SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame fencing team kicked off 2023 with a successful trip to the Big Apple and to Philadelphia. The men’s team had a dominating outing when they went 7-3 throughout the entire weekend. The women’s team claimed the St. John’s Invitational title in New York City with a 5-0 winning day. Coming off of their success they are ready to host the 2023 DeCicco Duals.
The success of the team carried over into weekly awards with two true freshmen, Eszter Muhari and Maruan Osman-Touson, claiming ACC Fencer of the Week. Muhari tallied an 11-1 record at St. John’s and an 8-1 record at the Philadelphia Invitational, while Osman-Touson posted a 6-3 record at St. John’s and 10-2 at Philadelphia.
Graduate Stephen Ewart had a successful record at the St. John’s Invitational with an 8-4 record. He posted two 3-0 records against Penn State and Harvard. In men’s foil, Philip Dority had himself a day when he took a 7-2 record, and went 3-0 against Penn State and Columbia. Luke Linder got in on the fun when he went 12-3 and went 3-0 in three of his four matches.
All around the Irish were thriving with multiple success stories as the weekend went on. The women’s team had Miriam Grady collect seven wins to give herself a winning record of 7-3 at St. John’s. Amanda Pirkowski also helped the team en route to claim the invitational title as she took eight wins on the day.
Amita Berthier and Atara Greenbaum each dominated in their respective weapons, foil and saber. Berthier went 7-2 while Greenbaum went 10-4. Not a single women’s team member looked back once the invitational title was in their sight. Kara Linder and Jadeyn Williams decided to continue building on that success as they went 11-4 and 7-2. Williams fenced some of the strongest bouts, and had a stellar performance. Even the two she dropped were very close, 5-4 defeats.
The team walked away with a great sense of accomplishment after claiming the St. John’s title for the second year in a row.
They continued their success at the Philadelphia Invitation where Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle went 12-3 in his debut with the Irish. Noah Silvers also made his mark as a freshman with a 13-2 mark. Both Hamilton-Meikle and Silvers had a dominating day with six 3-0 finishes combined. Berthier went undefeated in Philadelphia with a 6-0 mark and teammate Jane Caulfield dominated with a 7-2 finish. Greenbaum finished with an 11-4 mark and two 3-0 finishes.
Now they look forward to hosting the 2023 DeCicco Duals. Notre Dame will take on Wayne State, Florida, Lawrence, Detroit Mercy, Cleveland State, Denison, Purdue, University of Chicago, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, and Case Western Reserve.
The DeCicco Duals are open and free to the public. The duals will be hosted at the Joyce Center at the Castellan Family Fencing Center.