“I was obviously a little disappointed about not winning the event,” Williams said. “I was really looking forward to hearing our national anthem. I’m going to take that and move forward.”

Williams entered direct elimination action as a number eight seed following a 4-2 showing in pool competition. He battled Eliecer Rincones of Venezuela in preliminary round action, and it was Rincones striking first. Yet the two stayed close throughout the first three minutes of fencing and Williams took a slim 11-9 advantage after the first round. Rincones pulled the bout to an 11-11 tie early in the second, but Williams scored four unanswered touches to win, 15-11.

His quarterfinal contest featured a match-up with number one seed Daylor Diaz of Cuba, and unlike his first match, it was Williams taking the early lead. He moved out to a 3-0 advantage, but Diaz soon pulled it to a 4-4 tie. Ten unanswered Williams’ points gave him a commanding 14-4 advantage, and he took an eight-point lead into the second round. Diaz pulled the bout to within six, but Williams scored his 15th touch 22 seconds into the second round to win the quarterfinal match-up.

He faced off with Canada’s Nicolas Mayer in semifinal round action, and the match was competitive from the start. The two were deadlocked at eight midway through the first round, but a Williams spurt of five straight touches gave the American a 13-8 lead. Mayer trimmed his deficit to four, but that’s as close as he would get. Williams used only 43 seconds of the second round to reach his goal, winning 15-9 at the 2:17 mark of the second round to advance to final round action.

Williams closed the tournament in a second straight match-up with a Canadian fencer as he faced off with Phillipe Beaudry of Canada. Beaudry led through the majority of the first round, but Williams managed to stay close and went into the second round trailing by an 8-6 margin. Beaudry opened the second round on fire, scoring six straight touches on his way to a 15-7 final victory just over a minute into the second round.

“I had a temporary loss of critical thinking (in the second round) and I think it was a critical moment that eventually cost me the bout,” Williams said.

Despite his loss in the final bout, Williams will look back on his experience in Rio as a positive one. “Rio was great, the village was great, the competition was very well run and you couldn’t ask for more,” he said.

Igoe enjoyed the strong showing in Wednesday morning’s pool competition, going 5-1 to earn a number three seed and he recorded a victory in his first round match. Igoe took on Yunio Naranjo of Cuba in the opening bout, and enjoyed a quick start in the contest. He scored six unanswered points on his way to a 7-1 advantage, but Naranjo managed to pull to within four points at the end of the first round. Yet it took Igoe only 40 seconds of the second round to reach the needed 15-point mark and he won a 15-12 victory to advance to the quarterfinal round.

He faced off in a close quarterfinal match-up with Renzo Agresta of Brazil in his second bout of the day. It was Agresta enjoying the momentum early as he moved out to a 4-0 lead, but Igoe answered, pulling it to a 11-9 margin after the first round. The match went down to the wire with the two fencers tied at 14, but Agresta scored the winning touch 39 seconds into the second round to take the victory.

Williams’ silver medal brings the fencing medal count to four with gold in men’s individual foil and women’s individual epee and silver in women’s individual foil and men’s individual saber.

Individual competition will close with women’s saber on Thursday as Emma Baratta (Somerville, N.J.) and 2003 NCAA champion Alexis Jamal (Westfield, N.J.) compete for a Pan American Games title.

Final Standings
1. Phillipe Beaudry, Canada
2. James Williams, USA
3. Renzo Agresta, Brazil
4. Nicolas Mayer, Canada
7. Benjamin Igoe, USA