

The Spindletop Cavaliers held an "After Easter" tournament in Beaumont April 9-10. The tournament, run by Sinclair Oubre and Glenn Weathington, held competitions in mixed open foil, mixed open epee, D & under men’s foil and in women’s foil.

In May 1988, the USFA’s Southwest Sectional Qualifiers were held at the University of St. Thomas’ Jerabeck Center. John Shanks of the Dallas Fencing Club went undefeated through a nine-man field to win the men’s foil competition. Gary Murray from Round Rock Fencing took the men’s under-19 foil win. Dwight Devine won men’s sabre. Tina Thornblum of the University of Texas Fencers won for women’s sabre. The local Gulf Coast Division had its problems, but did claim one small victory: Garreth Sarosi, a member of the Bayou City Blades won the under-19 sabre competition.

The summer National Championships were held June 14-22. Katie Kowalski, another member of the Bayou City Blades took 8^th place in Division II women’s foil, from a field of 129 competitors. She also placed 8^th out 50 in the under-19 women’s foil event. Club mate Garreth Sarosi placed 16^th in the under-19 men’s sabre competition in a field of 40. The Bayou City Blades were the Gulf Coast Division’s strong suit.

With August, the new officers of the Gulf Coast Division took their places for the 1988-1989 fencing season. Glenn Weathington served as Division Chair. Jack Sims was the Vice-Chair. Norm Hecht at Texas A&M was the Secretary. Mike Kowalski was the Treasurer.

In time the Bayou City Blades, itself the remnant of the old Salle Sebastiani, began having difficulty holding itself together. Tim Glass had long since moved on to Chicago, continuing to fence, teach and direct through Fencing 2000 and the Northshore Fencing Academy. Kowalski was still competing, but she was also soon to be off to Penn State. In 1990 and again in 1992 she would take the NCAA All-American title in women’s foil for that university.

The Bayou City Blades began merging with the Houston Fencers’ Club. August Skopik recalled, "The Bayou City Blades started right after Sebastiani closed… I think when Steve [Farid] joined, we began being called Houston Fencer's Club. Steve's club was Houston Fencer's Club, and we kept the name."

Suzanne Simpson, a member of Steve Farid’s Houston Fencer’s Club, which had been fencing at the West Side Dad’s Club YMCA, recalled, "Our club, Houston Fencing Club, moved from the Y in 1988 for a reason I can't remember. We joined forces [with] the Bayou City Blades at Duschene Academy. Claude [Caux and] Steve gave lessons [and] Claude ran footwork drills. Sometimes, I thought about taking some lessons from Claude, but I felt a loyalty to Steve & thought it might hurt him if I did… " Another member of this group was Michael Perry.

"[Bayou City Blades and Houston Fencer’s Club] merged sometime in 1988. I went to NYC for a couple of months (from January to March) & was fencing at Duchesne before then."

There were other groups fencing in Houston. The Rice University club remained active under Al Peters. Claude Caux was still at the University of Houston, but fencing there was a creature of the theatre department first and fencers second.

Another Gulf Coast Division fencing institution, which was fading away, was the Franks Memorial Tournament. Years later, August Skopik recalled, years later, "The Franks was still being held when I was chair in the late 80's, but the division hosted the tournament and it was more than just sabre. The division began sponsoring the tournaments, although they were still held by the local clubs in the mid-80s. It helped with making certain that there was enough support."

In the Golden Triangle, on the other hand, Father Sinclair Oubre had expanded his repertoire. He received his USFCA certification to teach epee, thus enlarging the options for the Spindletop Cavaliers.

The 1988 Franks Memorial Tournament was held September 10-11, 1988 at the Robertson Field House at the University of Houston.

The second annual Braggin’ Rights of Texas Tournament was held in Calvert, Texas, September 17-18, 1988.

The Heavy Metal Open was held October 1-2 at Texas A&M University in College Station.

On October 8^th and 9^th, for the Columbus Day weekend, and with sponsorship from the local Knights of Columbus in Beaumont, Father Sinclair Oubre and the Spindletop Cavaliers hosted what would become an annual event and dubbed the tournament, the Columbiad. It was held in the Knights of Columbus Hall and offered competitions in all three weapons, with both men’s and women’s events in each.

For the weekend of October 29-30, the Gulf Coast Division held a Hallowe’en Celebration in Beaumont. The Golden Triangle of Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange was becoming quite an active region in the Gulf Coast Division. November 19-20, the division held its qualifying competition for the Junior Olympics in Port Arthur.

In November of 1988 Michael Mergens moved to Houston. Mergens had gotten hooked on fencing in February 1982, while in the army. "I came to it as a result of my former stepson who was taking it through the Morale, Welfare and Recreation program at Ft. Knox while I was stationed there. While recovering from a near fatal jeep accident, his mother announced that she was leaving. After she moved out I spent about every night for the next three weeks closing down the Officer's Club and two things happened. First I received a call from a former instructor at the Officer's Advanced Course who called me in and "counseled" me not to throw away a promising career. Second was from my stepson's former fencing teacher looking to see if he still had any equipment, and [by the way], they were starting a class for adults, would I be interested in attending. Looking for something to get me out of my funk, I said yes, and the rest, as they say, is history."

Mergens took the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) fencing class at Ft. Knox taught by Genia Thayer. Mergens took to fencing so avidly he helped found the Bluegrass Fencing Club, the first of four fencing clubs he would build over the years. Mergens fenced with the Bluegrass Fencing Club until his discharge from the army in 1984, when he moved to Dallas.

There he joined the Dallas Fencer’s Club, working with Bill and Marietta Towery, Paul Degnar, Scott and Denny Clark and Jeff Crowe. Mergens not only competed in tournaments, but began teaching youth classes. In 1986 he broke into the final 6 at the DeGaul tournament. Now in Houston and hooked on the game, it was absolutely inevitable he would seek out fencing.

The Gulf Coast Division held a Holiday Special Tournament on the weekend of December 17-18 in Houston.

In January of 1989 Mergens found himself taking Claude Caux’ class at the University of Houston. Still, it was a theatre department class, with less emphasis on competition. At this point in history, the University of Houston had no fencing club, but it had the next best thing…a fencing club founder.

Even further afield from the competitive milieu than theatre, Amtgard had expanded beyond foam rubber covered PVC weapons. They began allowing limited use of fencing weapons. The group held its first ever Amtgard Interkingdom Olympiad, beginning March 11^th. About 110 participants showed up. Shinai and dry foil fencing were, for the first time, held as Amtgard events.

Back on the competitive note, the 1989 Junior Olympic Fencing Championships were held February 17-19 at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In the under-20 men’s foil competition, with 154 entries, Christian Respess of the Spindletop Cavaliers tied for 87^th. Club mate Conor Power took 95^th.

In the under-17 men’s foil event, another Gulf Coast Division fencer Pauk Sanford took 20^th place out of 50. Conor Power followed him in 23^rd place.

Another Spindletop Cavalier, Barton Weathington placed 75^th out of 102 in the under-20 men’s epee event. He also took 25^th place in the under-17 men’s epee from a field of 51.

In the under-20 men’s sabre competition, Garreth Sarosi of the Bayou City Blades came in 13^th out of 82 sabreurs. In 21^st place was another Gulf Coast fencer, Jacks Randall Sims III. Sims did even better in the under-17 men’s sabre event, capturing 2^nd place from a field of 45 sabreurs.

In the under-20 women’s foil event, former Bayou City Blades member Katie Kowalski (now at Penn State) captured 7^th place from a field of 106.

On March 18 and 19 of 1989, Rice University hosted its annual Harold Van Buskirk Memorial Fencing Tournament at Autry Court. August Skopik, recalling various Van Buskirk Memorial tournaments, remarked, "The largest individual tournament was 90+ foil and 60+ epee in the same weekend as the team, and that was 1989."

Not counting all the high-calibre talent it was drawing from outside the Gulf Coast Division, the turn out among the locals fencing community was impressive.

From the Houston Fencers’ Club came August Skopik, Dwain Blakely, Mike Perry, Robert Baum, Garreth Sarosi, Randall Sims, Benjamin Moore, Alistair Isaac, Paul Sanford, Danny Stowers, Doug Dibble and Jim Livings.

The Rice University Fencing Club was represented by Robert Hurley, Tracey Hurley, John Kincher, Patricia Orna, Tamne Valoir, Amy Wheeler, Carol Weber, Anthony Potoczniak, Christopher Parker and Charles Hargrove.

From Texas A&M University came Greg Dilworth, Keith Perkins, Kelly Fergason, Carl Brown, Albert Kao, Missy Waschka, Todd Vogt, Ann-Marie Walters, Steve Verm, John Wahl, Melissa Evans and Kevin Hawkins.

The Spindletop Cavalier sent Glenn and Bart Weathington (a photograph of the two fencing epee appeared on the fliers and T-shirts for the tournament), Peter, Conor and Shena Power, Frank Parigi, Gary Ruggler, Christian Respess and Andrew Primeaux.

Steve Lewis came from the University of Houston.

Unattached Gulf Coast Division fencers who signed up included Henry Mahnke and John DuBose.

For once, a local paper actually wrote an article on the event instead of merely listing partial results. Officiating was Andy Shaw, a three-time member of the national foil team in the 1960s. In a nice testimony to the prestige of the Van Buskirk Memorial, Shaw was quoted as saying, "Texas is one of the main states for fencing competition. The people that put on this tournament are one of the reasons why. This tournament and another one in Dallas always draw a lot of people, even though there isn’t a lot at stake."

Also on hand as tournament organizers were Glenn Weathington from the Spindletop Cavaliers and Gerard Poujardieu, a third degree International Fencing Master, who maintained his own salle in San Antonio. Al Peters from Rice University took first in epee out of a field of 68, acquiring a "B" rating. Bob Hurley, also from Rice placed second. August Skopik from the Houston Fencers Club took third. Gerard Poujardieu was quoted, "We’ll catch up with the Europeans eventually. With tournaments and the growth of the sport, it’s just a matter of time."

The Southwest Section Championships were held April 29-30 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

In the men’s foil event, August Skopik from the Houston Fencers’ Club captured first place from a field of 26. He was the only Gulf Coast Division fencer competing in the event. The division sent no competitors to the women’s foil event.

In men’s epee, Rice fencer Chris Parker placed 9^th in a field of 28. Houston Fencers’ Club members Paul Sanford and August Skopik placed 11^th and 14, respectively. The Spindletop cavaliers’ Glenn Weathington was 27^th. Ben Moore from the Houston Fencers’ Club came in 28^th.

Rice fencers Patricia Orna and Carol Weber were the only Gulf Coast competitors in women’s epee. Orna placed 9^th out of 12. Weber finished in 11^th place.

In men’s sabre, Houston Fencers’ Club sabreurs Garreth Sarosi and Randall Sims placed first and second, respectively, in a field of 16. The Spindletop Cavaliers’ Conor Power and Glenn Weathington placed 13^th and 15^th, respectively. Dennis Wilson from Rice University came in 16^th.

The Gulf Coast Division sent no competitors to the women’s sabre competition. Then, too, it was the same story all over. Only one competitor, from the South Texas Division, showed up for the event.

In the under-19 men’s foil competition, Paul Sanford took first place from a field of eight. Conor Power took third. Sanford also took second place from a field of seven in under-19 men’s epee, while Ben Moore placed sixth. Randy Sims won first place in under-19 men’s sabre in a field of seven.

Summer, of course, meant the National Championships. The Gulf Coast Division was still in a time of sending few to the youth events, but of those few some did well.

In under-19 men’s sabre, Garreth Sarosi finished fourth in a field of 34. In under-19 men’s foil, Paul Sanford came in 19^th place out of a field of 40.

In Division II women’s sabre, Helen Waschka finished 28^th in a field of 29.

In Division II women’s foil, Melissa Evans finished 78^th in a field of 110. Judith Culll and Helen Waschka finished 105^th and 106^th, respectively.

In Division II women’s epee, Suzanne Simpson finished 14^th ina field of 72. Helen Waschka finished in 67^th place.

In Division II men’s sabre, Garreth Sarosi and August Skopik finished 16^th and 17^th, respectively.

July of 1989 saw the U.S. Olympic Festival competitions. They were not held in Houston this time, but one Sugarland/Houston expatriate was on hand. Katie Kowalski, the Duschene Academy alumni and pupil of Claude Caux was now a student at Penn State and competing in the fencing competitions.

With the start of the 1989-1990 fencing season in August, the Southwest Section Officers for that season took their places. Glenn Weathington took his place as the Chair. Richard Exnicios of the Louisiana Division was the Vice-Chair. Gloria Weathington served as Secretary. Della Ellis of Texarkana was the Treasurer.

Weathington was a busy fellow at this time. He also took office as Chair of the Gulf Coast Division. Kelly Fergason from Texas A & M University was Secretary.

The 1989 Braggin’ Rights Tournament was held in College Station on September 9-10.

On September 23-24 the Gulf Coast Epee Tournament was held in Houston.

Local fencing got another boost that autumn. Michael Mergens had been taking fencing lessons from Claude Caux at the University of Houston, but the club Steve Lewis had belonged to has since waned. Indeed, he had been the only regular competitor for that version of the club. In the fall of 1989, Michael Mergens organized the newest incarnation of the University of Houston Fencing Club.

As Michael Mergens’ recalled years later, "In the fall of 1989 we started the U of H fencing club. Claude was never a coach of the club. He only taught fencing as a theater arts class. We began holding tournaments, beginners, novice, etc. and started getting equipment from the school. A former A-epeeiste, also a former Sebastiani fencer, was the director of intramurals and supported us."

Whether SCA or USFA, fencers remained individuals of strong opinions, which frequently lead to clashes of will as well as weapons. In September of 1989, stress fissures were starting to show between two old colleagues from the Golden Triangle. Glenn Weathington represented the division and Father Sinclair Oubre was running the Spindletop Cavaliers. In a letter to Carla Mae Tucker of the USFA from St. Anne Catholic Parish in Beaumont, Oubre outlined his conflict with Weathington. The points of contention appeared to circle about the needs and limitations of the clubs versus the emphasis of the division to make the member fencers and clubs contribute to the overall growth and accessibility of fencing within the division.

The Spindletop Cavaliers had planned a fall tournament and had advised Weathington of such at before the summer. Oubre received a telephone call from Weathington on September 24. Weathington suggested that due to the large number of fencers Weathington expected would show, a second flight would likely be necessary and that the Spindletop Cavaliers should mail out a second set of fliers to the division’s fencers advising them of such. Oubre balked since the second flier would cost the fledgling club an extra $100.00 and since they had never had to hold a second flight at even their largest past competitions.

Weathington also made a proposal regarding the division of the purse. The Cavaliers were to make a commitment to use some of the receipts to purchase electric scoring equipment. The equipment was to then remain the property of the Spindletop Cavaliers, but also be placed at the disposal of the Gulf Coast Division anytime a fencer from the club fenced in a division competition. The proposal, seen from the distance of decades of hindsight, sounds like a fair exchange within a venue of a division struggling to expand its abilities during the days of the rise of the all-electric competition. It can also been seen as serious commitment for a club which had not been in existence for even a half-dozen years.

Oubre’s letter outlines the real beginning of the friction. Oubre advised Weathington that he did not possess the authority to mandate such a commitment and would have to take up the issue with the Cavaliers’ membership. Oubre stated that Weathington then suggested that, should the Spindletop Cavaliers not agree to his proposal, Weathington could not sanction the event. According to Oubre’s letter, Weathington stated he would, in that case, have to notify Gulf Coast Division and/or Southwest Section fencers that any ranks which were awarded at the event would not be recognized by the USFA.

While the statement sounds heavy handed, and was obviously received as such by Oubre, what can also be seen is Weathington pushing the member clubs to build up the ability of the division to meet the needs of its competitive fencers. Here was an example of a reoccurring series of engagements built into the politics and missions of fencing clubs and the divisions of the USFA. Clubs desired autonomy to pursue their own destiny while the division’s goal was to advance the cause of fencing in general.

Member clubs and their leadership often felt either ignored or placed in a bind by the division leadership. Conversely, the officers of the division often felt the member clubs wanted division support but felt no requirement to support the division. Such is the nature of politics.

Despite these factors, the Spindletop Cavaliers held their second annual Columbiad tournament the weekend of 7-8 October.

The Franks Memorial Tournament was held on October 14-15, 1989 in Houston.

On October 28-29, the Heavy Metal Open was held in College Station.

On the weekend of November 11-12, the Rice Beginners Tournament was held on that campus.

Although it started outside Texas, Chris Zakes would later note that in November 1989 was the, "First mention in my files of schlager blades being used in Atenveldt." In time the use of schlager blades would become common and rival, sometimes exceed the use of foil or epee blades for SCA fencing.

The Gulf Coast Division held its qualifying competitions for the Junior Olympics on the weekend of December 2-3.

The year closed with a Holiday Beginners Tournament in Beaumont on December 16-17.