Jan. 27, 2006
Four former NCAA individual champions – plus several other elite All-Americans – will be among the 10-team field this weekend at the annual Notre Dame Duals, set for the Joyce Center Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 28 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) and Sunday, Jan. 29 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.). This year’s event has a unique format, as most of the women’s bouts will be contested on Saturday while all of the men’s competition is slated for Sunday (Duke will fence all of its bouts, for men and women, on Sunday).
Notre Dame and Ohio State – the top-two finishers from the 2005 NCAAs – will not face each other at the ND Duals this weekend, after fencing last weekend at the NYU Duals (the Irish and Buckeyes also will not face each other at next week’s OSU Duals).
Results from the ND Duals (including team scores broken down by weapon) will be available at the following link: http://www.nd.edu/~fencing/results/ndduals06schedule.htm
Saturday’s marquee women matchups include #1 Notre Dame vs. #7 Northwestern at approximately 2:00 p.m. and 2nd-ranked Ohio State vs. the Wildcats in the next round (3:00). Fans also will want to catch the Wayne State women’s epee team – led by two-time NCAA champion Anna Garina – in action, with the Warriors fencing Notre Dame at 3:00 and OSU at 4:00. Most notably, Garina likely will face ND junior Amy Orlando in a rematch of the 2005 NCAA title bout that was won by the six-foot Ukranian (Garina also defeated another ND fencer, ’05 graduate Kerry Walton, in the ’04 NCAA final).
Top bouts to watch on Sunday include: the Duke women vs. Northwestern at 9:00 a.m.; full matches for Duke (men and women) vs. Notre Dame (10:00; ND men are ranked #2), Wayne State (11:00) and Ohio State (noon; OSU men are #1); the ND men vs. Wayne State (led by ’05 NCAA epee runner-up Marek Petraszek) at 3:00; and the OSU men vs. Wayne State at 4:00.
The two-day event will provide spectators the chance to see four former NCAA champion fencers in action, plus four others who have reached the NCAA title bout and four more who have been third-place finishers. The field is highlighted by 32 competitors who have competed in previous NCAA Tournaments, with 25 of them registering All-America top-12 finishes.
The former NCAA champions who are slated to be on hand include Notre Dame junior sabre standout Valerie Providenza (’04; also 4th in ’05), plus three two-time champs: WSU’s Garina (’04 and ’05), OSU junior foilist Boaz Ellis (’04 and ’05) and OSU senior sabreist Adam Crompton (’03 and ’04; also 7th in ’05). Three other Notre Dame fencers – Orlando in epee, junior Patrick Ghattas in sabre and sophomore Mariel Zagunis (the ’04 Olympic gold medalist), also in sabre – each finished as runner-up at the 2005 NCAAs, as did WSU’s Petraszek in men’s epee (he lost to former ND standout Michal Sobieraj).
The four who have been NCAA third-place finishes include: OSU junior epeeist Denis Tolkachev (in ’04; also 4th in ’05), senior sabre Jason Rogers (in ’02 and ’03; fenced for USA at ’04 Olympics, then 5th at ’05 NCAAs) and sophomore women’s sabre Siobahn Byrne (’05), and Duke junior Anne Kercsmar (’04; also 16th in ’05).
Other All-Americans to watch this weekend at the ND Duals include (finish indicates ’05 NCAAs, unless specified): ND sophomore foilist Jakub Jedrkowiak (7th), OSU sophomore sabre Amelia Galliard (7th), OSU junior junior epeeist Kaela Brendler (5th; also 7th in ’04), OSU junior sabre Jason Paul (9th in ’04), ND junior sabre Matt Stearns (10th), Detroit senior sabre Jaroslaw Jelinek (11th), Duke junior women’s sabre Ibtihaj Muhammad (11th), OSU junior epeeist Christian Rivera (12th), Northwestern junior foilist Jessica Florendo (12th).
A handful of others have fenced at the NCAAs, including: ND junior sabre Angela Vincent (’04), junior foilist Frank Bontempo (’04) and junior epeeist Aaron Adjemian (’05); OSU sophomore foilist Will Jeter (’05); NU junior epeeists Courtney DuBois (’05), senior epeeist Sharon Sullivan (’04), senior sabre Emily Pasternak and junior sabre Mai Van Vu (’05); Duke junior sabre Allison Schafer (’05) and sophomore foilist Jackson McClam (21st); and Cleveland State foilust Mike Merker (’05).
Each of the top teams also include several top newcomers who are sure to make their name at future NCAA tournaments.
The complete Notre Dame Duals schedule follows below:
Saturday, Jan. 28 – Women’s Teams Only
8:00 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Oberlin, Ohio State vs. Lawrence, Cleveland State vs. Wayne State, Chicago vs. Northwestern
9:00 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Detroit, Ohio State vs. Oberlin, Cleveland State vs. Lawrence, Chicago vs. Wayne State
10:00 a.m. – Ohio State vs. Detroit, Northwestern vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State, vs. Oberlin, Chicago vs. Lawrence
11:00 a.m. – Northwestern vs. Lawrence, Cleveland State vs. Detroit, Chicago vs. Oberlin
12:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Cleveland State, Northwestern vs. Oberlin, Wayne State vs. Lawrence, Wayne State vs. Lawrence, Chicago vs. Detroit
1:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Chicago, Ohio State vs. Cleveland State, Northwestern vs. Detroit, Wayne State vs. Oberlin
2:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Northwestern, Ohio State vs. Chicago, Wayne State vs. Detroit, Lawrence vs. Oberlin
3:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Wayne State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Cleveland State vs. Chicago, Lawrence vs. Detroit
4:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Lawrence, Ohio State vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State vs. Northwestern, Oberlin vs. Detroit
Sunday, Jan. 29 – Men’s Teams Only (except for Duke matches, which feature men’s and women’s bouts)
8:00 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Oberlin, Duke vs. Detroit*, Ohio State vs. Lawrence, Cleveland State vs. Wayne State, Chicago vs. Northwestern
9:00 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Detroit, Duke vs. Northwestern*, Ohio State vs. Oberlin, Cleveland State vs. Lawrence, Chicago vs. Wayne State
10:00 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Duke*, Ohio State vs. Detroit, Northwestern vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State vs. Oberlin, Chicago vs. Lawrence
11:00 a.m. – Duke vs. Wayne State*, Northwestern vs. Lawrence, Cleveland State vs. Detroit, Chicago vs. Oberlin
12:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Cleveland State, Duke vs. Ohio State*, Northwestern vs. Oberlin, Wayne State vs. Lawrence, Chicago vs. Detroit
1:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Chicago, Duke vs. Lawrence*, Ohio State vs. Cleveland State, Northwestern vs. Detroit, Wayne State vs. Oberlin
2:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Northwestern, Ohio State vs. Chicago, Wayne State vs. Detroit, Lawrence vs. Oberlin
3:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Wayne State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Cleveland State vs. Chicago, Lawrence vs. Detroit
4:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Lawrence, Ohio State vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State vs. Northwestern, Oberlin vs. Detroit
* – both men’s and women’s teams