Connor Turley surges in steel rapier-and-dagger rankings after June event

Connor Turley’s jump from 42nd to 13th was the cleanest sign that the mixed and men’s steel rapier-and-dagger field is still taking shape after a June update built on just one concentrated event. The month’s ratings change drew from 245 fights at South East Renaissance Fencing Open 2026, and HEMA Ratings says June movement can also reflect bouts from other June events, making the monthly list a whole-month snapshot rather than a single-bracket result.

That context matters because the category is not small. HEMA Ratings’ main island for mixed and men’s steel rapier and dagger held 1,399 fighters in June, with 14 new names entering the pool. Even in a field that deep, the month still produced clear movement at the top and in the middle, with changes that can affect how future brackets and seedings are set.

Turley’s rise was the biggest rank gain of the month. He moved up 29 places with a weighted rating of 1,801.2, a leap that puts him far closer to the conversation at the sharp end of the table than he was a month earlier. Chad Mathine made the biggest rating climb, jumping from 1,076.2 to 1,541.5, one of the month’s clearest signs that a single strong weekend can reset how a fighter is viewed. Emily Holloway posted the month’s biggest upset with a win carrying an estimated 6.10 percent chance, the kind of result that can ripple through a division where odds are often tight.

Kerry Donny-Clark arrived as the highest-rated newcomer on the main island, debuting at 272nd with a rating of 1,406. Two other fighters also returned after at least two years away, another reminder that the rankings are not only tracking the active core but also absorbing athletes coming back into competition.

The South East Renaissance Fencing Open field itself was sizable, with 56 fighters in mixed and men’s steel rapier and dagger. That turnout helped feed the update, but the broader machinery behind the rankings is what gives the movement weight. HEMA Ratings says it collects results from as many tournaments as possible to seed events more fairly, track individual progress, and compare clubs, using the Glicko-2 system and showing both weighted rating and rank. HEMA Scorecard’s rapier rules make the connection plain too, seeding fighters from past results to create as many meaningful matches as possible.

For Turley, Mathine and Holloway, June was more than a good weekend. It was the kind of month that can redraw the next set of pairings before the next blade is even drawn.