Fencing
Younger Licata earns first medal

Victoria Licata of Getzville couldn't wait to get home Saturday and show her father, Mike, her gold medal.

As a member of Brutus's Brutes, Victoria Licata took first place in the Ides of March Team Foil Tournament Saturday at the Fencing Center of Buffalo.

Victoria and Mike Licata both picked up the sport at the same time and have formed a sort of household rivalry. If Mike offers a suggestion, Victoria doesn't want to hear anything about it. She wants to do things on her own. And that's what made Saturday so special. This time, she was to bring home the medal, instead of the other way around.

Mike Licata took second place in his first tournament this past December, earning an "E" rating from the United States Fencing Association. He backed that up with a gold medal-winning performance at the Valentine's Massacre Tournament in February, which earned him his "D" rating.

Victoria Licata was incredibly frustrated with her own performance at the Valentine's Massacre, as she placed 15th out of 22 in the unrated foil event and 12th out of 15 in the open foil event. But the 14-year-old was all smiles after earning her first fencing medal Saturday.

Victoria Licata teamed with captain Scott Dewey of Buffalo and Kevin Utzig of Tonawanda to win all five matches. Individually, Licata was 9-3 for the day.

The tournament followed a round-robin format, in which each team faced all the others. All of the fencers from one team faced all of the fencers from another team for a maximum total of nine bouts per match. The first team to win five bouts was named the victor.

Brian Langenfeld of Snyder lost only one bout during the day to lead his team, The Soothsayers, to the silver medal. Langenfeld was teamed with captain Marty Timm of Glenwood and Anthony Laulette of Buffalo.

Liz Galbo of Williamsville teamed with Greg Cofield of Kenmore and Samantha Anthony of East Aurora to win the bronze medal.