CF360 Blog Archive January 2009

Yale Beats Drew and Sacred Heart, in Final Ivy League Tuneup

The Yale men's and women's fencing teams each posted a pair of home wins on Saturday, as the Bulldogs men's team registered a pair of 15-12 wins (versus Sacred Heart and Drew) while the women's team topped Sacred Heart 19-8 and Drew 22-5.

Yale next takes on Ivy League competition, in a two-part series – with the south competition to be held at Columbia on Sunday, Feb. 8, while the Ivy North bouts will be Feb. 22 at Brown.

The Sacred Heart men actually outscored Yale in two weapons (6-3 in epee, 5-4 in sabre), but the Bulldogs countered with an 8-1 edge in foil for the three-point win. Drew (in sabre) and Yale (in foil) then traded 5-4 wins, but the Bulldogs used a 6-3 margin in epee for the 15-12 final.

The Yale women parlayed a 9-0 sweep in foil for the comfortable win over Drew, adding a 6-3 margin in epee and a 7-2 sabre vicrory. Earlier in the day, Yale's 19-8 win over Sacred Heart featured weapon wins in foil (8-1) and sabre (6-3), with the Pioneer women claiming a 5-4 edge in epee.

Four Yale fencers with NCAA Tournament experience combined to go 16-6 in Saturday's bouts. All-America epeeist Michael Pearce – who placed fifth at the 2007 NCAAs (also 13th in '08) – went 5-1 in his bouts, while foilists John Guerrieri and Nathaniel Botwinick both were 3-2 (Gurrieri placed 13th at the '08 NCAAs, Botwinick 20th). 

Women's epeeist Rebecca Moss won all but one of her six bouts on Saturday (Moss was an entrant in the 2007 NCAAs, placing 20th).

Jan 31, 2009 8:54 PM

Men's Rounds 1-2 Results (NU Duals)

Scores are in for Saturday's first two rounds of men's competition at the Northwestern Duals. As noted earlier, Notre Dame edged Penn State in a showdown between the teams sharing the nation's #1 ranking. Penn State actually held the point margin in two of the weapons (5-4, in foil and sabre), but Notre Dame's 6-3 edge in epee provided the winning point.

PSU also beat Wayne State (19-8) while the Irish added a 23-4 victory over Johns Hopkins. Third-ranked Ohio State was victorious in its two opening matches, 22-5 vs. North Carolina and 20-7 over JHU.

Check back to the blog later for the other men's scores from today, plus key match details.


Northwestern Duals (men's bouts, first two rounds)

co-#1 Notre Dame 14 (F4, E6, S4), co-#1 Penn State 13 (F5, E3, S5)
co-#1 Penn State 19 (F4, E9, S6), Wayne State 8 (F5, E0, S3)
co-#1 Notre Dame 23 (F9, E7, S7), Johns Hopkins 4 (F0, E2, S2)

#3 Ohio State 22 (F8, E8, S6), #10 North Carolina 5 (F1, E1, S3)
#3 Ohio State 20 (F6, E8, S6), Johns Hopkins 7 (F3, E1, S3)

Wayne State 23 (F8, E9, S6), Lawrence 4 (F1, E0, S3)
North Carolina 20 (F8, E4, S8), Northwestern 7 (F1, E5, S1)

Cleveland State 18 (F6, E9, S3), Lawrence 7 (F2, E0, S5)
Detroit 17 (F7, E3, S7), Cleveland State 10 (F2, E6, S2)
Northwestern 15 (F1, E9, S5), Detroit 12 (F8, E0, S4)

Jan 31, 2009 6:09 PM

Northwestern Duals Complete Day-1 Women's Results

Saturday's six rounds of women's matches at the Northwestern Duals yielded only one upset, among the six matchups between top-10 teams. Second-ranked Notre Dame upset #1 Penn State, 19-8, with the balance Irish effort including seven wins in epee and six each in foil and sabre.

Penn State did manage to post a seven-point win over #3 Ohio State, led by a 7-2 PSU edge in epee (the other weapons were 5-4), and won by an even wider margin (20-7) versus 6th-ranked homestanding Northwestern (the Wildcats won foil, 5-4, but were shut out in epee and won only two sabre bouts vs. OSU).

Notre Dame's 6-0 day also included a 19-8 victory over #8 Temple, which battled the Irish close in foil (4-5; ND won epee and sabre 7-2).

Ohio State (5-1) doubled up the home team (18-9), on the strength of its sabre (8-1) and foil teams (7-2; NU won epee, 6-3), in addition to adding a 17-10 win over Temple (seven wins in sabre, five each in foil and epee). 

More specific details from the top-10 matchups will be included in a blog posting later today, as will some info. on the top fencers from some of the other squads in the 12-team field.

Full women's results from Saturday are included below:

NORTHWESTERN DUALS (women; rounds 1-6)

#2 Notre Dame 19 (F6, E7, S6), #1 Penn State 8 (F3, E2, S3)
#1 Penn State 17 (F5, E7, S5), #3 Ohio State 10 (F4, E2, S4)
#1 Penn State 20 (F4, E9, S7), #6 Northwestern 7 (F5, E0, S2)
#1 Penn State 22 (F6, E8, S8), North Carolina 5 (F3, E1, S1)
#1 Penn State 27 (F9, E9, S9), Wayne State 0 (F0, E0, S0)

#2 Notre Dame 19 (F5, E7, S7), #8 Temple 8 (F4, E2, S2)
#2 Notre Dame 23 (F8, E6, S9), Wayne State 4 (F1, E3, S0)
#2 Notre Dame 25 (F8, E9, S8), Johns Hopkins 2 (F1, E0, S1)
#2 Notre Dame 25 (F7, E9, S9), Lawrence 2 (F2, E0, S0)
#2 Notre Dame 24 (F7, E9, S8), Fairleigh Dickinson 3 (F2, E0, S1) 

#3 Ohio State 18 (F7, E3, S8), #6 Northwestern 9 (F2, E6, S1)
#3 Ohio State 17 (F5, E5, S7), #8 Temple 10 (F4, E4, S2)
#3 Ohio State 26 (F9, E8, S9), Cleveland State 0 (F0, E1, S0)
#3 Ohio State 27 (F9, E9, S0), Detroit (F0, E0, S0)
#3 Ohio State 27 (F9, E9, S9), Lawrence 0 (F0, E0, S0)

#6 Northwestern 15 (F6, E6, S3), North Carolina 12 (F3, E3, S6)
#6 Northwestern 25 (F9, E7, S9), Cleveland State (F0, E2, S0)
#6 Northwestern 23 (F6, E8, S9), Lawrence 4 (F3, E1, S0)
#6 Northwestern 25 (F7, E9, S9), Fairleigh Dickinson 2 (F2, E0, S0)

#8 Temple 24 (F7, E8, S9), Wayne State 3 (F2, E1, S0)
#8 Temple 25 (F8, E8, S9), Cleveland State 2 (F1, E1, S0)
#8 Temple 28 (F9, E9, S9), Detroit 0 (F0, E0, S0)

North Carolina 16 (F5, E3, S8), Johns Hopkins 11 (F4, E6, S1)
North Carolina 21 (F8, E6, S7), Wayne State 6 (F1, E3, S2)
North Carolina 27 (F9, E9, S9), Cleveland State (F0, E0, S0)
North Carolina 24 (F9, E9, S6), Detroit 3 (F0, E0, S3)

Johns Hopkins 19 (F8, E5, S6), Wayne State 8 (F1, E4, S3)
Johns Hopkins 22 (F7, E6, S9), Lawrence 5 (F2, E3, S0)
Johns Hopkins 23 (F8, E9, S6), Detrot 4 (F1, E0, S3)
Johns Hopkins 18 (F4, E7, S7), Fairleigh Dickinson 9 (F5, E2, S2)

Wayne State 15 (F3, E6, S6), Fairleigh Dickinson 12 (F6, E3, S3)
Lawrence 13 (F4, E8, S6), Detroit 11 (F4, E1, S6)
Lawrence 15 (F8, E7, S0), Cleveland State 6 (F1, E2, S3)
Fairleigh Dickinson 19 (F8, E3, S8), Cleveland State 8 (F4, E6, S1)
Fairleigh Dickinson 16 (F4, E7, S5), Detroit 11 (F5, E2, S4)

Jan 31, 2009 5:03 PM

Penn State Women Top Ohio State, 17-10

Another noteworthy score in from the Northwestern Duals, as the top-ranked Penn State women have defeated #3 Ohio State (17-10; details to follow when available).

The PSU men (co-#1) and OSU (#3) still are completing their showdown bouts. To clarify a blog entry from earlier, it now appears that OSU All-America sabreman Sergey Smirnov is not competing with the Buckeyes today.

Jan 31, 2009 4:32 PM

History in the Making? (Part I.: Three-Time NCAA Champs)

Two of the fencers in action at this weekend's Northwestern Duals – Ohio State senior men's foilist Andras Horanyi (Boulder, Colo.) and Wayne State junior men's epeeist Slava Zingerman (Ashkelon, Israel) – already own two NCAA individual titles. If either of those elite fencers manages to win another title, they would join an exclusive group of fencers who have totaled three-plus NCAA titles.

Interestingly enough, the 12 previous fencers with three or more NCAA titles include more from Wayne State (3) than any other school, plus two each from NYU, Ohio State and Penn State (also one each from Columbia, Notre Dame and Stanford). Those "three-peat/four-peat" champions include nine men (four foilists, four sabreists, one epeeist) and three women (two foilists, one epeeist).

FENCERS WHO HAVE WON THREE OR FOUR NCAA INDIVIDUAL TITLES
Bruce Soriano (3) ... men's sabre ... Columbia (1970-72)
Risto Hurme (3) ... men's epee ... NYU (1973-75)
Greg Benko (3) ... men's foil ... Wayne State (1974-76) 
Ernest Simon (3) ... men's foil ... Wayne State (1978, '80-'81)
Michael Lofton (4) ... men's sabre ... NYU (1984-87)
Nick Bravin (3) ... men's foil ... Stanford (1990, '92-'93)
Thomas Strzalkowski (3) ... men's sabre ... Penn State (1992-94)
Olga Kalinovskaya (4) ... women's foil ... Penn State (1993-96)
Alicja Kryczalo (3) ... women's foil ... Notre Dame (2002-04)
Boaz Ellis (3) ... men's foil ... Ohio State (2004-06)
Andre Crompton ... men's sabre ... Ohio State (2003-04, '06)
Anna Garina (3) ... women's epee ... Wayne State (2004-05, '07)

Former NYU men's sabreist Michael Lofton (1984-87) and Penn State women's foilist Olga Kalinovskaya (1993-96) are the only fencers ever to win four NCAA individual titles. Three other men's saberists have been three-time champs: Columbia's Bruce Soriano ('70-'72), PSU's Thomas Strzalkowski ('92-'94) and Ohio State's Adam Crompton ('03, '04, '06).

The four men's foilists who have been three-time NCAA champions include: Wayne State's Greg Benko ('74-'76) and Ernest Simon ('78, '80, '81), Stanford's Nick Bravin ('90, '92-'93) and OSU's Boaz Ellis ('04-'06), who beat his teammate Horanyi in the 2006 NCAA final.

Notre Dame women's foilist Alicja Kryczalo won the NCAA title from 2002-04, before losing the 2005 NCAA final to Harvard's Emily Cross (now a fifth-year senior with the Crimson, after fencing for Team USA at the 2008 Olympics). 

Epee typically is the most unpredictable of the three weapons, and accordingly the feat of pulling off an NCAA title "three-peat" has been accomplished by only one men's epeeist (nearly 35 years ago, by NYU's Risto Hurme from '73-'75) and one women's epeeist (WSU's Anna Garina, in '04, '05 and '07).

During the current decade, only two fencers – Kryczalo and Garina – have reached the NCAA final in their weapon during all four years of their college eligibility (Horanyi has the chance to join them in that distinction). Garina lost the 2006 NCAA women's epee final to PSU's Katarzyna Trzopek, who also was NCAA champion in 2003.

By winning a third NCAA title (in '09, or potentially 2010), Zingerman would become the first men's epeeist in 34 years to be a three-time national champion.

NCAA individual championships have been awarded every year since 1941 (aside from the 1943-46 World War II. era), in each of the three weapons. Women's foil was introduced as an NCAA individual weapon in 1982, women's epee in 1995 and women's sabre in 2000. Two-time Olympian Sada Jacobson is the only fencer ever to win multiple NCAA women's sabre titles (at Yale, in 2000 and 01), in the brief history of that weapon. The 14 years of NCAA women's epee bouting have yielded only two repeat champions: Trzopek and Garina.

In addition to the various fencers mentioned above, there have been four other two-time NCAA champions during the current decade: Stanford men's foilist Felix Reichling ('99, '00), PSU men's foilist Non Panchan ('02, '03), St. John's men's epee standout Arpad Horvath ('02, '04) and SJU men's sabreist Ivan Lee ('01, '02) ... for a total of 11 repeat champions since 2000 (also Jacobson, Kryczalo, Garina, Ellis, Crompton, Trzopek and Zingerman).

There has been at least one repeat champion in each of the past seven NCAA Championships: Lee and Jacobson in 2002; Panchan and Kryczalo in '03; Horvath, Crompton and Kryczalo in '04; Ellis and Garina in '05; Ellis, Crompton and Trzopek in '06; Garina in '07; and Horanyi and Zingerman in '08.

Ellis and Crompton are the only teammates ever to win their respectivev third (or fourth) NCAA title in the same year.

One other factoid: should Horanyi win the 2009 NCAA title, that would mark the sixth straight NCAA men's foil championship claimed by an Ohio State fencer. Such a streak is unprecedented, in any weapon. There has been only one other time that a school has won the same weapon five straight years, when Penn State's "Olga connection" of Olga Chernyak ('92) and Kalinovskaya ('93-'96) brought home the NCAA women's foil titles.

Jan 31, 2009 3:36 PM

Irish Men Edge Buckeyes, 14-13, In Co-#1 Showdown

Word in from Northwestern that the Penn State and Notre Dame men lived up to their co-#1 status, battling toe-to-toe in a 14-13 victory for the Irish. Again, we heard earlier in the day that PSU ace sabreist Daniel Bak (who placed 3rd at the '08 NCAAs) was not competing at the NU Duals. ... We will pass on details from this match when we get them, also trying to track down scores from Penn State vs. Ohio State (ND and OSU will fence tomorrow, in a quick rematch from last Sunday's NYU Duals).

Jan 31, 2009 3:01 PM

Quick Update from NU; ND Men's Foilists

Today's blog entries may be a bit delayed, as we are limited by the communications setup at each facility. We had initial word that Ohio State All-America men's sabreist Sergey Smirnov was at the Northwestern Duals, after not competing last week at the SJU Invite or NYU Duals (it later was confirmed that Smirnov is not with the Buckeyes at today's event).

Notre Dame sophomore men's foilist Steve Kubik also is at the NU Duals (he did not fence last week), as is ND freshman foil phenom Gerek Meinhardt (who was fencing overseas last weekend, at a World Cup Grand Prix event in Paris). Meinhardt competed with the U.S. men's foil team at the 2008 Olympic Games, becoming the youngest Olympic fencer in Team USA history.

Notre Dame may boast the deepest four-man foil unit in collegiate fencing, with Meinhardt, brothers Steve and Mark Kubik (a senior), and sophomore Zach Schirtz. Mark Kubik is a two-time NCAA Tournament competitor, earning All-America honors with his 7th-place finish in 2007 (he was 21st in '06). The younger Kubik (8th) and Schirtz (11th) followed up with All-America finishes at the 2008 NCAAs. Most recently, last week at the NYU Duals, the ND men's foilists (Meinhardt, Schirtz and Mark Kubik) swept two-time defending NCAA champion Andras Horanyi, helping clinch the Irish win over Ohio State.

... With each team allowed a maximum of two NCAA entrants per weapon, it should be interesting to see which ND men's foilists qualify for the '09 NCAAs.

Jan 31, 2009 12:41 PM

#2 ND Women Beat #1 Penn State, 19-8

We have received one noteworthy score from the early bouting at Northwestern – as the 2nd-ranked Notre Dame women have defeated top-ranked Penn State, 19-8. Details will be posted on the CF360 blog, as they become available. We also heard earlier in the day that one of PSU's top women's sabreists, Monica Askamit, is not competing at this event due to a Junior World Cup conflict. ... More to come, as we get it.

Note that we also are hoping to track the action at the M.I.T. Invitational, and the other events from this weekend.

Jan 31, 2009 10:16 AM

Top Fencers to Watch at the NU Duals ...

Five former NCAA champions – in every weapon except for men's sabre – are on the various teams that will compete at this weekend's Northwestern Duals. Those elite fencers include a pair of two-time champions: Ohio State men's foilist Andras Horanyi ('07 and '08; also was '06 runner-up behind former teammate Boaz Ellis) and Wayne State men's epeeist Slava Zingerman ('07, '08).

The other former NCAA champions who are slated to be in action at the NU Duals include Penn State women's foilist Doris Willette ('07) along with a pair of Notre Dame fencers, women's sabreist Sarah Borrmann ('08) and women's epeeist Kelley Hurley ('08; also was '07 runner-up).

The 12-team field also includes three other fencers who have been an NCAA runner-up (along with Horanyi and Hurley): Ohio State men's sabreist Mike Momtselidze ('08; also 4th in '07), Penn State women's sabreist Caity Thompson ('07; also 4th in '06) and Ohio State women's foilist Oksana Dmytruk ('08).

Five other fencers from teams at the NU Duals have reached the semifinal round at previous NCAAs: Penn State men's sabreist Daniel Bak (3rd in '08), Notre Dane women's foilist Adi Nott (3rd in '07, 4th in '08; also 6th in '06) and epeeist Ewa Nelip (3rd in '08), and the Penn State duo of men's foilist Nick Chinman (4th in '08; also 5th in '07) and women's epeeist Anastasia Ferdman (4th in '07; also 6th in '08).

The 12 Northwestern Duals teams include a total of 35 fencers who have earned All-America honors at previous NCAA Championships:

• Six Men's Sabreists – OSU's Momtselidze and Sergey Smirnov (11th in '07; also 14th in '08), PSU's Bak, ND's Barron Nydam (6th in '08) and Bill Thanhouser (6th in '07; also 13th in '08), and Wayne State's Jakub Gibczynski (10th in '08) ... note that there's a chance Bak may not be fencing at this event, while Smirnov did not compete last weekend at the St. John's Invitational and NYU Duals.

• Seven Men's Foilists – OSU's Horanyi and Ben Parkins (9th in '08), PSU's Chinman and Samuel Perkins (12th in '08), and the ND trio of Steve Kubik (8th in '08), Zach Schirtz (11th in '08) and Mark Kubik  (7th in '07; also 21st in '06) ... note that Chinman did not fence last weekend at the Princeton Multi-Meet.

• Four Men's Epeeists – WSU's Zingerman and Mykhaylo Mazur (9th in '07, while fencing for OSU), ND's Karol Kostka (11th in '07; also 13th in '08 and 18th in '06) and OSU's Jason Pryor (10th in '08; also 17th in '06 and 20th in '07).

• Three Women's Sabreists: ND's Borrmann and Eileen Hassett (5th in '08), and PSU's Thompson.

• Eight Women's Foilists: PSU's Willette and Allison Glasser (5th in '08), OSU's Dmytruk and Lindsay Knauer (6th in '08), ND's Nott and Hayley Reese (11th in '08), Temple's Melissa Parker (7th in '08) and Northwestern's Samantha Nemecek (7th in '07, 8th in '06 and '08).  

• Seven Women's Epeeists: ND's Hurley and Nelip, PSU's Ferdman and Keri Byerts (5th in '08), Temple's Kristin Howell (9th in '08), and the Northwestern duo of Christa French (6th in '07, 10th in '08) and Joanna Niklinska (12th in '08).


The NU Duals teams include 19 other fencers who have competed in past NCAAs but not been top-12/All-Americans: PSU men's epeeist James Moody (17th in '08, 19th in '06), women's sabreist Jessica-Kim Danh (18th in '08) and women's foilist Anne Jackson (14th in '08) ...  ND women's foilist Emilie Prot (14th in '07), women's sabreist Ashley Serrette (16th in '07) and men's epeeist Brent Kelly (21st in '08, while fencing for Columbia) ... OSU men's epeeist Sean Harder (19th in '08) ... Northwestern women's epeeist Kaylee French (14th in '07) ... Temple women's epeeist Grace Wu (19th in '08) and sabreists Kristine Jones (18th in '07) and Christine Griffith (21st in '07, 23rd in '08) ...  

North Carolina men's sabreists Bobby Ziechmann (16th in '07, 18th in '08, 21st in '06), Will Randolph (22nd in '06) and Kevin Ziechmann (24th in '08), women's sabreist Jennifer Sawicki (15th in '07, 16th in '08) and women's foilist May-Lynne Chen-Contino (22nd in '07) ... and the Johns Hopkins duo of men's foilist David Ferguson (13th in '07) and men's epeeist Daniel Zielinski (22nd in '06).

Ohio State's Julia Tikhonova finished fifth in the 2007 NCAA women's foil competition but now is fencing epee for the Buckeyes.

Jan 31, 2009 7:51 AM

Northwestern Duals Schedule/Top Bouts

There will be six elite matchups during this weekend's Northwestern Duals (Feb. 1-2), as the top three teams in the national rankings – Penn State, Notre Dame and Ohio State – will do battle in both men's and women's bouts. Penn State will be at the NU Duals only on Saturday, while the ND-OSU bouts will be on Sunday:

Marquee Matchups at the Northwestern Duals (times are approximate)

Sat., Jan. 31 – 8:50 a.m. (#1 Penn State women vs. #2 Notre Dame women) ... 11:30 a.m. (PSU women vs. #3 Ohio State women) ... 2:05 p.m. (PSU women vs. ND men) ... 3:00 p.m. (PSU men vs. OSU men)

Sun., Feb. 1 – 11:30 a.m. (ND women vs. OSU women) ... 3:00 p.m. (ND men vs. OSU men)

note that there will be seven other matchups involving top-10 teams: 
ND women vs. #8 Temple (Sat., 9:45) ... OSU women vs. #6 Northwestern (Sat., 9:45) ... PSU women vs. NU (Sat., 10:35) ... OSU women vs. Temple (Sat., 10:35) ... ND women vs. NU (Sun., 9:45) ... NU women vs. Temple (Sun., 10:35) ... (the PSU and Temple women will not be facing each other at this event) ... also #10 North Carolina men on Saturday vs. OSU (1:15), PSI (3:50) and ND (4:45) 

Here is the complete schedule (note that Northwestern's men's team, which is club/non-varsity, will be competing at this event ... Temple and Fairleigh Dickinson have only women's fencing teams, on the varsity level): 


Northwestern Duals

Saturday, Jan. 31

(women's bouts)

Round 1 (8:00, central) – #1 Penn State vs. Wayne State ... #2 Notre Dame vs. John's Hopkins ... #3 Ohio State vs. Lawrence ... #6 Northwestern vs. Fairleigh Dickinson ... #8 Temple vs. Cleveland State ... North Carolina vs. Detroit

Round 2 (8:50) – PSU vs. ND ... OSU vs. CSU ... NU vs. UNC ... Temple vs. DET ... WSU vs. FDU ... JHU vs. LAW

Round 3 (9:45) – PSU vs. UNC ... ND vs. Temple ... OSU vs. NU ... WSU vs. JHU ... CSU vs. FDU ... LAW vs. DET 

Round 4 (10:35) – PSU vs. NU ... ND vs. FDU ... OSU vs. Temple ... WSU vs. UNC ... JHU vs. DET ... CSU vs. LAW

Round 5 (11:30) – PSU vs. OSU ... ND vs. LAW ... NU vs. CSU ... Temple vs. WSU  ... DET vs. FDU ... JHU vs. UNC

Round 6 (12:20) – ND vs. WSU ... OSU vs. DET ... NU vs. LAW ... JHU vs. FDU ... UNC vs. CSU 


(men's bouts)

Round 7 (1:15) – co-#1 Penn State vs. Wayne State ... co-#1 ND vs. Johns Hopkins ... #3 Ohio State vs. #10 North Carolina ... Northwestern vs. Detroit ... Cleveland State vs. Lawrence

Round 8 (2:05) – PSU vs. ND ... OSU vs. JHU ... NU vs. UNC ... WSU vs. LAW .. CSU vs. DET

Round 9 (3:00) – PSU vs. OSU ... ND vs. NU ... WSU vs. CSU ... DET vs. JHU ... LAW vs. UNC

Round 10 (3:50) – PSU vs. UNC ... ND vs. CSU ... OSU vs. WSU ... NU vs. JHU ... LAW vs. DET

Round 11 (4:45) – PSU vs. CSU ... ND vs. UNC ... OSU vs. DET ... NU vs. LAW ... WSU vs. JHU


Sunday, Feb. 1

(women's bouts)

Round 1 (8:00, central) – #2 Notre Dame vs. Cleveland State ... #3 Ohio State vs. Johns Hopkins ... #6 Northwestern vs. Detroit ... #8 Temple vs. North Carolina ... Wayne State vs. Lawrence ... (bye for Fairleigh Dickinson)

Round 2 (8:50) – ND vs. UNC ... OSU vs. FDU ... NU vs. WSU ... Temple vs. LAW ... CSU vs. DET ... (bye for JHU) 

Round 3 (9:45) – ND vs. NU ... OSU vs. UNC ... Temple vs. JHU ... WSU vs. CSU ... LAW vs. FDU ... (bye for DET)

Round 4 (10:35) – ND vs. DET ... OSU vs. WSU ... NU vs. Temple ... JHU vs. CSU ... UNC vs. FDU ... (bye for LAW)

Round 5 (11:30) – ND vs. OSU ... NU vs. JHU ... Temple vs. FDU  ... WSU vs. DET ... UNC vs. FDU ... (bye for CSU)


(men's bouts)

Round 6 (12:20) – co-#1 ND vs. Wayne State ... #3 Ohio State vs. Lawrence ... Northwestern vs. Cleveland State ... #10 North Carolina vs. Johns Hopkins ... (bye for Detroit)

Round 7 (1:15) – ND vs. DET ... OSU vs. NU ... NU vs. UNC ... WSU vs. UNC ... (bye for LAW)

Round 8 (2:05) – ND vs. LAW ... OSU vs. CSU ... NU vs. WSU ... DET vs. UNC ... (bye for JHU)

Round 9 (3:00) – ND vs. OSU ... NU vs. JHU ... WSU vs. DET ... CSU vs. UNC ... (bye for NU)

Jan 31, 2009 6:14 AM

Princeton Duals Wrapup

(This is it for today from the CF360 blog – catch up with us later in the week and be sure to check the site throughout the season, as we will be making regular additions and upgrades, including some photos to help enhance the design.)

• • •

Sunday's 10-team action at the Princeton Multi-Meet produced a handful of upsets, most notably the 6th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's team 17-10 win over co-#1 Penn State. The three upsets in the women's competition were fairly minor: #8 Temple beat #7 Princeton (16-11) but the Owls also lost to #9 Penn (9-18), while #10 Duke lost (13-14) to a Cornell team that is not ranked among the top-10.

The event served as the first big collegiate stage for Duke freshman sabreist Becca Ward, who claimed a pair of bronze medals (individual and team) as a member of the U.S. women's sabre team at the Beijing Olympics. Ward went 14-2 at Princeton, surrendering a total of only 24 touches in those 16 bouts.

Ward lost to a familiar foe in Penn State's Caity Thompson (3-5), as they have been teammates on various U.S. national teams and each trains at the Oregon Fencing Alliance (an elite sabre academy in the Portland area). University of Pennsylvania All-American Danielle Kamis – who placed 10th at the 2008 NCAAs – also scored a win over Ward, 5-2. 

Ward – who is making the adjustment to five-touch bouts (as opposed to the 15-point system used in most USFA national and FIE international events) – registered five 5-0 wins on Sunday, also winning five times at 5-1 along with three 5-2 wins. Temple's Kamail Thompson joined PSU's Thompson and Penn's Kamis as the only fencers to score more than two touches versus Ward on Sunday (in a 5-3 loss).

Penn veteran Alexis Baran (a '08 NCAA participant) dropped a 5-2 bout to Ward, who adde a 5-0 win over Quaker newcomer Dominika Franciskowicz. Ward's wins over PSU came against Monica Askamit (5-2) and Jessica-Kim Dahn (5-1).

Princeton Multi-Meet (final scores)

Men's Scores

#6 Pennsylvania 17 (F8, E4, S5), #1 Penn State 10 (F1, E5, S4)
#1 Penn State 18 (F5, E8, S5), #10 Duke 9 (F4, E1, S4)
#1 Penn State 22 (F7, E7, S8), Johns Hopkins 5 (F2, E2, S1)
#1 Penn State 25 (F9, E8, S8), Haverford 2 (F0, E1, S1)
#1 Penn State 23 (F9, E5, S9), Drew 4 (F0, E4, S0)

#5 Princeton 17 (F4, E7, S6), #10 Duke 10 (F5, E2, S3)
#5 Princeton 19 (F7, E5, S7), North Carolina 8 (F2, E4, S2)
#5 Princeton 16 (F6, E6, S4), Johns Hopkins 11 (F3, E3, S5)
#5 Princeton 24 (F9, E9, S6), Haverford 3 (F0, E0, S3)
#5 Princeton 16 (F5, E6, S5), Drew 11 (F4, E3, S4)

#6 Pennsylvania 19 (F5, E5, S9), #10 Duke 8 (F4, E4, S0) 
#6 Pennsylvania 19 (F5, E6, S8), Drew 8 (F4, E3, S1)

#10 Duke 19 (F8, E6, S5), Haverford 8 (F1, E3, S4)
North Carolina 21 (F7, E8, S6), Haverford 6 (F2, E1, S3)


Women's Scores

#1 Penn State 21 (F7, E9, S5), #9 Pennsylvania 6 (F2, E0, S4)
#1 Penn State 21 (F8, E7, S6), #8 Temple 6 (F1, E2, S3)
#1 Penn State 20 (F8, E7, S5), #10 Duke 7 (F1, E2, S4)
#1 Penn State 24 (F7, E8, S9), Haverford 3 (F2, E1, S0)
#1 Penn State 23 (F9, E6, S1), Drew 4 (F0, E3, S8)

#8 Temple 16 (F5, E5, S6), # 7 Princeton 11 (F4, E4, S3)
#7 Princeton 20 (F9, E6, S5), #10 Duke 7 (F0, E3, S4)
#7 Princeton 17 (F6, E8, S3), North Carolina 10 (F3, E1, S6)
#7 Princeton 23 (F8, E6, S9), Haverford 4 (F1, E3, S0)
#7 Princeton 20 (F9, E6, S5), Drew 7 (F0, E3, S4)

#9 Pennsylvania 18 (F7, E4, S7), #8 Temple 9 (F2, E5, S2) 
#8 Temple 14 (F6, E5, S3), #10 Duke 13 (F3, E4, S6)
#8 Temple 17 (F4, E4, S9), Cornell 10 (F5, E5, S0)
#8 Temple 19 (F5, E5, S9), Haverford 8 (F4, E4, S0)

#9 Pennsylvania 19 (F7, E6, S6), #10 Duke 8 (F2, E3, S3)
#9 Pennsylvania 24 (F9, E9, S6), Drew 3 (F0, E0, S3)

Cornell 14 (F5, E6, S3), #10 Duke 13 (F4, E3, S6)
#10 Duke 19 (F5, E5, S9), Haverford 8 (F4, E4, S0)
Cornell 16 (F5, E7, S4), North Carolina 11 (F4, E2, S5)
North Carolina 18 (F7, E3, S8), Haverford 9 (F2, E6, S1)
Cornell 22 (F8, E6, S8), Haverford 5 (F1, E3, S1)
Cornell 21 (F9, E7, S5), Drew 6 (F0, E2, S4)

Jan 25, 2009 6:31 PM

NYU Duals Wrapup

A blockbuster weekend of collegiate fencing in New York City concluded on Sunday afternoon at the NYU Duals, with two more narrow upsets (both 14-13) being posted: the #9 St. John's men over the #4 Columbia and the #3 Ohio State women over #2 Notre Dame. The weekend's combined action at the St. John's Invitational (Jan. 24) and NYU produced a total of three top-10 upsets in the men's matches and all of them were turned in by SJU, which also beat Columbia on Saturday (18-9) before edging #7 Harvard later that day (14-13).

There were four upsets in the women's NYC bouts this weekend, and #3 Ohio State was involved in all of them. The Buckeyes women lost twice to #4 Columbia-Barnard (10-17, 12-15), in addition to dropping a 15-12 match with #5 Harvard at SJU. OSU ended the trip by being on the other end of an upset, handing the Irish women their second 14-13 loss of the day (and adding another chapter to that growing Midwest rivalry).

One other match of note in the final round at NYU saw the co-#1 Notre Dame men post a 15-12 win over #3 Ohio State, representing the top matchup of the weekend in all of college fencing (Penn State, which is co-#1 in men's fencing and #1 in women's, was competing at the Princeton Duals). Foil proved to be the key weapon (6-3) in the Irish win, with Ohio State winning five of the nine epee bouts while ND had the same margin in sabre.

The St. John's men used a strong showing (7-2) from their sabre squad to post the narrow win over Columbia (which had a 7-2 edge in foil, with SJU winning epee 5-4). SJU freshman Daryl Homer, who turned in an impressive 11-1 day at the SJU Invitational, played a lead role in the win over Columbia by sweeping all of his bouts (capped by a 5-2 win over Jeff Spear, in the final sabre bout of the match). His sabre teammate Alejandro Rojas also went 3-0 versus the Lions, as Homer and Rojas combined for nearly half of the SJU wins.

Ohio State and Notre Dame have waged some memorable regular-season battles in recent years, with Sunday's outcome providing another 14-13 match in the rivalry. The Irish posted a 6-3 edge in epee, but that was countered by OSU's 6-3 foil margin (a 5-4 Buckeyes edge in sabre provided the one-point final score).

Epeeist Ewa Nelip was the only Notre Dame fencer to go 3-0 versus OSU while two Buckeyes – foilist Oksana Dmytruk and sabreist Felencia Miller – each swept their Irish opponents. OSU newcomer Miriam Baranov (5-3) and converted foil All-American Julia Tikhonova (5-2) turned in key wins over defending NCAA epee champion Kelley Hurley, who compiled a 98-5 record in regular-season bouts during her previous two years with the Irish. Dmytruk added a key 5-2 win over three-time All-American Adrienne Nott, while the key OSU sabre wins included Miller beating defending NCAA champ Sarah Borrmann (5-3).

In the ND-OSU men's showdown, the Irish received 3-0 efforts from foil newcomer Enzo Castellani and sophomore sabreist Avery Zuck. Castellani (5-4) and teammate Zach Schirtz (5-2) both posted key wins over two-time defending NCAA champion Andras Horanyi, essentially providing the winning margin (if Horanyi had won those bouts, OSU would have claimed a 14-13 win). Zuck's day included a big 5-2 win over Mike Momtselidze, the 2008 NCAA runner-up. In the epee bouting, the Buckeyes scored what could have been a pivotal epee victory when Jason Pryor bested fellow senior All-American Karol Kostka (5-3).


NYU Duals (final)

Men's Scores

#1 Notre Dame 15 (F6, E4, S5), #3 Ohio State 12 (F3, E5, S4)
#1 Notre Dame 15 (F7, E3, S5), #4 Columbia 12 (F2, E6, S4)
#1 Notre Dame 19 (F8, E5, S6), #9 St. John's 8 (F1, E4, S3)
#1 Notre Dame 18 (F3, E8, S8), Yale 8 (F6, E1, S1)
#1 Notre Dame 21 (F8, E5, S8), NYU 6 (F1, E4, S1)
#1 Notre Dame 22 (F8, E7, S7),  Stevens Tech 5 (F1, E2, S2)

#3 Ohio State 17 (F7, E4, S6), #4 Columbia 10 (F2, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 17 (F7, E4, S6), #9 St. John's 10 (F2, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 23 (F8, E8, S7), Yale 4 (F1, E1, S2)
#3 Ohio State 23, NYU 4 (weapon details not available at this time)
#3 Ohio State 23 (F7, E8, S8), Stevens Tech 4 (F2, E1, S1)

#9 St. John's 14 (F2, E5, S7), #4 Columbia 13 (F7, E4, S2)
#4 Columbia 18 (F4, E8, S6), Stevens Tech 9 (F5, E1, S3)
#4 Columbia 18 (F6, E5, S7), Wayne State 9 (F3, E4, S2)

#9 St. John's 14 (F2, E4, S8), Wayne State 13 (F7, E5, S1)
#9 St. John's 16 (F2, E6, S8), NYU 11 (F7, E3, S1)

NYU 17, Wayne State 10 (weapon details not available at this time)
NYU 14, Yale 13 (weapon details not available at this time)
Wayne State 15 (F5, E6, S4), Stevens Tech 12 (F4, E3, S5)
Yale 16 (F6, E4, S6), Wayne State 11 (F3, E5, S3)
Yale 15 (F7, E5, S3), Stevens Tech 12 (F2, E4, S6)


Women's Scores

#3 Ohio State 14 (F6, E3, S5), #2 Notre Dame 13 (F3, E6, S4)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 14 (5F, 4E, 5S), #2 Notre Dame 13 (F4, 5E, 4S)  
#2 Notre Dame 18 (F4, E7, S7), #6 Northwestern 9 (F5, E2, S2)
#2 Notre Dame 22 (F8, E8, S6), St. John's 5 (F1, E1, S3)
#2 Notre Dame 23 (F7, E8, S8), Yale 4 (F2, E1, S1)
#2 Notre Dame 25 (F9, E8, S8), NYU 2 (F0, E1, S1)

#4 Columbia-Barnard 15 (F3, E5, S7), #3 Ohio State 12 (F6, E4, S2)
#3 Ohio State 15 (F6, E1, S8), #6 Northwestern 12 (F3, E8, S1)
#3 Ohio State 18 (F8, E4, S6), St. John's 9 (F1, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 24 (F9, E7, S8), Yale 3 (F0, E2, S1)
#3 Ohio State 21, NYU 6 (weapon details not available at this time)

#4 Columbia-Barnard 16 (F5, E5, S6), #6 Northwestern 11 (F4, E4, S3)
St. John's 15 (F3, E5, S7), #4 Columbia-Barnard 12 (F6, E4, S2)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 26 (F9, E8, S9), Wayne State 1 (F0, E1, S0)

#6 Northwestern 18 (F5, E8, S5), Yale 9 (F4, E1, S4)
#6 Northwestern 19 (F5, E9, S5), NYU 8 (F4, E0, S4)
#6 Northwestern 26 (F9, E8, S9), Wayne State 1 (F0, E1, S0)

St. John's 21, NYU 6 (weapon details not available at this time)
St. John's 26 (F8, E9, S9), Wayne State 1 (F1, E0, S0)
NYU 20, Wayne State 7 (weapon details not available at this time)
Yale 19, NYU 8 (weapon details not available at this time)
Yale 25 (F9, E7, S9), Wayne State 2 (F0, E2, S0)

Jan 25, 2009 4:02 PM

Columbia Women Edge ND, Top OSU Again

The 4th-ranked Columbia-Barnard women's fencing team continued its strong weekend during the morning bouts at the NYU Duals, winning all four of their matches – highlighted by a 14-13 battle with #2 Notre Dame and a 15-12 win over #3 Ohio State. There were no other upsets (based on the national polls) in the men's or women's competition, with two rounds still remaining at NYU.

The C-B women avenged their only loss from Saturday's bouting at the St. John's Invitational, as the Lions shook off the earlier 18-9 loss to ND to edge the Irish women by a single bout (adding to the recent history of 14-13 thrillers between ND and Columbia, in both men's and women's fencing). 

All three weapons in the ND-CB showdown produced one-point margins (5-4), with the Lions winning foil and sabre while the Irish had the slim edge in epee.

A quick perusal of the scoresheets suggests than the Lions surged past the Irish by sweeping the final three epee bouts (despite losing five of the first six), with clutch wins from Tess Finkel (4-3 over Ewa Nelip), Martina Urbanowicz (5-2 vs. Courtney Hurley) and Neely Brandfield-Harvey (5-4, vs. fellow Texas native Kelley Hurley). 

Foilist Nicole Ross (3rd-place at '08 NCAAs) and sabreist Daria Schneider ('07 NCAA champ/did not fence collegiately in '08 due to Olympic qualification) both went 3-0 versus Notre Dame, accounting for nearly half of their team's victories in the tight battle. Ross closed the foil bouting with a 5-2 win over three-time All-American Adrienne Nott ('07 NCAA runner-up, 4th in '08, 6th in '06) while Schneider capped the sabre competition by edging Sarah Borrman, 5-4 (in a matchup of the past two NCAA champions). The Lions actually won the final two foil bouts, to claim that weapon by one point.

The sabre squad (7-2) led the way in the C-B women's victory over OSU.

CollegeFencing360.com plans to do a comparative breakdown of the Penn State, Notre Dame and Columbia-Barnard women's teams – as each squad is stacked with world-class talent.

The co-#1 Notre Dame men reprised two of their Saturday wins, by again beating #4 Columbia  (15-12; earlier 17-10) and #9 St. John's (19-8; 14-13). The #3 Ohio state men also repeated their wins over those teams (17-10 vs. SJU on both days; 17-10 vs. Columbia at NYU, 18-9 at SJU).

In Sunday's afternoon bouting, the Columbia will be looking to avenge Saturday's loss to St. John's (9-18) while the C-B women will be aiming for a second straight win over the Red Storm (20-7 on Saturday).

The ND women completed a sweep of St. John's (22-5 at NYU, 18-9 at SJU), as did the OSU women (18-9 at NYU, 14-11 at SJU).

Ohio State All-America sabreist Sergey Smirnov has yet to fence this weekend while former OSU epee standout Mykhaylo Mazur now is fencing for Wayne State (although he still is listed on Ohio State's online roster). Mazur and Slava Zingerman – the two-time defending NCAA champion – should prove to be one of the nation's top men's epee duos this year.


NYU Duals (rounds 1-4, two rounds remain)

Men's Scores
#1 Notre Dame 15 (F7, E3, S5), #4 Columbia 12 (F2, E6, S4)
#1 Notre Dame 19 (F8, E5, S6), #9 St. John's 8 (F1, E4, S3)
#1 Notre Dame 18 (F3, E8, S8), Yale 8 (F6, E1, S1)
#1 Notre Dame 22 (F8, E7, S7),  Stevens Tech 5 (F1, E2, S2)

#3 Ohio State 17 (F7, E4, S6), #4 Columbia 10 (F2, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 17 (F7, E4, S6), #9 St. John's 10 (F2, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 23 (F7, E8, S8), Stevens Tech 4 (F2, E1, S1)

#4 Columbia 18 (F6, E5, S7), Wayne State 9 (F3, E4, S2)
#4 Columbia 18 (F4, E8, S6), Stevens Tech 9 (F5, E1, S3)

#9 St. John's 14 (F2, E4, S8), Wayne State 13 (F7, E5, S1)
#9 St. John's 16 (F2, E6, S8), NYU 11 (F7, E3, S1)

Yale 16 (F6, E4, S6), Wayne State 11 (F3, E5, S3)
Yale 15 (F7, E5, S3), Stevens Tech 12 (F2, E4, S6)


Women's Scores
#4 Columbia-Barnard 14 (5F, 4E, 5S), #2 Notre Dame 13 (4F, 5E, 4S)  
#2 Notre Dame 18 (F4, E7, S7), #6 Northwestern 9 (F5, E2, S2)
#2 Notre Dame 22 (F8, E8, S6), St. John's 5 (F1, E1, S3)
#2 Notre Dame 23 (F7, E8, S8), Yale 4 (F2, E1, S1)

#4 Columbia-Barnard 15 (F3, E5, S7), #3 Ohio State 12 (F6, E4, S2)
#3 Ohio State 15 (F6, E1, S8), #6 Northwestern 12 (F3, E8, S1)
#3 Ohio State 18 (F8, E4, S6), St. John's 9 (F1, E5, S3)

#4 Columbia-Barnard 16 (F5, E5, S6), #6 Northwestern 11 (F4, E4, S3)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 26 (F9, E8, S9), Wayne State 1 (F0, E1, S0)

#6 Northwestern 18 (F5, E8, S5), Yale 9 (F4, E1, S4)
St. John's 26 (F8, E9, S9), Wayne State 1 (F1, E0, S0)
Yale 25 (F9, E7, S9), Wayne State 2 (F0, E2, S0)

Jan 25, 2009 2:33 PM

#6 Penn Men Upset #1 Penn State

The 6th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's fencing team has scored the biggest upset of the weekend, knocking off in-state rival and top-ranked Penn State 17-10 (at the Princeton Multi-Meet). Penn held a narrow 5-4 edge in sabre and PSU enjoyed the same slim margin in epee – but the Quakers scored the deciding win in foil, 8-1. Of note is the absence of Penn State two-time All-America foilist Nick Chinman, who has not been fencing today – along with highly-regarded freshman foilist Miles Chamley-Watson, who is competing this weekend in Paris at a World Cup event (Columbia's Kurt Getz and Notre Dame's Gerek Meinhardt also are at that event). Chinman and Chamley-Watson could have made a difference in the final outcome, but they would have needed to combine for at least four wins in their six bouts (four more wins would have given PSU a 14-13 victory).

A check of the scoresheets shows that the other top Penn State men's fencers – sabreist Daniel Bak, foilist Samuel Perkins and epeeist James Moody – all were in action today versus Penn, but they combined for only a 4-5 record (Bak and Perkins were 1-2, Moody 2-1). 

Bak (3rd at the '08 NCAAs) dropped bouts to a pair of fencers with NCAA Tournament experience, losing 5-4 to Andrew Bielen (10th at '07 NCAAs) and 5-2 to Jon Berkowsky (11th at '08 NCAAs). Perkins was knocked off by a pair of freshmen, dropping a 5-1 bout to Vidur Kapur before losing 4-3 to Alex Simmons. Moody did manage two wins, but his 5-4 loss to 2008 NCAA participant Ben Weider provided a two-point swing.

The top-ranked Penn State women avoided the upset against #9 Penn, with a comfortable 21-6 win.

Other team scores from the final three rounds at Princeton will be posted on the blog later.

Jan 25, 2009 1:35 PM

Lots of Scores in from Princeton

Four other top-10 matchups have gone to the higher-ranked teams, with the #5 Princeton men, #6 Penn men, #7 Princeton women and #9 Penn women all defeating the respective 10th-ranked Duke teams.

Matchups still remaining include:

round 4 – Duke vs. Cornell (women), Penn vs. Penn State, Haverford vs. UNC, Princeton vs. Temple (women)/Johns Hopkins (men)

round 5 – Princeton vs. UNC, Temple (women)/Johns Hopkins (men) vs. Duke, Penn vs. Drew, Penn State vs. Haverford

round 6 – Princeton vs. Drew, Temple vs. Cornell (women), Duke vs. Haverford

(It will be interesting to see how PSU does vs. Penn; would have been nice to see the Nittany Lions take on Princeton as well.)

Thanks to the folks at Princeton for sending along some early results (three rounds):


Princeton Multi-Meet (rounds 1-3)

Men's Scores
#1 Penn State 18 (F5, E8, S5), #10 Duke 9 (F4, E1, S4)
#1 Penn State 22 (F7, E7, S8), Johns Hopkins 5 (F2, E2, S1)
#1 Penn State 23 (F9, E5, S9), Drew 4 (F0, E4, S0)

#5 Princeton 24 (F9, E9, S6), Haverford 3 (F0, E0, S3)
#5 Princeton 17 (F4, E7, S6), #10 Duke 10 (F5, E2, S3)

#6 Pennsylvania 10 (F5, E5, S9), #10 Duke 17 (F4, E4, S0) 


Women's Scores
#1 Penn State 21 (F8, E7, S6), #8 Temple 6 (F1, E2, S3)
#1 Penn State 20 (F8, E7, S5), #10 Duke 7 (F1, E2, S4)
#1 Penn State 23 (F9, E6, S1), Drew 4 (F0, E3, S8)

#7 Princeton 20 (F9, E6, S5), #10 Duke 7 (F0, E3, S4)
#7 Princeton 23 (F8, E6, S9), Haverford 4 (F1, E3, S0)

#8 Temple 19 (F5, E5, S9), Haverford 8 (F4, E4, S0)
#9 Pennsylvania 18 (F7, E4, S7), #8 Temple 9 (F2, E5, S2) 
#9 Pennsylvania 19 (F7, E6, S6), #10 Duke 8 (F2, E3, S3)

Cornell 21 (F9, E7, S5), Drew 6 (F0, E2, S4)
Cornell 16 (F5, E7, S4), North Carolina 11 (F4, E2, S5)
Cornell 22 (F8, E6, S8), Haverford 5 (F1, E3, S1)

Jan 25, 2009 12:41 PM

Top Weapon Groups at SJU

Several weapon units flexed their muscles during Saturday's action at the St. John's Invitational. Keeping in mind that each of the five teams did not fence each other (SJU fenced all four opponents; ND did not fence OSU or Harvard; and Columbia did not fence Harvard), here's a look at the top weapon units from the SJU Invite:

• Three weapons from ND all went 15-3: men's foil, women's foil and women's epee ... men's foil newcomer Enzo Castellani went 5-1 while sophomore Hayley Reese (4-0) paced the women's foil squad and the ND women's epeeists displayed the potent trio of Kelley Hurley (4-1), Ewa Nelip (5-1) and Courtney Hurley (6-0) 

• The St. John's men were led by their epee (24-12) and sabre (23-13) squads ... epee All-Americans Stan Vaksman and Misha Mokretsov both were 8-4, while sabre newcomer Daryl Homer had an impressive 11-1 day.

• The only Columbia weapon that was more than three bouts above .500 was women's sabre, at 19-8, led by the duo of Daria Schneider (8-1) and Jackie Jacobson (6-2)

• Ohio State had a big day in men's foil (21-6), along with solid efforts in men's sabre (17-10) and women's foil (16-11) ... two-time NCAA foil champ Andras Horanyi (who was 2nd to teammate Boaz Ellis in the '06 NCAAs) went 9-0 at SJU but sabreist Mike Momtselidze ('08 NCAA runner-up) was not as sharp as usual, going 6-3, while fellow sabre All-American Sergey Smirnov did not fence at SJU (we will check on his status and see if he fences at NYU) ... as expected, women's foilist Oksana Dmytruk ('08 NCAA runner-up) had a strong day, going 7-2.

• Harvard went 14-4 in women's foil, led by five wins from Emily Cross, and 12-6 in women's epee.


Here's a complete breakdown of how each team's weapon groups did at the SJU Invitational:

• Notre Dame, vs. COL and SJU (MF 15-3, ME 7-11, MS 9-9, WF 15-3, WE 15-3, WS 6-12)

• Ohio State, vs. all but Harvard (MF 21-6, ME 14-13, MS 17-10, WF 16-11, WE 9-18, WS 11-16) 

• Columbia, vs. all but Harvard (MF 10-17, ME 10-17, MS 8-19, WF 15-12, WE 12-15, WS 19-18)

• Harvard, vs. OSU and SJU (MF 9-9, ME 8-10, MS 6-12, WF 14-4, WE 12-6, WS 7-11)

• St. John's, vs. all four (MF 8-28, ME 24-12, MS 23-13, WF 3-33, WE 15-21, WS 20-16)

Jan 25, 2009 11:36 AM

Return of the Olympians

The "post-Olympic effect" will play out in college fencing once again this year, as several elite athletes have returned to compete for their college teams. Most notable from that group is Harvard foilist Emily Cross, who in 2005 (as a freshman) stopped Notre Dame's Alicja Kryczalo from winning her fourth straight NCAA individual title (Cross won their showdown in the fnal, 15-5). Cross then took third at the 2006 NCAAs (behind SJU's Erzberet Garay and Princeton's Jacqueline Leahy), helping the Crimson win their first NCAA team fencing title.

Cross did not fence for Harvard the past two seasons ('07 and '08) – in order to focus on qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team (she did, reaching the top-32 in the individual competition while helping the U.S. women's foil squad bring home silver from Beijing) – but she is back in 2009, for her fifth and final year of eligibility. Cross had a solid showing yesterday at the St. John's Invitational, going 5-1 with a sweep of SJU and a 2-1 record against Ohio State (her only loss came 5-3 to Oksana Dmytruk, the 2008 NCAA runner-up).

Penn State foilist Doris Wilette ('07 NCAA champ) and sabreist Caity Thompson ('07 NCAA runner-up, 4th-place in '06) also have returned to their college team, helping give the Nittany Lions women the current #1 ranking. Willette was a teammate of Cross in Beijing (she did not fence in the individual competition) while Thompson failed to make the U.S. Olympic women's sabre team.

Speaking of women's sabre, the competition should be fierce at the 2009 NCAAs – due to the returns of Thompson, Columbia's Daria Schneider ('07 NCAA champion) and St. John's standout Dagmara Wozniak (who took 5th at the '07 NCAAs). Wozniak earned an alternate spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, while Schneider failed to qualify for the team following her year off from college fencing.

Schneider's teammate at Columbia, epeeist Dwight Smith (4th at '07 NCAAs, 7th in '06), also came up short in his Olympic bid, but he too is back to strengthen the Lions lineup.

Two newcomers to college fencing – Duke sabreist Becca Ward and Notre Dame foilist Gerek Meinhardt – competed in the Beijing Olympics, just a couple months removed from their high school graduations. Ward impressively brought home a pair of bronze medals (from the Olympic individual and team events) while Meinhardt reached the men's foil round-of-16, as the youngest U.S. fencer ever to compete in the Olympic Games.

Yet another Notre Dame fencer, current junior epeeist Kelley Hurley ('08 NCAA champ, '07 runner-up), also competed in the Beijing Olympics, as the only member of the U.S. women's epee contingent. Unlike many of the fencers mentioned above, Hurley opted not to miss any of her college seasons (in '08, or '07).

Recent Notre Dame fencer Mariel Zagunis repeated as the women's sabre gold medalist in Beijing. Zagunis – the NCAA runner-up in '05 and '06 champion – helped Notre Dame complete its historic comeback to edge Ohio State in the 2005 NCAAs (she spent the '07 and '08 college seasons preparing for the Olympics and has ended her college career).

It will be interesting to see how the infusion of so many talented fencers – Cross, Wilette, Thompson, Schneider, Wozniak, Smith, Ward and Meinhardt – will affect the battles for 2009 NCAA individual and team titles. ... Stay tuned!

Jan 25, 2009 10:48 AM

NYU Duals Match Schedule

(note: all final scores for the SJU Invitational now have been included in the previous blog post; the Ohio State men defeated Harvard, 17-10 ... also note that ND freshman foilist Gerek Meinhardt, who fenced for the U.S. team in the 2008 Olympics, and Columbia foil standout Kurt Getz currently are competing at a World Cup event in Paris ... Columbia sabreist Alex Rudnicki also did not fence on Saturday, due to injury)

Plenty more noteworthy matches are on tap for Sunday (Jan. 25), across town at the NYU Duals, with several immediate rematches from the SJU Invitational (plus a showdown between Midwest rivals ND and OSU):


NYU Duals Schedule (Jan. 25)

Round 1 (8:00 a.m.) – Notre Dame vs. Yale ... Ohio State vs. NYU ... Columbia vs. Stevens Tech (men) and Northwestern (women) ... St. John's vs. Wayne State

Round 2 (9:15 a.m.) – ND vs. Columbia ... OSU vs. SJU ... NYU vs. WSU ... Yale vs. Stevens Tech/Northwestern

Round 3 (10:30 a.m.) – ND vs. Stevens Tech/Northwestern ... Ohio State vs. Columbia ... SJU vs. NYU ... Yale vs. WSU

Round 4 (11:45 a.m.) – ND vs. SJU ... OSU vs. Stevens Tech/Northwestern ... Columbia vs. WSU ... NYU vs. Yale

Round 5 (1:30 p.m.) – ND vs. NYU ... OSU vs. Yale ... Columbia vs. SJU ... WSU vs. Stevens Tech/Northwestern

Round 6 (2:45 p.m.) – ND vs. OSU ... NYU women vs. Northwestern women


Several top fencers – led by Duke freshman sabreist Becca Ward (the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist) – also will be in action at Sunday's four-team Princeton Multi-Meet (which includes Haverford and the University of Pennsylvania, along with the Blue Devils and host Tigers).

Jan 24, 2009 10:59 PM

Final Team Scores (St. John's Invite)

All of the team scores are in from the St. John' Invitational, which produced several upsets (based on the first national poll, which was released yesterday).

The host Red Storm enjoyed an encouraging day in the men's bouting, as #9-ranked SJU upset #4 Columbia (18-9) and edged #7 Harvard (14-13), in addition to nearly knocking off the co-#1 Notre Dame men (13-14). 

There were two minor upsets in the women's matches, with #4 Columbia-Barnard besting #3 Ohio State (17-10) while the #5 Harvard women also topped OSU (15-12).


St. John's Invitational Team Scores

Men's Scores
#1 Notre Dame 17 (F7, E4, S6), #4 Columbia 10 (F2, E5, S3)
#1 Notre Dame 14 (F8, E3, S3), #9 St. John's 13 (F1, E6, S6)
#3 Ohio State 17 (F7, E5, S5), #9 St. John's 10 (F2, E4, S4)
#3 Ohio State 18 (F6, E6, S6), #4 Columbia 9 (F3, E3, S3)
#3 Ohio State 17 (F8, E3, S6), #7 Harvard 10 (F1, E6, S3)
#9 St. John's 18 (F4, E7, S7), #4 Columbia 9 (F5, E2, S2)
#9 St. John's 14 (F1, E7, S6), #7 Harvard 13 (F8, E2, S3)

Women's Scores
#2 Notre Dame 18 (F6, E9, S3), #4 Columbia-Barnard 9 (F3, E0, S6)
#2 Notre Dame 18 (F9, E6, S3), #11 St. John's 9 (F0, E3, S6)
#3 Ohio State 14 (F7, E2, S5), #11 St. John's 13 (F2, E7, S4)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 17 (F4, E5, S8), #3 Ohio State 10 (F5, E4, S1)
#5 Harvard 15 (F5, E6, S4), #3 Ohio State 12 (F4, E3, S5)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 20 (F8, E7, S5), #11 St. John's 7 (F1, E2, S4)
#5 Harvard 18 (F9, E6, S3), #11 St. John's 9 (F0, E3, S6)

Jan 24, 2009 3:45 PM

SJU-OSU Scores

We are in the process of getting all the scores from today, but preliminary indications are that the Ohio State and St. John's women had a classic battle that appears to have been won by the Buckeyes, 14-13. The OSU women dominated in foil (7-2), but that was counteracted by a 7-2 edge for the SJU women ... so sabre was the deciding weapon, won by OSU 5-4.

On the men's side, two of the weapons were 5-4 (epee and sabre, both won by OSU) but the Buckeyes used a 7-2 edge in foil to claim the 17-10 win.

More later, as more info. becomes available.

Jan 24, 2009 2:30 PM

Some Early Scores from SJU ...

The St. John's website offered video streaming for some of the early bouts from today's Invitational. It sometimes was difficult to follow who was fencing, but kudos to St. John's for making the effort and providing this unique content.

We have received confirmed team scores from Notre Dame's first two matches, and the closest battle was the ND men edging the SJU men (14-13). Earlier in the day, Notre Dame swept Columbia (18-9 women, 17-10 men) and the ND women then won by the same score over SJU.

(We will pass on more team scores and details, as they become available).

During the early men's sabre bouts, St. John's newcomer Daryl Homer impressively posted a 5-2 win over Ohio State veteran Mike Momtselidze (the 2008 NCAA runner-up). SJU women's sabreist Dagmara Wozniak – who did not fence collegiately last year, while qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team – also was in action and could (like Homer) be in the mix for the NCAA title this season (along with a talented group of top returners, from all over the country).

St. John's sent plenty of newcomers to the strips, as they look to replace many top fencers from 2007-08 (among them men's sabreists Luther Clement and Charles Worsham, men's foilist Henry Kennard, the women's foil duo of Monika Golebiewski and Katia Larchanka, and women's epeeist Reka Szele – representing more than half of SJU's 11 NCAA entrants from a year ago).

Jan 24, 2009 1:51 PM

Elite Field at St. John's

Today's schedule includes a five-team event (the St. John's Invitational) that will represent the highest concentration of college fencing talent until the NCAA Championships, which will be held this year at Penn State.

Speaking of Penn State, they are the only major player that will not be present today at St. John's (which is welcoming Notre Dame, Ohio State, Columbia and Harvard to Carnesecca Arena. St. John's and Ohio State will face off in the first round (as will ND vs. Columbia), starting at approximately 10:00 a.m. eastern time. The second round is slated to start around 11:30 and will feature the host team taking on the Fighting Irish.

Check back to this BLOG throughout the day for updates. Also note that the free text-message/e-mail feature should be ready for signup later today.

Jan 24, 2009 7:50 AM

    editor@collegefencing360.com