About
Northwest Fencing Center
Oregon’s premier fencing center, specializing in foil and epee training and competition.
Northwest Fencing Center is a non-profit athletic center that has been providing people of all ages with classes, camps, and private lessons since 1972.
NWFC specializes in foil and epee with a strong focus on the core foundations of fencing. Coaches are dedicated to providing a supportive, inspiring, and fun atmosphere to foster a love of the sport and the growth of the athlete, both on the strip and off.
Coaches
Simon Abram
Head Coach, Fencing Master
Simon comes from a family with four fencing masters. He has been fencing since he was seven years old and started to coach at 14. He got his first coaching degree when he was 16. In 2006, at 21, he became the young…
Patricio Moreno
Fencing Master
Patricio is an accomplished athlete and fencing coach with 15+ years of coaching experience. Before moving to the US, he was a member of the Chilean National Team for 13 consecutive years. He climbed high in FIE rank…
Michael McTigue
Epee Prevot
Coach McTigue began his fencing career under the supervision of Hungarian Maestro Csaba Elthes. Later he studied under renowned Russian epee Maestro Albert Chikayev, trainer of multiple world and Olympic cha…
Gregory Mitberg
Fencing Moniteur
Gregory started fencing at NWFC when he was just five years old! He competed on the European cadet and junior circuits from 2013 to 2017 and began on the international senior circuit in 2015. With 4 top 8 fin…
Will Richmond
Epee and Foil Moniteur
Will Richmond started fencing sabre at SAF (Studio of American Fencing) in 2001, in NE Portland. While in college in Ashland Or, he fenced at Southern Oregon Fencing Center under Maestro John McDougall where he learned foil a…
Askhat Tesche
Fencing Coach
Askhat Tesche first began fencing in New Mexico, and later moved to Portland to train at Northwest. He has competed nationally since 2015 and officially joined the NWFC team in 2012. In Cadet and Junior national circuits, Askhat has ranke…
Administration
Michael McTigue
Temporary Executive Director
The board of directors is pleased to announce Coach Michael McTigue has been appointed our Temporary Executive Director.
The board, coaches, and admin staff are grateful for Michael’s willingness to share his expertise.
Lika Vogler
Member Services
Lika specializes in member accounts and leads the services at the front desk. She also helps coordinate accommodations for NWFC’s traveling guest fencers during tournaments and camps.
A fencer’s mom of 14 years at NWFC – Lika’s son is currently a Division 1 fe…
Erin Hambleton
Communications and Events Coordinator
Erin Hambleton specializes in club communications and special events. In addition to leading NWFC’s online communications, Erin assists with club operations and member services.
Erin first joined the NWFC Fencing family in 2010 when her oldest daughter jo…
The Board of Directors
Northwest Fencing Center is a 501(3)c not-for-profit organization. NWFC Board Members are appointed by NWFC members and are responsible for providing direction, leadership, and stability for the organization’s operations.
The Board makes decisions that impact day-to-day activities and the long-term goals of the club. Expansion plans, fundraising efforts, and scholarship grants are all some of the responsibilities the Board of Directors upholds.
Our Vision: An inclusive community as a model of excellence for the fencing world, and beyond.
Our Mission: Fencing education for all that encourages growth in perseverance and sportsmanship.
Board Members:
Bob Marx, President
Bob Marx has been a member of NWFC since its inception. He has held various positions such as President, Executive Director, and even coach for nine months while searching for a new fencing master. Along the way, Bob made a few Olympic teams.
Katie Kelly, Secretary
Katie and her family moved from Tampa, FL to Beaverton in 2019. When searching for a new activity for their oldest child, they came across fencing, and it was instantly a big hit. Katie was impressed with the feeling of community at the gym and became more involved as a medic. With a young fencer, she wanted to get more involved in order to offer the perspective of newer families to the gym. Katie is a local pediatrician. In her spare time, she also enjoys reading, gardening, hiking, swimming, and cake decorating.
Adam Mirarchi
Adam Mirarchi grew up in Pennsylvania, but he and his wife have called Portland home for 15 years. He got his son involved in fencing because “the kid loved swinging a sword from day one”. He is an orthopedic surgeon with a specialty in hand and upper extremity surgery. Adam looks forward to guiding and advising the NWFC as it is a unique and positive organization within the community.
Pam Nason, Vice President
Pam Mariea-Nason has seen the positive impact of the sport of fencing and the NWFC community has had on her daughter. Watching the encouragement and sense of belonging for all fencers is a primary reason she volunteers on the Board. As a nurse, her background working in many aspects of health care has helped her identify the overwhelmingly positive impact the sport can have on the physical and emotional health of the participants.
Richard King
Richard King is an East Coast native who transplanted to Silicon Valley to work as a hard-core geek. He grew up in New Jersey, attended MIT for his undergraduate studies, and Rutgers for his PhD. As a professional geek, Dick worked in the esoteric field of Reasoning; among other things, making a serious contribution to ferreting out Y2K* problems in old COBOL code, and writing systems to develop test use coverage for Boeing 777 avionics software. Dick later worked at Yahoo Search and Apple Search. In May 2017, Dick retired, moving to Oregon to spend more time with his granddaughters.
Dick began fencing in 1992 at a Silicon Valley Jewish Community Center, because it sounded like a lot of fun. Dick discovered it suited him; it didn’t require a single spectacular athletic attribute beyond above-average performance in a lot of areas. If fencing doesn’t offer enough aggravation on the strip, Dick also climbs, plays racquetball, runs, bikes, and lifts. In Silicon Valley, he served as Division Secretary, Vice President, and President [in that order] of the Central California division.
Liz Larsen
Nichole Loyd, Treasurer
Nichole’s boys became involved with fencing during an NWFC outreach after-school program at their school. Since then she has seen the incredible impact on her family by the club, the coaches, and the NWFC “family”. Nichole continues to serve on the board as a way to give back and help ensure the same positive and inclusive environment for other families. Nichole works in the utility industry as a Senior Compliance Consultant and Project Manager.
Dan Krogh
Dan Krogh has been a member of NWFC for 24 seasons. Dan has represented the club in regional and national tournaments in foil and epee. He has worked in the tech sector for over 21 years and his area of expertise is Information Technology. Dan has two daughters who are both accomplished fencers. Dan’s passion is the sport of fencing and advocating for our veteran fencers.
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Honorary Youth Athlete Representatives:
Anika Kale
Anika has been fencing for five years. She enjoys the problem solving as well as the physical aspect which makes this sport very unique. The fencing community is very important to her, she hopes to share her experiences (patience, perseverance, and focus), with the younger generations to come. Her goal is to continue to fence in college on a NCAA fencing team in a few years. Outside of fencing, she is a part of Model United Nations, the Debate Club, and she is the president of the American Red Cross Club, where they work to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies. She also loves to play soccer and cheer for her favorite team, FC Barcelona!
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Help Support the Organization:
Northwest Fencing Center is a non-profit organization that offers application-based scholarships and grants to fencers of all levels. We believe in supporting the fencer and the sport of fencing.