Feb. 9, 2002

COLUMBUS, Ohio– The second-ranked Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams both went 4-0 on Saturday at the Ohio State Duals, with the day’s highlights including a convincing 23-4 win for the Irish women over sixth-ranked Northwestern while both Notre Dame teams topped the nationally-ranked Buckeyes (16-11 for the men and 15-12 for the women).

The day’s most-anticipated matchup came in men’s sabre between ND and OSU, with the Irish winning five of the nine bouts (senior captain Andre Crompton and junior Matt Fabricant both went 2-1).

The Notre Dame men (14-0) – despite the absence of injured freshman sensation Michal Sobieraj and his 26-1 epee record – extended the third-longest regular-season winning streak in Irish men’s fencing history to 55 matches (spanning three seasons), adding wins over Cleveland State (25-2), Northwestern (22-50 and Wayne State (21-6).

The freshman women’s foil duo of Andrea Ament and Alicja Kryczalo both went unbeaten, pushing their combined season record to 58-4. Ament (22-2) shook off a nagging foot injury to win all 12 of her bouts at OSU while Kryczalo improved her season record to 36-2 with an 11-0 day.

Three other Irish fencers added solid one-loss records for the day, including junior men’s epee captain Jan Viviani (11-1, 35-3 season record), freshman foilist Derek Snyder (8-1, 32-6) and sophomore women’s epeeist Kerry Walton (10-1, 45-5). Viviani maintained the best career winning percentage in Notre Dame men’s epee history (.888, 111-14) while ND’s all-time leader in men’s foil winning percentage, junior captain Ozren Debic, went 4-0 in limited action for a 30-2 season mark and 114-7 in his career (.942, also sixth all-time among all ND men’s weapons).

The Irish women pushed their season record to 16-2 and avenged last week’s 15-12 loss to Northwestern at the Air Force Duals, with ND’s other wins at OSU coming vs. Cleveland State (26-1) and Wayne State (23-4).

Other top performers for the Irish women included fifth-year women’s sabre captain Carianne McCullough (9-2, including 3-0 vs. Northwestern) and sophomore Destanie Milo (10-2, 2-1 vs. the Wildcats).

Viviani’s only loss of the day came versus OSU’s Spencer Jones (5-4) while Snyder’s lone loss came against OSU’s Craig Galanter. The only blemish on Walton’s day was a 5-2 loss to OSU’s Toya Richmond. Updated national rankings are expected to be released on Feb. 19, with both Notre Dame teams ranked No. 2 in the first poll that was conducted prior to the season.

ND-OSU RECAP NOTES
* OSU’s Jason Rogers – one of the nation’s top-ranked juniors – won all three of his men’s sabre bouts but ND won five of the other six, including wins from Crompton (5-3) and Fabricant (5-4) vs. All-American Colin Parker (the 6th-place finisher at the 2001 NCAAs).

* Walton beat OSU All-American Alexandra Shklar (the 6th-place NCAA finisher in 2001) by a 5-2 count, with Shklar edging ND’s Meagan Call (5-4) and beating Anna Carnick (5-2).

ND-NORTHWESTERN WOMEN’S NOTES
o The Irish women raced out to a 13-1 lead and ended up claiming eight wins vs. Northwestern in epee and foil (plus seven in sabre).

* Call and Carnick continued their competition with Midwestern rivals Kate Rudkin (4th at 2001 NCAAs) and NCAA qualifier Jen Greenebaum, with Call dropping a close 5-4 bout to Rudkin and beating Greenebaum (5-3) while beat Rudkin (5-3) and Greenebaum (5-0) … Walton also beat both Northwestern fencers (5-4 and 5-2).

OTHER NoTES
o Wayne State All-American Jakob Krochmalski (3rd at 2001 NCAAs) posted wins over Crompton and Fabricant but lost to fifth-year Irish fencer Andrzej Bednarski, 5-2.

* Wayne State All-American Inga Wallrabenstein (5th at 2001 NCAAs) dropped a pair of 5-4 bouts to Ament and Kryczalo.

* ND’s top weapons this season remain the men’s epee squad – which has won nearly 82 percent of its bouts (103-23) – followed by the women’s epee team (.778, 126-36) and the veteran men’s sabre squad (.770, 97-29).

ND Men 14-0 (2nd in USFCA Poll) ND Women 16-2 (2nd in USFCA Poll)
ND 25, Cleveland State 2 ND 26, Cleveland State 1
ND 22, Northwestern 5 ND 23, (6) Northwestern 4
ND 16, (8) ohio State 11 ND 15, (6) ohio State 12
ND 21, Wayne State 6 ND 23, Wayne State 4
Epee Prev. CSU NW OSU WSU Day Year Career(ND Rank)
Brian Casas 20-8 3-0 3-0 1-2 3-0 10-2 30-10 149-55 (11th overal/5th epee)
Michael Macaulay 0-2 2-0 1-1 1-2 1-1 5-4 5-6 14-11
Andrew Nerlinger 4-3 1-0 0-1 1-0 2-0 —– 4-3 4-3
Nick Schumacher —– 1-0 1-0 —- 1-0 3-0 3-0 8-6
Michal Sobieraj 26-1 —- —- —- —- —- 26-1 26-1
Jan Viviani 24-2 3-0 3-0 2-1 3-0 11-1 35-3 111-14/.888 (14th overall/1st epee)
? ? 9-0 8-1 4-5 8-1 21-8 103-23 (.818)
Foil
Jeremy Beau —- 1-1 1-0 —- 3-0 5-1 5-1 49-11
Matt Castellan 4-8 1-0 1-2 —- 2-0 4-2 8-10 24-14
Ozren Debicc 26-2 1-0 —- 3-0 —- 4-0 30-2 114-7/.942 (6th overall/1st foil)
Steve Mautone 8-12 1-1 3-0 2-1 2-1 8-3 16-15 123-59
Derek Snyder 24-6 3-0 2-0 2-1 1-0 8-1 32-6 32-6
? ? 7-2 7-2 7-2 8-1 29-7 91-35 (.722)
Sabre
Andrzej Bednarski 19-8 3-0 1-1 1-2 3-0 8-3 27-11 145-32 (15th overall/ 6th sabre)
Andr? Crompton 24-3 2-0 3-0 2-1 2-1 9-2 33-5 141-21 (18th overall/7th sabre)
Matt Fabricant 24-4 3-0 3-0 2-1 0-3 8-4 32-8 95-17
Neal Salisian 4-4 0-2 —- 1-0 1-1 0-1 4-4 17-12
? ? 9-0 7-2 5-4 5-4 26-10 97-29 (.770)
Epee Prev. CSU NW OSU WSU Day Yr. Career
Meagan Call 25-15 3-0 2-1 1-2 1-1 7-4 32-19 125-42 (8)
Anna Carnick 32-5 3-0 3-0 1-2 3-0 10-2 42-7 136-35 (7) ,.795 (4th)
Susan Clark 3-0 —– —– —– —– —- 3-0 3-0
Kirsten Housing 2-5 —- —- —- —- —- 2-5 2-5
Erin Riley —– 1-0 —– —– 1-0 2-0 2-0 13-4
Kerry Walton 35-4 2-0 3-0 2-1 3-0 10-1 45-5 45-4
? ? 9-0 8-1 4-5 8-1 29-7 126-36 (.778)
Foil
Andrea Ament 10-2 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 12-0 22-2 22-2
Liza Boutsikaris 18-5 2-0 2-1 1-2 2-1 7-4 37-13 127-28
Maggie Jordan 11-0 —– —– —– —– —– 12-2 12-2
Alicja Kryczalo 10-1 3-0 3-0 3-0 2-0 11-0 36-2 36-2
Kathryn Schuster 1-4 —- —- —- —- —- 4-7 8-11
Michelle Sutton 6-4 0-1 —- —- 1-0 1-1 12-13 36-30
? ? 8-1 8-1 7-2 8-1 31-5 123-39 (.759)
Sabre
Danielle Davis 2-0 —– —– —– —– —– 3-4 3-4
Mary-Hope Feher 0-2 —– —– —– —– —– 0-2 0-2
Jessie Filkins 5-8 2-0 —– —– 0-1 2-1 11-14 39-23
Maggie Jordan 5-6 1-0 2-1 1-2 2-1 6-4 19-15 19-15
Carianne McCullough 13-6 3-0 3-0 1-2 2-0 9-2 34-9 119-29
Destanie Milo 18-4 3-0 2-1 2-1 3-0 10-2 40-8 81-19
Melissa Trevi?o 0-3 —– —– —– —– —– 0-3 0-3
? ? 9-0 7-2 4-5 7-2 27-9 107-55 (.661)