All tournament format information as well as other USACFC policies can be found in our Tournament Manual​. 

 

Round 1: Pool Play

Pool Phase

Pools shall be composed of 6 or 7 individuals. There will be no timeouts. The number of fencers entered in the event shall dictate the number of strips made available. Optimally, there will be 45-48 strips for the entire event, which are divided into 16 for foil, 16 for epee, and 12 for saber, with the remainder made available for fencers to warm up. If there are fewer strips or pools needed, the number assigned to each weapon will be reduced by the Bout Committee.

To prevent confusion, the Bout Committee should make sure strip assignments are posted clearly indicating if the pool is in the first or second flight, if applicable. At the conclusion of the first flight, the referee shall take the score sheet to the bout table so results can be compiled as quickly as possible and the second flight may begin.
 

 

Pool Construction 

The USACFC Bout Committee will be responsible for pool construction, where they are ensuring pools have minimized conflicts and are balanced in strength.

 

To do that, they will take into account USA fencing rating in the appropriate weapon, if applicable, to spread out even strength amongst the pools. From there, pools will be constructed with minimum conflict with a fencer’s school affiliation and USACFC geographical division, if possible.

 

 

Pool Results

USA Fencing rules will be used to tabulate the wins and losses of each fencer. Pool results will be calculated per USA Fencing rule o.73, which also accounts for uneven pools. The rankings will be posted as rapidly as possible by the Bout Committee with promotions to the Direct Elimination Tableau indicated.

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Direct Elimination Tableau

When pool results are finalized, the top 128 ranked fencers will be promoted to the Direct Elimination Tableau. These fencers will compete in accordance with USA Fencing rules, with no fence off for third place. Hence, rounds in the tables of 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, Semifinals, and Finals will be contested. 

 

At the conclusion of the Finals, the Bout Committee will promptly post completed results for the event and begin calculating seeding and promotion to the Team Direct Elimination Bracket.

 

Promotion and Seeding in the Team Elimination Bracket

To determine the seedings in the team elimination table, the results of the top three fencers from each school will be tabulated in order to determine the schools ranking. Should there be a tie for any rank in the team DE table, the highest individual result between the two teams will break the tie between the two squads. If a team, for any reason, is comprised of fewer than three individuals, they shall take a score of one greater than the number of competitors in the weapon as their third score (e.g: a partial squad in a field of 100 shall take a score of 101 as their third score for purposes of team ranking).

 

In 2024, all schools shall be promoted to the Team Elimination Bracket on Day 2.

 

 

Round 2: Team Elimination Bracket

Any venue hosting the championships should have a minimum of 44 strips. The USACFC Board may accept a bid with fewer strips at their discretion, but the number of strips per weapon will have to be reduced. Squads must have at least 2 fencers to fence in the bracket. At the start of the day, any team that, for any reason, cannot field 2 fencers will be deemed to be eliminated, and teams behind them will move up in seed.

 

In 2024, Team Elimination will be done in World Cup format with 100% team promotion. Matches will be fenced best out of nine bouts, with direct eliminations up until the round of 16. Starting with the round of 16, the format will change to a compass format where each place will be fenced. An example of how a bracket from the T64 in FencingTime with fake scores will look can be found here.

 

Rules for the bracket

1. All matches will be fenced to decision (5 bouts) on a NCAA dual meet score sheet.

2. A substitute may be put into the match and may be replaced by the original fencer in the same position. However, all substitutions must be made by informing the referee and the opposing team a full bout in advance.

3. If a team only has two fencers, the captain will choose where to put the starters and the third position produces forfeits. Forfeits only count when you reach them on the score sheet. Thus, even though a team only has two fencers, they are not automatically down 0-3.

4. A bout fenced out of order will follow NCAA rules for dual meets. The bout is put where it was supposed to happen on the score sheet and is not counted until reached in the match. If two fencers fence twice, the second bout will not count. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH TEAM TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CORRECT BOUT IS FENCED.

5. A single, one-minute timeout per school, per team match, will be permitted.

6. If a fencer is injured and must withdraw, a substitute may take over the bout at the score and time when the injury occurred. If there is no substitute available, then that bout, and all succeeding bouts for the injured fencer in that round are forfeits. The injured fencer may be used in a subsequent round.