Illinois Fencing Academy

09/18/2026

We had a small celebration for our senior, Brian Lehner, last month. Brian is now a freshman at Denison University majoring in physics and history. He'll also join their varsity team. So excited for you, Brian! Good luck!

09/13/2026

The 2026-27 athlete handbook is out now.

The 2026-27 Athlete Handbook is here, and we owe you an apology for getting it out later than we should have. Inside, you’ll find the key information for the season, including eligibility and qualification, points, competition formats, national and international competition, parafencing, policies and more.

Thanks for your patience while we got this across the finish line.

Read the handbook: https://usafencing.me/handbook

09/11/2026

We remember!

07/19/2026

We had a small tournament to wrap-up the season.

07/12/2026

A fun day for the IFA families and friends.

07/04/2026

Happy and safe 4th of July!

07/03/2026

Brian Lehner and Jakub Nowak met in the 64 in Div Ia men's epee (187 fencers) yesterday. Jakub placed 27th, and Brian was 34th in this event.
Brian also finished 141st in Junior men's epee (420 fencers).
Finn Campbell is competing in his first Summer Nationals doing several events. Well done, guys!

Results:
https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/3DC95912C21F4D0E8DFD2C312E071731

07/01/2026

Summer Nationals is always fun, but it's really special when it brings friends together again. Jakub Nowak (Lawrence University, and now at Northwestern for his masters) and Zimo Zhu (CalTech) graduated from our program about 10y ago, and here they are today. ❤️

06/25/2026

Congratulations to Julie Papucharov, our youngest fencer, on her first tournament! Bravo, Julie! So proud of you!

06/14/2026

All three IFA fencers, who competed, came back with gold medals from the Skyward tournament this weekend. Brian Lehner won the senior mixed epee event and renewed his B rating. Finn Campbell (ETHS) won div 2 mixed epee and earned his C'26. Polina Elenciuc won Y12 mixed epee. Congratulations to all!
Results:
https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/AB79901AF4484C4EB929A812B417EA32