Metro Tacoma Fencing Club (MTFC) has had a number of fencers who have been successful at this sport. Our members participate in fencing recreationally, compete in tournaments locally, and even take it to national and international levels. We want to celebrate the hours of hard work and success of a number of our fencers and their families who have done well nationally and internationally. It takes a village to develop a highly skilled athlete with a lot of support from dedicated family, hard working teammates, generous club volunteers, and patient coaches.
About Some of Our Fencers
Hall of Fame: National Medals
National medals are traditionally awarded to the top 8 finishers in a North American Cup (NAC), Junior Olympics, and Summer National Championship events. National events draw the very top fencers from the United States as well as from some other countries and can be as large as 400 fencers competing.
Kwangsuk Chung
2nd place, veteran men's foil team (Summer National Championships 2023, Phoenix, AZ). 1st place, veteran men's foil team (Summer National Championships 2022, Minneapolis, MN). 1st place, veteran men's foil team (Summer National Championships 2021, Philadelphia, PA). 1st place, veteran men's foil team (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH). 1st place, veteran men's foil (April NAC 2019, Salt Lake City, UT). 1st place, veteran 40 men's foil (December NAC 2017, Portland, OR). 1st place, veteran 40 men's foil (April NAC 2017, Baltimore, MD). 1st place, veteran combined men's foil (April NAC 2017, Baltimore, MD). 1st place, veteran 40 men's foil (April NAC 2016, Richmond, VA). 1st place, veteran combined men's foil (April NAC 2016, Richmond, VA). 1st place, veteran combined men's foil (December NAC 2015, Baltimore, MD).
Gabey Guerra
2nd place, division 1 men's foil team (April NAC 2024, Salt Lake City, UT). National Champion, junior men's foil team (Junior Olympics 2024, Charlotte, NC). 3rd place, cadet men's foil team (March NAC 2023, Fort Worth, TX). 5th place, Y10 men's foil (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH)
Coaches Jisun Kim and Kwangsuk Chung.
Sofia Guerra
National Champion, division 2 women's foil (Summer National Championships 2021, Philadelphia, PA). 7th place, Y14 women's foil (April NAC 2021, Fort Worth, TX). 3rd place, senior women's foil team (December NAC, Salt Lake City, UT). 6th place, Y12 women's foil (March NAC 2019, Cleveland, OH). 5th place, Y10 women's foil (Summer National Championships 2017, Salt Lake City, UT). 3rd place, Y10 women's foil (March NAC 2017, Cleveland, OH).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Andersen Han
8th place, division 3 men's foil (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH). 5th place, division 3 men's foil (April NAC 2019, Salt Lake City, UT).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Ketki Ketkar
5th place, cadet (U17) women's épée (November NAC 2019, Milwaukee, WI). 3rd place, junior (U20) women's épée (November NAC 2019, Milwaukee, WI). 6th place, Y14 women's épée (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH). 3rd place, cadet (U17) women's épée (November NAC 2018, Kansas City, MO). 6th place, Y14 women's épée (November NAC 2018, Kansas City, MO). 6th place, junior (U20) women's épée (November NAC 2018, Kansas City, MO). 8th place, cadet (U17) women's épée (October NAC 2018, Milwaukee, WI).
Coach Jisun Kim.
Mallika Ketkar
National Champion, division 3 women's épée (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH). 5th place, division 3 women's épée (March NAC 2019, Cleveland, OH.
Coach Jisun Kim.
Gracie Kim
3rd place, senior women's foil team (December NAC, Salt Lake City, UT). 7th place, division 2 women's foil (April NAC 2019, Salt Lake City, UT). 8th place, division 3 women's foil (April NAC 2018, Richmond, VA). 2nd place, division 3 women's foil (March NAC 2018, Baltimore, MD).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Harrison Kim
3rd place, cadet men's foil team (March NAC 2023, Fort Worth, TX).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Jackson Kim
National Champion, junior men's foil team (Junior Olympics 2024, Charlotte, NC), 5th place, division 2 men's foil (October NAC 2023, Orlando, FL). National Champion, division 3 men's foil (Summer National Championships 2022, Minneapolis, MN).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Andrew Lee
7th place, division 1a men's épée (December NAC 2016, Richmond, VA). 7th place, cadet (U17) men's épée (July NAC 2015, San Jose, CA).
Coach Dana Sanford.
Benjamin Lee
8th place, junior (U20) men's foil (November NAC 2018, Kansas City, MO).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
3rd place, Y10 men's foil (July NAC 2012, Anaheim, CA).
Coach Tobias Lee.
Christopher Lee
6th place, Y14 men's foil (March NAC 2024, Portland, OR). National Champion, division 2 men's foil (Summer National Championships 2023, Phoenix, AZ). 3rd place, cadet men's foil team (March NAC 2023, Fort Worth, TX).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Jessica Doyun Lee
3rd place, senior women's foil team (December NAC, Salt Lake City, UT). 7th place, division 2 women's foil (April NAC 2018, Richmond, VA).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Paulina Lee
National Champion, division 3 women's foil (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH). 1st place, division 3 women's foil (April NAC 2019, Salt Lake City, UT). 3rd place, division 2 women's foil (April NAC 2019, Salt Lake City, UT).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Tobias Lee
7th place, veteran 50 men's épée (April NAC 2024, Salt Lake City, UT). 3rd place, veteran 50 men's épée (January NAC 2024, San Jose, CA). 7th place, veteran 50 men's foil (Summer National Championships 2023, Phoenix, AZ). 8th place, veteran 50 men's épée (Summer National Championships 2023, Phoenix, AZ). 3rd place, veteran 50 men's épée (April NAC 2022, St Louis, MO). 8th place, veteran 50 men's foil (Summer National Championships 2022, Minneapolis, MN). 3rd place, veteran 50 men's épée (Summer National Championships 2022, Minneapolis, MN). 2nd place, veteran 50 men's épée (January NAC 2022, San Jose, CA). 3rd place, veteran 50 men's foil (January NAC 2022, San Jose, CA). 5th place, veteran 40 men's épée (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH). 6th place, veteran combined men's épée (April NAC 2019, Salt Lake City, UT). 6th place, veteran 40 men's épée (Summer National Championships 2018, St Louis, MO). 3rd place, veteran 40 men's épée (April NAC 2018, Richmond, VA). 7th place, veteran 40 men's épée (December NAC 2017, Portland, OR). 5th place, division 2 men's épée (Summer National Championships 2017, Salt Lake City, UT). 3rd place, veteran 40 men's épée (Summer National Championships 2017, Salt Lake City, UT).
Coach Andrew Lee.
Brian Li
8th place, division 3 men's épée (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH). 2nd place, division 3 men's épée (April NAC 2019, Salt Lake City, UT).
Coach Dana Sanford.
Nicki Li
National Champion, division 3 men's foil (Summer National Championships 2019, Columbus, OH).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Cristian Porras
7th place, division 2 men's foil (April NAC 2022, Charlotte, NC).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Zoe Tolbert
3rd place, senior women's foil team (Summer National Championships 2017, Salt Lake City, UT). 2nd place, division 2 women's foil (April NAC 2017, Baltimore, MD). 2nd place, division 3 women's foil (April NAC 2017, Baltimore, MD). 7th place, division 3 women's foil (Summer National Championships 2016, Dallas, TX).
Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Hall of Fame: International Competition
One must register through USA Fencing to represent the United States in international competition. Depending on the age group and the event only a certain number of fencers are accepted based on their national points ranking.
Cristian Porras
Pan American Olympic Qualifier, Costa Rica, 2024. Lima FIE Foil and Epee Junior World Cup, Lima, Peru 2023. Silver Medal at the Central American and Carribean Games, San Salvador, El Salvador 2023. Junior and Cadet World Championships 2023, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Pan American Cadet and Junior Championships 2023, Bogota, Colombia. Team Guatemala. Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Kwangsuk Chung
Veteran World Championships 2023, Veteran 50 Men's foil, Daytona Beach, USA. Team South Korea. Coach Chung finished 22nd in the world in the individual event.
Benjamin Lee
Prince Takamado Foil Senior World Cup 2022, Tokyo, Japan. Foil Junior World Cup 2020, San José, USA. Coupe Du Danube Foil Cadet European Cup 2018, Bratislava, Slovakia. Team USA. Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Tobias Lee
Veteran World Championships 2022, Veteran 50 Men's Épée, Zadar, Croatia. Team USA. Toby finished 25th in the world in the individual event and 5th in the team event. Coach Andrew Lee.
Ketki Ketkar
Budapest Épée Cadet European Cup 2019, Budapest, Hungary. Team USA. After winning gold in the team event, Ketki finishes 6th out of 289 fencers. Coach Jisun Kim.
Gabriel Guerra
Pan Am Games 2017, Youth A men's foil, St Thomas. Team USA. Gabriel was 3rd in Youth A (Y10) men's foil. Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Sofia Guerra
Pan Am Games 2017, Youth B women's foil and épée, St Thomas. Team USA. Sofia was 3rd in both Youth B (Y12) women's foil and épée. Coach Kwangsuk Chung.
Andrew Lee
Épée Cadet European Cup 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark. Team USA.Coach Dana Sanford.