Foiled again!
By Fran Farlow, Photo
Gazette Staff Reporter
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Behind those metal masks are the fresh faces of two 15-year-old sports enthusiasts, young practitioners of the ancient art of fencing.

In addition to the masks, Nicole Pescitelli and Theresa Miles wear underarm protectors, breast protectors, jackets, gloves and knickers, because the three weapons used in fencing — foil, epee and saber — have blades of tempered steel.

Nicole uses the foil, Theresa the epee. The foil is light and flexible and considered the basic weapon; the modern epee is descended from the French small sword of the Middle Ages.

Both teenagers are back from the Junior Olympics at Salt Lake City, Utah, held last month.

Theresa Miles, daughter of Linda Miles of Gastonia, is a sophomore at South Point.

"I had started ballet, and didn’t like it a bit, I was in my tomboy stage," she said. "After the ballet class, the fencing classes would come in and I’d watch them and it looked like fun, I liked it. So my mom and I made a deal —I could drop the ballet and take fencing."

"It’s a lot more fun, I think, because it’s an independent sport," she said. "In soccer, you have to depend on your teammates, but in fencing it is all on you."

Nicole Pecitelli, daughter of Dr. Maurice Pescitelli and Dr. Charlotte Wise, attends Forestview High School. Fencing is her primary sport.

"When you are facing your opponent you forget everything," Nicole said, "because you are trying to gauge your opponent. You are analyzing, and if you can’t try to tell what your opponent will do next, then you will lose."

In tournaments, gauging your opponent is difficult, she said, since you get only five passes. That’s not much time to figure out what your opponent is going to do next.

"Winning isn’t everything," Nicole said, "it’s not to win first prize, it’s to raise myself up each year. When I first started I was at the bottom, but now I’m moving up."

Nicole, who started fencing three years ago, is a member of "Touche’," a North Carolina fencing club. She practices regularly twice a week; in preparing for a tournament, she practices at least three times a week.

In the "Under 17" category, she fences against older opponents, but "it isn’t how old you are," she said, "it depends on how long you have been practicing."

She was pleased to place 74th out of 120 in her "Under 17" bracket.

"When I first got to the tournament in Utah, I was very nervous, but there were people there I knew from other tournaments, so that helped.

"Now I’m trying to practice more, do the work quicker."

Theresa, who placed 78th of about 100 contestants, was in another category than Nicole since they use different weapons.

She, too, was very nervous.

"It was my first big competition and the first time I’ve ever traveled to go to a big tournament," she said. "There were so many really experienced fencers there.

"Now I’m going to practice hard and try to do all I can. I really want to get in shape more," Theresa said.

Nicole’s mother has been a fencer for years and, Nicole said, is one of the reasons she first went into fencing.

Since fencing is not shown on TV here in the U.S., Dr. Wise said, Olympic contenders, qualifiers, and medal winners are relatively unknown.

There is only one person in the U.S., who lives in New York City, who is a fencing Olympic champion, she said.

The rules and techniques of this modern-day sport go back to the Middle Ages.

Once the sword and shield were weapons used in warfare, but gunpowder made them obsolete. Once gunpowder came into general use, heavy armor was not needed and the sword became a defensive as well as an offensive weapon.

In the 15th century the rapier was introduced in Italy, and the Italian fencing technique became popular. Later the small sword, or epee, was invented in France.

The new weapons resulted in two distinct types of fencing: the Italian rapier used in a bravura, vigorous manner, the French epee in a more formal, restrained manner.

In foil fencing, only touches on the torso are counted. In epee competition the entire body, head to foot, is a valid target.

Fencing has been one of the events in the Olympic Games since 1896, and epee fencing is one of the five events in the modern pentathlon.

In the United States, the U.S. Fencing Association organizes competitions on a local, regional and national basis.