QUEENS, N.Y. — Saturday’s showcase of the nation’s top fencing programs at the St. John’s Invitational proved a fruitful venture for the top-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s squads, which emerged with 4-1 records on the day after facing top competition at Taffner Field House.
Both Irish sides entered the day with 5-0 records in dual matches. The men’s team came away with victories over No. 7 Ohio State, No. 3 Penn State, No. 2 Harvard and No. 8 St. John’s, while the women defeated No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Harvard, St. John’s and No. 3 Columbia.
Reigning men’s foil national champion Nick Itkin led the men with a 9-3 record on the day, while sophomore foilist Joseph Marino went 8-3 and sophomore epeeist Stephen Ewart assembled an 8-4 mark. A pair of freshman women carried the load for the women’s side, as sabreuse Kara Linder went 12-3 and foilist Amita Berthier posted a 10-2 mark. Sophomore sabreuse Reghan Ward was 9-2 for the day, while senior Sabrina Massialas and junior Morgan Partridge each went 7-2 in foil.
How It Happened
Ohio State
The Irish men and women each made quick work of the Buckeyes, with the men earning a 19-8 victory and the women prevailing 18-9.
On the men’s side, the foil squad swept Ohio State 9-0, as Itkin went 3-0, senior Axel Kiefer and Marino went 2-0 and senior Michael Antipas and sophomore Robert Wong also chipped in wins. Junior Arsenii Panteleev similarly went 3-0 in his sabre bouts.
For the women, Ward was 3-0, while sophomore Dasha Yefremenko (epee), Massialas and Berthier all posted 2-1 marks.
Penn State
The men snared an impressive 15-12 victory over the No. 3 Nittany Lions, though the women dropped their first match of the season to the fourth-ranked women’s side, 17-10.
Ewart and freshmen sabreurs Malcolm Fields and Alessandro Contreras posted 2-1 records against PSU, as did Itkin, Kiefer, Marino and Panteleev.
Yefremenko, Berthier, Linder and junior foilist Samantha Viqueira also were 2-1 against Penn State.
Harvard
The men continued their winning ways with a 15-12 victory over the No. 2 Harvard men, while women bounced back to win 19-8 over the seventh-ranked Crimson women.
The men again got a perfect record from Itkin, while junior epeeist Ariel Simmons also went 3-0. Ewart and Kiefer contributed 2-1 marks.
Berthier, Linder and Partridge each went 3-0 against the Crimson, while freshman epeeist Miriam Grady was 2-0 in the dual.
St. John’s
Both teams weathered the Red Storm, with the men earning a 15-12 win and the women winning 19-8.
The Irish men’s foil squad swept its way past St. John’s, with Antipas, Marino and Wong all going 3-0. Simmons added two wins in epee.
For the women, Barry, Massialas and Ward led their respective weapons with three wins each.
Columbia
The Irish women closed out the day with a 16-11 win over No. 3 Columbia, while the men dropped their first match of the season in a 19-8 decision to the No. 4 Lion men.
Four Irish women — Berthier and Partridge in foil and Linder and Ward in sabre — went 3-0 in the victory.
Scores
St. John’s Invitational
Taffner Field House
Queens, N.Y.
Jan. 19, 2019
Men’s Results
No. 1 Notre Dame 19, No. 7 Ohio State 8
Epee (4-5): Darius Zacharakis 2-1, Aidan Antekeier 1-2, Zachary Zeller 1-0, Dylan French 0-2
Foil (9-0): Nick Itkin 3-0, Axel Kiefer 2-0, Joseph Marino 2-0, Michael Antipas 1-0, Robert Wong 1-0
Sabre (6-3): Arsenii Panteleev 3-0, Alessandro Contreras 2-1, Malcolm Fields 1-2
No. 1 Notre Dame 15, No. 3 Penn State 12
Epee (3-6): Stephen Ewart 2-1, Zacharakis, 1-1, Antekeier 0-1, Ariel Simmons 0-3
Foil (6-3): Itkin 2-1, Kiefer 2-1, Marino 2-1
Sabre (6-3): Panteleev 2-1, Fields 2-1, Contreras 2-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 15, No. 2 Harvard 12
Epee (6-3): Simmons 3-0, Ewart 2-1, French 1-0, Zeller 0-2
Foil (6-3): Itkin 3-0, Kiefer 2-1, Marino 1-2,
Sabre (3-6): Panteleev 1-2, Contreras 1-2, Jared Smith 1-1, Fields 0-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 15, No. 8 St. John’s 12
Epee (4-5): Simmons 2-1, Ewart 1-2, French 1-2
Foil (9-0): Antipas 3-0, Marino 3-0, Wong 3-0
Sabre (2-7): Panteleev 1-2, Contreras 1-2, Smith 0-2, Logan Kanary 0-1
No. 4 Columbia 19, No. 1 Notre Dame 8
Epee (6-3): Ewart 3-0, Simmons 2-1, Zacharakis 1-2
Foil (1-8): Itkin 1-2, Antipas 0-2, Kiefer 0-3, Wong 0-1
Sabre (1-8): Contreras 1-1, Panteleev 0-3, Fields 0-1, Smith 0-2, Colin Campbell 0-1
Women’s Results
No. 1 Notre Dame 18, No. 5 Ohio State 9
Epee (6-3): Dasha Yefremenko 2-1, Julia Barry 1-1, Molly Hudson 1-1, Miriam Grady 1-0, Katherine Wallace 1-0
Foil (5-4): Sabrina Massialas 2-1, Amita Berthier 2-1, Morgan Partridge 1-2
Sabre (7-2): Reghan Ward 3-0, Kara Linder 2-1, Natalie Disher 1-0, Regina O’Brien 1-1
No. 4 Penn State 17, No. 1 Notre Dame 10
Epee (2-7): Yefremenko 2-1, Barry 0-3, Grady 0-3
Foil (5-4): Berthier 2-1, Samantha Viqueira 2-1, Elyssa Kleiner 1-2
Sabre (3-6): Linder 2-1, Tara Hassett 1-2, Ward 0-2, Disher 0-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 19, No. 7 Harvard 8
Epee (6-3): Yefremenko 2-1, Barry 2-1, Grady 2-0, Hudson 0-1
Foil (8-1): Partridge 3-0, Berthier 3-0, Massialas 2-1
Sabre (5-4): Linder 3-0, O’Brien 1-2, Hassett 1-2
No. 1 Notre Dame 19, St. John’s 8
Epee (5-4): Barry 3-0, Yefremenko 2-1, Hudson 0-3
Foil (7-2): Massialas 3-0, Kleiner 2-1, Finnula Mageras 2-1
Sabre (7-2): Ward 3-0, O’Brien 2-0, Linder 2-1, Hassett 0-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 16, No. 3 Columbia 11
Epee (3-6): Yefremenko 1-2, Grady 1-2, Barry 1-2
Foil (6-3): Berthier 3-0, Partridge 3-0, Viqueira 0-3
Sabre (7-2): Ward 3-0, Linder 3-0, Hassett 1-0, O’Brien 0-2
Rankings
College Fencing 360 released its first coaches’ poll of the season Friday, with both Irish teams topping the rankings. The Notre Dame women earned 149 out of a possible 150 voting points to earn the No. 1 ranking for the 29th time in the poll’s 19-year history (most ahead of Penn State with nine). The men earned 147 voting points and topped the poll for the 18th time (most ahead of Penn State’s 17).
Men’s Rankings
1. Notre Dame
2. Harvard
3. Penn State
4. Columbia
5. Princeton
6. Yale
7. Ohio State
8. St. John’s
9. Pennsylvania
10. Duke
Women’s Rankings
1. Notre Dame
2. Northwestern
3. Columbia
4. Penn State
5. Ohio State
6. Princeton
7. Harvard
8. Duke
9. Pennsylvania
10. Temple
–ND–