Each team has three fencers.During the match, each member of the team fences each opposing team member once.The first team to score 45 points is the winner.

Before meeting Italy, the US team encountered teams from Kuwait, Holland, Russia and France.Russia provided the most difficult bout of the day with a close final score of 45-42, before meeting number one seeded Italy.Italy received a bye in the first round.They beat Great Britain, China and the Ukraine teams before losing to the US Team.

The bout with Italy traded leads back and forth for several minutes.US team member, Gerek Meinhardt, was not having a good night having exhausted himself against Russia earlier in the day. The US went behind early during Meinhardt’s first two bouts with the Italians.

Shaito, a seventeen year old Garland high school junior, provided the turning point for the US team. Shaito scored four touches to tie the score, then surged ahead three more points.Shaito’s touches put the US team in the lead.Teammate Nicholas Chinman followed and, with a series of lightening scores, handed Meinhardt a 40-36 lead.

In the final bout of the match, Meinhardt encountered Italian fencer, Martino Minuto.Meinhardt had beaten Minuto in the Individual event earlier in the World Championships in a hard fought 15-13 bout.Minuto tied the score at one point, but Meinhardt refused to give up and ended the tournament with a 45-42 win.