Forge Shines in Milwaukee
Between June 28th and July 7th, Forge Fencing sent 35 athletes to compete in 89 individual events at the 2025 USA Fencing Summer National Championships and July Challenge, held at the Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Representing all three Olympic weapons—épée, foil, and saber—Forge athletes competed in age events ranging from Youth-10 all the way to Veteran 80, as well as in Division 1, Division 1A, Division 2, and Division 3.
Beyond the piste, Forge Fencing was honored at the 2025 Hall of Fame Ceremony as the recipient of the USA Fencing Mariel Zagunis Women’s Advancement Award.
Coaches Jen Oldham and Jeff Kallio expressed their gratitude saying, “We want to take this moment to express our deepest gratitude to all who have supported us in building—and sustaining—a strong and united fighting community. Your dedication fuels our mission, and we look forward to continuing this journey together.”
Cathleen Randall stole the show with a commanding silver medal performance in Veteran 60 Women’s Foil which propelled her in the rankings and secured her spot on the Team USA Veteran World Championship team. She is the first foil fencer from Forge Fencing to make an international team.
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Forge Highlights & Standout Performances
National Medalists & Final Rankings
Forge Fencing athletes delivered standout performances in Milwaukee, earning six national medals, along with eight top-16 finishes and five top-32 placements across multiple age groups and weapons:
Erica Julien – Veteran 80+ Women’s Épée (2nd place) Cathleen Randall – Veteran 60–69 Women’s Foil (2nd place, earned a “D25” rating)
Lauren Dunseath – Veteran 40–49 Women’s Épée (3rd place) Erica Julien – Veteran 80+ Women’s Foil (3rd place)
Erica Julien – Veteran 70+ Women’s Épée (7th place, out of 19)
Bennett Crain – Division III Men’s Saber (8th place, out of 144)
These results highlight Forge’s commitment to cultivating a fighting community across all ages and weapons, and a particularly remarkable multi-weapon campaign from Erica Julien, who competed in and placed in all three weapons across two veteran age categories!
Beyond the Podium
Forge’s success in Milwaukee went far beyond the medal count. Across all events, athletes demonstrated resilience, tactical growth, and sportsmanship in one of the most challenging and competitive environments of the season. For many, this tournament marked their first time advancing through national-level direct elimination rounds—a milestone that reflects the program’s long-term development focus in all three weapons. The team support was amazing, with athletes and families coming on their days off to cheer and support those competing.
The Forge coaching team - Jeff Kallio, Jennifer Oldham, Sky Miller, Chad Beaty, Cathleen Randall, and Stephen Pashby - were present throughout the 10-day event, providing expert guidance in warm-ups, bout coaching, tactical adjustments, and recovery strategies. Their leadership and steady presence helped athletes stay focused, confident, and prepared each day of the competition. It was an exciting, and exhausting, ten day event with Bennett Crain making his first podium finish, in the last Forge event on the last day.
Youth foil fencers Jacqueline Halley and Indraa Soman not only had the excitement of their first Summer National Championship competition but they encountered Olympians, too. Indraa and her sister Nabha, who also fences, enjoyed the USA Fencing-sponsored autograph & photo session with their idols, foilists Lee Kiefer OLY and Gerek Meinhardt OLY. Jacqueline met foil role model Lauren Scruggs OLY. Jacqueline, like Lauren, is a fierce competitor – she lost her first DE by only 1 point. We are looking forward to seeing our youth competitors inspire others in the future!
Beyond the Podium
Not all the events at Summer Nationals are individual! Forge Fencing had three senior teams overall, in addition to Veteran fencers joining composite teams. The Senior Men’s Saber Forge team of Coach Chad Beaty, Bennett Crain, Tyson Deck, and friend of Forge Noah Hall faced down tough competition, achieving 7th overall in a field of 22 teams. First-time Senior Men’s Epee team The Fire in the Forge – Andrew Davis, Griffin Dilda, and Enzo Donnelly – braved a huge epee team bracket and finished 63rd. The Forge Senior Women Saber team Final Forge (Ava Ellis-Furlong, Neila Huang, Neema Johnson, and Nora Xie) learned the fun of team fencing, finishing 13th in a larger field. Epeeist Lauren Dunseath was talked into joining Veteran Women’s Epee Team Bi Coastal Babes at the last minute, and finished 16th; Erica Julien fenced with a composite Veteran Women’s Epee Team May Contain Nuts and finished 17th. Coach Cathleen Randall competed with her Veteran Women’s Saber Team, the Broadswords, finishing 9th.
Endurance Athletes
Multiple Forge fencers competed in five events overall, including team: Julia Balin in women’s foil, Bennett Crain in men’s saber, Griffin Dilda in men’s epee, Neila Huang in women’s saber, and the indomitable Erica Julien in women’s foil, epee, and saber. Many other members of the squad fenced four events, including Myer Bramlett, Lauren Dunseath, Ava Ellis-Furlong, Neema Johnson, and Nora Xie.
Thanks for a Terrific Tournament
Thank you to our team, the families, and all the tournament staff that made this event possible. The extended Forge Fencing community continues to be key to our Team’s success. The Milwaukee 2025 Summer Nationals was a great experience. Thank you to everyone who cheered, cried, applauded and watched in awe with us. We are already planning for next year! Where to next summer? Portland, OR – familiar to Coach Jen and our Athena Camp 2024 fencers!
Standout Results
TOP 64
Julia Balin – 59th Div3WF
Lining Joe Guo – 49th Y10MS
Yuexi Daisy Guo – 47th Div2WS
Neema Johnson – 52nd JRWS
Nora Xie – 42nd Div1AWS
TOP 32
Ava Ellis-Furlong – 32nd Div1AWS, 32nd Div2 WS
Cadel Henry – 31st Div2MS
Emma Ming – 30th Div3WS
TOP 16
Chad Beaty – 11th Div2MS
Jeff Kallio – 10th Vet40MS
Annette Moore – 11th V60WF
Joe McLaughlin – 13th V70MS
Stephen Pashby – 11th Vet40MF
TOP 8
Bennett Crain – 8th Div3MS, 24th Div2MS
Lauren Dunseath – BRONZE Vet40WE, 12th Div2WE
Erica Julien – SILVER V80WE, BRONZE V80WF, 7th V70WE, 9th Vet70WS
Cathleen Randall – SILVER V60WF & “D25,” 12th V60WS
FULL RESULTS:
Full a full list of all results go to FencingTimeLive.com
PHOTOS:
Coach Jeff Kallio and Bennett Crain, 8th place in Division 3 Men’s Saber – an exciting way to complete the 10 days of Summer Nationals!
Foil, Epee, and Saber, oh my! Forge Fencers enjoy each other’s company while exploring downtown Milwaukee, WI.
Epee fencer Griffin Dilda scoring a one-light touch!
Saberist Cadel Henry enjoys the thrill of victory.
Foilists Jacqueline Halley and Lauren Scruggs OLY.
Indraa and Nabha Soman meet their foil idols Gerek Meinhardt OLY and Lee Kiefer OLY.
Forge’s own Senior Women’s Saber Team.
Andrew Davis scores in Men’s Epee.
Coach Cathleen Randall in the final bout of Veteran 60 Women’s Foil. (photo credit Serge Timacheff)
Coaches Cathleen Randall and Stephen Pashby celebrating DE success in Veteran Women’s Foil.