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The Class: Tournaments: 1999, Fall
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current class status, student demographics and grades, and class tournament results and reports
1996, Fall |
1997, Spring |
1997, Fall |
1998, Spring |
1998, Fall |
1999, Spring |
1999, Fall
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Slinging Steel #6
1999, Fall |
Top Finishers | Notes | Awards
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Top Finishers
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| 1. B. J. Buford | Male | Sophomore |
| 2. Sherrie A. Daniel | Female | Junior |
| 3. Russell W. Moore | Male | Graduate |
| 4. Russell M. Ferguson | Male | Freshman |
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- Notes
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The overall quality of the action in this tournament was very good. Though the preliminaries were only average, the finals were the best ever of a Slinging Steel. Most bouts were hotly-contested, close-scoring affairs.
Buford — an active club member — was easily the most consistent fencer throughout the class, and remained a rock during the tournament. B. J. conserved his energy and made effective use of nearly every successful defense as an opportunity for counter-attack. Though he finished second to eventual fourth-place finisher Russell Ferguson, B. J. was never rattled and remained focused and determined throughout each bout. Buford and Ferguson were the only fencers to perform exceptionally in both the preliminary and final rounds. B. J. is certainly deserving of this fine win.
Daniel missed the preliminary round, and was therefore seeded into the finals dead last. Undaunted, Sherrie proceeded to win every bout she contested until falling to Buford in the final fight of the tourney. Additionally, she carries the distinction of being the only fencer to inflict three crotch shots upon her opponents in the same round (two against Richard Williams in a single bout). Sherrie simply turned in one of the best performances of any Slinging Steel competitor.
Moore finished the preliminaries in the middle of the pack, and received a disappointing seventh seed going into the finals. He fought brilliantly the remainder of the way, however, even overcoming an injury to his weapon arm to win a bout against tourney favorite Eric King before falling to second-place finisher Daniel 5-4.
Ferguson was known as the wildest fencer in the class, but controlled his hack and slash tendencies so well that only Buford matched his two-round tourney performance. In the preliminaries, Russell finshed second behind Eric King. He and King were the only fencers to finish the first round undefeated, and his indicator beat that of the the third place fencer by an incredible nine touches! Ferguson's bouts were the longest in the finals, and he was forced to come from behind in order to notch wins on many occassions. It was therefore no suprise that he fell to exhaustion in his semi-final bout with eventual winner Buford, 5-4.
Eric B. King, who fenced and fenced well in MSU's 1999 Racer's Edge earlier in the semester, finished first in the preliminaries with a nearly unbelievable indicator of fourteen touches! King was, undoubtedly, the most explosive fencer in the class and the undisputed favorite going into the competiton. He was defeated by Russell Moore, who forced King to over-extend his lunges and punished him with accurate ripostes. King's dedication and raw talent deserves recognition. If he continues to fence, he will be a formiddable opponent to nearly anyone.
L. Allen Foy — who had great expectations before the tourney — was seeded third into the finals, but was defeated by eventual champion Buford, 5-3 early on.
Richard W. Williams was expected to generate a lot of noise, and indeed finished fifth in the preliminaries. However, he fell to pain, distraction, and fear as he suffered two crotch shots from Daniel to fall 5-4 in his first and only bout of the finals.
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Awards
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| Elite Swordsman | B. J. Buford | Male | Sophomore |
| Superior Swordsmanship | B. J. Buford | Male | Sophomore |
| Superior Swordsmanship | Sherrie A. Daniel | Female | Junior |
| Superior Swordsmanship | Russell M. Ferguson | Male | Freshman |
| Superior Swordsmanship | Russell W. Moore | Male | Graduate |
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