Prince Albert club fencers to make international debut

This weekend the Prince Albert Northern Knights Fencing Club is sending two if its athletes to their first international competition.

P.A.’s Tristen Hurl and Melfort’s Dylan Wojciechowski are in Blainville, Que. this weekend for the Challenge of Nations, which attracts hundreds of fencers from across Canada and around the world. Hurl is competing in the junior and senior men’s epee, while Wojciechowski will compete in the cadet and Y14 men’s epee.

“I don’t know what to expect. I’ve never been to anything like this before,” Hurl said.

“This will be my first international event. The closest thing I did was the Canada Cup in January.”

Both Northern Knights are coming off of a successful showing at the 2017 Saskatchewan Open tournament in March, with Hurl winning the junior mixed epee and Wojciechowski earning a bronze in cadet mixed epee. But Northern Knights coach Bob Spracklin said competing at the international level will be much different.

Spracklin said he hopes his fencers gain “a broader experience” that cannot be found at a domestic tournament by attending the Challenge of Nations.

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