Mattern started off a string of stunning upsets by going into the table of 64 seeded 57th and defeating Peter Vanky of Sweden, no. 8 in the world, by the resounding score of 15-9. He later took on Ulrich Robeiri of France (11th in the world) and defeated him 15-11 to reach the final eight.

In the quarterfinals, Mattern defeated the no. 2 fencer in the world -- Fabrice Jeannet of France -- soundly, 15-8. He then dispatched Marcel Fischer of Switzerland, ranked third in the world, 15-14 to reach the final. In the gold-medal bout, Mattern finally met a top-four World Cup fencer who could end his streak. He lost the gold to Alfredo Rota of Italy 15-10.

In the team cup, the US men’s epeeists earned ninth place and sealed their trip to Athens as a squad. A top-four finish by the Canadian team could have knocked the US men out of that slot, but the Canadians lost to the Germans and then later the U.S., finishing 13th.

On their way to ninth place, the US men lost their first match with Italy 45-36, but then defeated Canada (45-39), Sweden (45-40) and China (45-37) to wrap up a fantastic weekend.

In other World Cup news, the U.S. women’s saber team of Emma Baratta (19, somerville, N.J.), Mariel Zagunis (19, Beaverton, Ore.), and Emily (18, Dunwoody, Ga.) and Sada Jacobson (21, Dunwoody, Ga.) won the gold at a team cup in Moscow, Russia. The US women defeated China for the first time as a team and then Russia on the way to the top of the podium.