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Title
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Jose de Capriles Wins Epee Championship
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Date
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June 22, 1937
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volume
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2
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issue
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10
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pages
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1, 3
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content
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en
JOSE DE CAPRILES WINS EPEE CHAMPIONSHIP
The National Outdoor Epee Championship remained in the de Capriles family for the third consecutive year when Jose, the champion in 1935 who had been displaced by his brother Miguel in 1936, regained the title with a clean sweep of his five final bouts. Norman C. Armitage, for many years an outstanding sabreman, scored a remarkable upset by taking a well-earned second place by the margin of one touch over Indoor Champion Thomas J. Sands, after the two had finished with three victories in the final. Robert Driscoll also had three victories, but had been touched 10 times, to Armitage's 8 and Sands' 9.
The traditional Arthur S. Lyon Medals, gold, silver, and bronze, of beautifully distinctive design, went to the three place winners. These medals have been a coveted prize of fencers in this event for the last 18 years. Mr. Lyon served on three Olympic Teams and was Captain of one of them. The first Samuel T. Shaw Swords, a pair of black epees of fine construction which may not be won twice, went to Armitage; while a second pair of regular epees, also donated by Mr. Shaw, went to Sands. Mr. Shaw, well known patron of the arts and of fencing, was one of the outstanding swordsmen of his day, in competition until 1920.
Jose de Capriles won in fine style, sweeping through his preliminary bouts without a defeat, and scoring 5 more wins in the semi-final, where he suffered his only defeat, 3-2, at the hands of Winslow Cornett. In the final, the champion had four close calls, as Sands, Cornett, Muray, and Armitage each carried him to the limit, but he won all of his bouts, for a tournament record of 14 victories in 15 bouts.
Armitage fenced a heady game throughout, sweeping his three preliminary bouts and scoring 4½ wins in the semi-final strip. It was here that the longest drawn out battles resulted, with Armitage, Muray, and Driscoll tying for the top in an 8-man pool which included Tracy Jaeckel and Leo Nunes, each with 4 wins and the defending champion Miguel de Capriles, the junior champion Herman Lewis, and Kevis Kapner, last year's runner-up. Not until the final bout was the identity of the 3 qualifiers certain. In the final, Armitage scored an upset in his first bout, when he downed Sands 3-1, but he was in turn defeated by Driscoll, to finish with a tournament record of 14½ wins in 15 bouts.
Sands had a close call in the first round, with 2½ wins in four bouts, but regained his winning stride in the semi-final with 5 victories in 6 bouts, losing only to George W. Thompson. His tournament record was 10-12 wins in 15 bouts.
Driscoll was, next to Armitage, the hero of the meet. Much improved this season, he had fenced remarkably well throughout the schedule of events only to be nosed out in the indoor championship qualifying round by the margin of one touch. In the outdoor event Driscoll won 4 out of 5 in the preliminary, 4½ more in the semi-final, and 3 in the final, to finish with a record of 11½ wins in 17 bouts. For a fencer who is still technically a junior, this is a first-class record.
Hardly less praiseworthy was the show of Winslow Cornett, fourth place winner in the indoor championships, also of junior rating, and a teammate of Driscoll on the National Senior Epee Championship team. Although he failed to win in the final, he won 3 bouts in the preliminary and 4½ in the semi-final to reach a national final round for the second time in six weeks. Nickolas Muray, the well-known veteran, performed consistently throughout.
Miguel de Capriles, the defending champion, performed indifferently throughout the preliminaries and semi-finals, and was eliminated. Kevis Kapner, second last year, swept through six preliminary bouts unbeaten, and then proceeded to drop all his bouts in the afternoon session.
Rain forced the finals to be fenced on the porch of the boat-house.
