Jacob Pendergraft wins Fence-acola 3 open rapier-and-dagger title

Jacob Pendergraft won Fence-acola 3 2026’s Rapier & Dagger - Open division, leading a field of 31 fighters and beating teammate Dominic Francesconi in the final. Fernan Gomez-Monedero finished third for Society of Historical Fencing, while clubmate Ruperto Esteban took fourth.

The result gave Athens School of Arms a clean one-two at the top of the bracket and put Society of Historical Fencing right behind it with third and fourth. In a weapon category built on distance control, line management and precise finishing, that kind of podium shape usually points to more than one strong run through the bracket. It suggests a club traveling with depth and arriving sharp on the day.

The fight for the upper half did not stop at the medals. Trevor Jones of Denver Historical Fencing Academy, Tamim Khatib of Society of Historical Fencing, Bradley Smith of Denver Historical Fencing Academy and Max Tuel of UWF Fencing Club all tied for fifth, showing that the field stayed crowded well past the top four. With multiple clubs placing fighters into the same ranking band, the division looked competitive from top to bottom rather than dominated by a single school.

Pendergraft’s win also fits a broader competitive profile. HEMA Ratings lists him as a fighter for Athens School of Arms and a United States competitor, with tracked results across longsword, rapier and dagger, single rapier, sabre, sword and buckler, single sidesword and singlestick. That range makes the Fence-acola title less like an isolated specialty result and more like the product of a well-rounded tournament fighter meeting a deep bracket.

Fence-acola itself carries some local continuity in Pensacola. A University of West Florida event calendar lists an earlier Fence-acola event on Saturday, June 20, 2020, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CDT, showing the name has already been part of the area’s fencing calendar before this 2026 edition. With 31 entrants in the open rapier-and-dagger field, Fence-acola 3 delivered the kind of test that separates a solid entrant list from a meaningful competitive benchmark.