Chandler Brown wins inaugural Lane County Longsword Open in Eugene

Chandler Brown won the inaugural Lane County Longsword Open in Eugene and, with it, gave the new event an immediate top-end result worth tracking. The one-day longsword-only tournament drew 29 fighters to Lane County Event Center and split the field into Tier A and Tier B, a format that made the debut feel built for both serious contenders and developing fencers.

Brown, representing En Garde Fencing, finished first in Tier A. Rocco Jones of Seize the Vor took second, Kevin Tang of Lonin League placed third, and Cameron Blair of Lonin League finished fourth. That Tier A bracket carried 70 fights, enough volume to separate the strongest pool from the rest of the field without turning the day into a club-length scrimmage.

Tier B delivered its own clean podium and showed why the two-tier structure mattered. Justin Meadows of Masterless Fencing won that bracket, with teammates Ben Johnston second and Mathurin Fogg third. Cedric McAllister of Northwest Fencing Academy took fourth in a 60-fight Tier B draw that gave less experienced competitors a full competitive day against peers rather than forcing them straight into the deepest end of the pool.

That balance is the real story behind the debut. A new tournament can look busy on paper and still fail to give newcomers usable fencing or advanced competitors a credible test. Lane County Longsword Open did both. HEMA Ratings grouped fencers into pools based on rating when available, then clustered unranked fighters together, which gave the event a clearer pathway for rising talent while preserving a hard-edged top division.

Masterless Fencing, the Eugene-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that hosted the tournament, has long centered its club work on longsword while also studying messer, sidesword, and sword & buckler. It offered free spectator admission, food vendors, and limited fighter spots, and it has built its public face around beginner-friendly instruction and loaner gear. That makes the Open more than a one-off: it looks like the kind of event that can pull in first-time competitors while still rewarding the sharper end of the local rankings.

The timing matters, too. Masterless Fencing said in February that it was seeking a new club location after losing its current training space, so a visible tournament win on home soil carries extra weight. For Eugene, the first Lane County Longsword Open established a marker. For the Pacific Northwest HEMA calendar, it added another regional stop where newcomers can get a real bracket and established fencers can still earn something that counts.