Jan. 24, 2004

The Notre Dame men and women’s fencing teams – which both were ranked first earlier this week in the first national poll of the 2003-04 season – resume competition this weekend at the NYU Duals (Sunday, Jan. 25, at Coles Sports and Recreation Center). The Irish will face several top teams and individuals during a full day of fencing, with bouts versus Yale (7:30 a.m.), Columbia (9:00), NYU (10:30), St. John’s (12:30) and Stanford (2:00).

The Irish men now have claimed the No. 1 ranking for the third straight season and will look to extend the program’s third-longest winning streak (87 regular-season matches) versus a field that includes three top-10 teams (#4 SJU, #5 Columbia and #10 NYU). The women’s field includes #4 Columbia-Barnard and #7 SJU.

The release of the first U.S. Fencing Coaches Association poll also forecasts a big showdown for next Saturday, Jan. 31, during the first day of the Notre Dame Duals (11:00, at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse/north dome). The ND-Ohio State rivalry has grown in recent years and now both teams sit atop the polls, with the OSU men and women both ranking second. The Irish and Buckeyes will do battle on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. (look for more on that showdown in the days leading up to next weekend’s action).

St. John’s – just two years removed from winning the national title – typically would pose the biggest challenge to Notre Dame in this weekend’s action but the Red Storm men are ranked 4th in the poll (Penn State is 3rd in both) while the SJU women check in at 7th in the first poll (with only two of six ’03 NCAA competitors returning, plus just three back for the SJU men).

Columbia may prove to be ND’s biggest test on Sunday, with the Lions returning seven of their 2003 NCAA competitors. Stanford has just five veterans back from its ’03 NCAA team (two top foilists, ’01 NCAA champ Iris Zimmerman and two-time All-American Steve Gerberman, are taking the year off due to international commitments) – while Yale has three fencers back from its ’03 NCAA squad (NYU has one ’03 NCAA returner).

Men’s foil and women’s sabre will be the weapons to watch at the NYU Duals. Just six of the 12 All-America performers from the 2003 NCAA men’s foil competition are active on 2004 rosters … and they each are from teams at the NYU Duals: SJU’s Nitai Kfir (’03 runner-up), Yale’s Cory Werk (3rd), ND sophomore Derek Snyder (5th), Columbia’s Nico Jaspers (8th) and Jeremy Sinkin (10th), and Stanford’s Florian Reichling (11th).

Snyder posted wins over Jaspers (5-3) and Sinkin (5-4) at the ’02 NYU Duals but he lost to Reichling at the ’03 Duke Duals (2-5). He also owns a win over Sinkin at the ’02 NCAAs before a split vs. Sinkin (2-5) and Jaspers (5-3) at the ’03 NCAAs, plus 5-4 wins over Werk and Reichling and a 5-3 loss to Kfir.

Six of the top eight finishers in the ’03 NCAA women’s sabre competition are slated to return in ’04 – and four of those six are from teams competing in the NYU Duals: SJU’s Julia Gelman (’03 NCAA runner-up) and Christina Crane (8th), Columbia’s Emma Baratta (5th) and ND senior captain Destanie Milo (6th).

Milo’s 5-4 win over Gelman at the ’03 NCAAs (5-4) provided a key point for the Irish, with Crane besting Milo by the same score (both SJU fencers beat Milo 5-1 at the ’02 NCAAs). Milo also dropped a 5-1 bout to Baratta at the ’03 NCAAs.

One of the top matchups on Sunday could include ND junior epeeist Michal Sobieraj (’03 NCAA runner-up) vs. SJU’s Arpad Horvath (6th). Those two waged a classic battle at this same event in 2002, with Sobieraj winning in overtime (3-2) to deliver a 14-13 Irish victory (keeping alive a streak that has kept rolling for the past two years). Horvath returned the favor in their last two meetings, beating Sobieraj in one-touch bouts at the 2002 (4-3) and ’03 (5-4) NCAAs.

Notre Dame fencers account for six of the 18 individuals from NYU Duals teams who earned All-America honors at the 2003 NCAAs. The other top fencers to watch include the nine mentioned above, plus three men’ sabres in SJU’s Serhiy Isayenko Stanford’s Robert Owens and Colmbia’s Paul Reyfman.

Three of the most accomplished young competitors in Notre Dame women’s fencing history could face minimal resistance in Sunday’s bouts. Junior Alicja Kryczalo (the ’02 and ’03 NCAA foil champ) and her classmate Andrea Ament (’02 runner-up, 3rd in ’03) will enter a foil competition that includes just two other fencers who competed in the ’03 NCAAs: Stanford’s Eva Petschnigg (13th) and Yale’s Justine Aw (24th). Petschnigg won the 2000 NCAA title (while fencing at Princeton) and beat both ND fencers at the ’03 NYU Duals (5-4 vs. Kryczalo, 5-3 vs. Ament) before splitting vs. the Irish duo at the ’03 NCAAs (5-2 vs. Kryczalo, 3-5 vs. Ament).

Senior women’s epeeist Kerry Walton also could have smooth sailing on Sunday, with just two other likely entrants at the NYU Duals having fenced at the ’03 NCAAs: Yale’s Erica Korb (17th) and Columbia’s Kimberly Bush (22nd).

Notre Dame’s young men’s sabre squad could face several challenges at the NYU Duals, including SJU’s Isayenko (5th), Stanford’s Robert Owens (10th at ’03 NCAAs) and Jon Pearlstein (21st), and Columbia’s Paul Reyfman (12th).

In a quick peek ahead to next weekend’s ND-OSU showdown, Ohio State is slated to return 10 of its 12 competitors from the ’03 NCAAs while Notre Dame’s roster includes just six returners from the ’03 championship squad.Check back to und.com next week for more on the ND-OSU matchup and a look at the top teams and individuals who will do battle for the national title.