Feb. 25, 2006
Notre Dame freshman Emilie Prot won the women’s foil title while Wayne State swept the men’s and women’s epee titles and Ohio State claimed both sabre events in addition to winning in men’s foil, during first-day action at the annual Midwest Fencing Conference Championships. The action concludes with Sunday’s team competition at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse, beginning at 8:00 a.m.
Three Notre Dame fencers – junior sabre standouts Valerie Providenza and Patrick Ghattas and sophomore epeeist Greg Howard – each claimed runner-up finishes while freshmen Adi Nott (foil) and Madeleine Stephan (epee) and junior sabreist Matt Stearns all reached the semifinal round.
Prot was the No. 4 seed before going 6-0 in her pools to claim the top seed in the direct-elimination. She then topped Notre Dame senior Colleen Walsh in the round-of-16 (15-5) and Wayne State’s Lindsey Howard in the quarterfinals (15-11) before a wild 15-14 win over Northwestern All-American Jessica Florendo in the semifinals, with Florendo winning three straight points to forge the 14-14 tie prior to Prot’s winning touch. Prot then topped highly-regarded Northwestern newcomer Samantha Nemecek, 15-9, to claim the title.
Only five previous Notre Dame women’s fencers have won an MFC individual title as freshmen: foilists Pia Albertson (’84), Molly Sullivan (’85), Maria Panyi (’94) and Alicja Kryczalo (’02) and epeeist Anna Carnick (’00). The 32-year history of the MFC individual competition (’71-’94, ’99-’06) also has seen nine Notre Dame men’s fencers win MFC titles as freshmen: sabreists Mike Sullivan (’76), Leszek Nowosielski (’88), Bill Lester (’94) and Gabor Szelle (’99); foilists Yehuda Kovacs (’86), Jeremy Siek (’94) and Ozren Debic (’00); and epeeists David Calderhead (’89) and Jubba Beshin (’90).
The 3rd-seeded Nott went 6-0 in the pools to earn the #2 spot in the direct-elimination, besting Notre Dame sophomores Rachel Cota (round-of-16) and Melanie Bautista (quarterfinal) by identical 15-2 scores before losing a 15-3 semifinal to Northwestern’s Nemecek.
Ohio State’s Siobahn Byrne defeated Providenza to win the women’s sabre final (15-12), reprising her win from the 2005 NCAA bronze-medal bout. Providenza earlier had defeated fifth-place teammate Angela Vincent in the quarterfinals (15-4) before topping OSU’s Eileen Grench in a 15-10 semifinal.
Notre Dame sophomore Mariel Zagunis – the 2004 Olympic gold medalist and ’05 NCAA runner-up – is not competing at the 2006 MFCs due to a schedule conflict with the World Cup Grand Prix event in Budapest.
Ghattas lost the final men’s sabre bout to OSU’s Adam Crompton, 15-12, in a renewal of the rivalry between the two-time NCAA champion Crompton (’03 and ’04) and the ’05 NCAA runner-up Ghattas. The semifinal bouts saw Ghattas defeat OSU newcomer Mike Momtselidza (15-12) while Crompton beat Stearns, 15-8. Stearns earlier had posted a 15-8 quarterfinal win over OSU senior and 2004 U.S. Olympian Jason Rogers, duplicating his win over Rogers from the 2005 NCAA round-robin.
The final few men’s sabre bouts – namely the Stearns-Rogers quarterfinal, both semifinals and the title bout – featured some high-level fencing at both ends, producing back-and-forth bouts with plenty of quality touches.
Howard – a South Bend-area native and St. Joseph’s High School graduate – topped OSU All-American Christian Rivera in the semifinals (15-13) before losing to 2005 NCAA runner-up Marek Petraszek of Wayne State in the 15-9 final bout.
Two-time NCAA women’s epee champion Anna Garina won the MFC title after a 15-7 title bout vs. OSU’s Kaela Brendler. Garina earlier had posted a 15-11 semifinal win over Stephan, who defeated fifth-place finisher and Notre Dame junior Amy Orlando in the quarterfinals (15-11).
Ohio State newcomer Andras Horanyi bested teammate Will Jeter (15-3) in the final bout of a wide-open men’s foil competition that saw two-time NCAA champion Boaz Ellis of OSU relegated to a fifth-place finish, after losing a 15-10 quarterfinal bout to Notre Dame sophomore Jakub Jedrkowiak (who also owns wins over Ellis at the past two Penn State Opens). Yet another OSU newcomer, Dimitri Kirk-Gordon, advanced to the semifinals after a 14-11 win over Notre Dame freshman Mark Kubik, who finished in 5th-place.
In the 49-fencer women’s foil field, Bautista posted a 15-8 round-of-16 win over Cleveland State’s Leigh Pendergrass (a 2005 NCAA participant, at James Madison) before losing to Nott, en route to a 7th-place finish. Cota (15th) and Walsh (16th) rounded out the Notre Dame women’s foil contingent that included five of the top-16 finishers.
The 42-fencer women’s sabre field saw Providenza (15-4 vs. Brittany Denison) and Vincent (15-8 vs. Rebekah Sima) each win their round-of-16 bouts while Notre Dame freshman Ashley Serrette lost by forfeit to Wayne State’s Katarzyna Kuzniak (Serrette still finished 8th).
Six Notre Dame fencers finished among the top-16 in the 58-fencer men’s sabre competition. Ghattas won his round-of-16 bout vs. ND senior Nicholas Diacou (15-6) while Stearns beat Northwestern’s Lascar and ND freshman Bill Thanhouser lost to OSU’s Jason Paul (15-13). Notre Dame freshman Tom Horton lost in the round-of-16 to OSU’s to Crompton (15-5), as did junior Ryan Bradley in a 15-8 bout vs. Detroit’s Jaroslaw Jelinek (a 2005 NCAA participant). Thanhouser ended up finishing 12th, with Diacou 14th, Bradley 15th and Horton 16th.
Howard’s runner-up finish in the 56-fencer men’s epee field included a round-of-16 win over ND junior Jesse Laeuchli (15-2) and a 15-10 quarterfinal vs. Purdue’s Joseph Landin. Junior Patrick Gettings was seeded 10th but surged to a 6th-place finish, thanks to a 5-1 record in the pools and a 15-7 win over Cleveland State’s Andy Snell (round-of-16) before losing a 15-9 quarterfinal to OSU’s Rivera. Another ND junior, Aaron Adjemian, placed 9th after being edged by OSU’s Denis Tolkachev in the round-of-16 (15-13), with Adjemian’s classmate Laeuchli finishing 11th. Notre Dame freshman Karol Kostka was the top seed before going 5-1 in the pools and ultimately placing 17th.
Stephan made an impressive run to the semifinals of the 45-fencer women’s epee bouts, entering as the #5 seed and going 5-0 in her pool before a 15-13 win over Northwestern’s Megan Ross (round-of-16) and the quarterfinal bout vs. her teammate Orlando (who was the #4 seed, went 6-0 in pools and then beat Cleveland State’s Pam Marvinney in the round-of-16, by a 9-5 score). Freshman Kim Montoya also reached the round-of-16 but lost a 13-11 bout to OSU’s Leslie Lampman. Fifth-year senior Becca Chimahusky (3-2 in pools) narrowly missed a spot in the round-of-16, finishing 18th.
Five Notre Dame fencers finished among the top-14 in the 54-fencer men’s foil field. Jedrkowiak advanced to the semifinals after wins over Lawrence’s Loren Heckman-Heath (15-6) and the big win over OSU’s Ellis. Kubik’s 5th-place finish included a 15-3 win over Michigan State’s Justin Johnson in the round-of-16, with senior Andrew Zodda losing his round-of-16 bout to ND junior Frank Bontempo (15-0; with Bontempo then losing to Horanyi, 15-12). Bontempo placed 7th and Zodda 11th, with freshman Alex Grigorenko adding a 14th-place finish (after a 15-5 loss to OSU’s Ellis in the round-of-16).
Men’s Epee (field of 56)
Top 12 – 1. Marek Petraszek (Wayne State); 2. Greg Howard (Notre Dame); 3. Denis Tolkachev (Ohio State) and Christian Rivera (OSU); 5. Joseph Landin (Purdue); 6. Patrick Gettings (ND); 7. Alexander Kaeding (Lawrence); 8. Simon Maisel (Michigan); 9. Aaron Adjemian (ND); 10. Jason Pryor (OSU); 11. Jesse Laeuchli (ND); 12. Eric Sher (OSU).
Quarterfinals – Tolkachev def. Maisel (15-10) … Petraszek def. Kaeding (15-2) … Howard def. Landin def. (15-10) … Rivera def. Gettings (15-9).
Semifinals – Petraszek def. Tolkachev (15-8) … Howard def. Rivera (15-13).
Final – Petraszek def. Howard (15-9).
Also for ND – Karol Kostka (17th) and Craig Brede (39th).
Men’s Foil (field of 54)
Top 12 – 1. Andras Horanyi (Ohio State); 2. William Jeter (OSU); 3. Dimitri Kirk-Gordon (OSU) and Jakub Jedrkowiak (Notre Dame); 5. Boaz Ellis (OSU); 6. Mark Kubik (ND); 7. Frank Bontempo (ND); 8. Kevin Stewart (OSU); 9. Loren Heckman-Heath (Lawrence); 10. Craig Budzynski (Detroit); 11. Andrew Zodda (ND); 12. Justin Johnson (Michigan State).
Quarterfinals – Jeter def. Stewart (9-8) … Kirk-Gordon def. Kubik (14-11) … Horanyi def. Bontempo (15-12) … Jedrkowiak def. Ellis (15-10).
Semifinals – Jeter def. Kirk-Gordon (15-8) … Horanyi def. Jedrkowiak (15-10).
Final – Horanyi def. Jeter (15-3).
Also for ND – Alex Grigorenko (14th), Diego Quinonez (18th), Jack Goetz (20th), Andrew Schumacher (36th) and Patrick Donnelly (43rd).
Women’s Sabre (field of 42)
Top 12 – 1. Siobhan Byrne (Ohio State); 2. Valerie Providenza (Notre Dame); 3. Mai Van Vu (Northwestern) and Eileen Grench (OSU); 5. Angela Vincent (ND); 6. Syvenna Siebert (OSU); 7. Gina Annunziato (NW); 8. Ashley Serrette (ND); 9. Katarzyna Kuzniak (Wayne State); 10. Emily Pasternak (NW); 11. Sophie Eustis (NW); 12. Brittnay Denison (Michigan State).
Quarterfinals – Byrne def. Annunziato (15-6) … Vu def. Serrette (15-11) … Providenza def. Vincent (15-4) … Grench def. Siebert (15-8).
Semifinals – Byrne def. Vu (15-3) … Providenza def. Grench (15-10).
Final – Byrne def. Providenza (15-12).
Also for ND – Erin Housing (24th).
Women’s Foil (field of 49)
Top 12 – 1. Emilie Prot (Notre Dame); 2. Samantha Nemecek (Northwestern); 3. Jessica Florendo (NW) and Adi Nott (ND); 5. Natalie Wang (NW); 6. Lindsey Howard (Wayne State); 7. Melanie Bautista (ND); 8. Amelia Galliard (Ohio State); 9. Ashlan Falletta-Cowden (Lawrence); 10. Leigh Pendergrass (Cleveland State); 11. Michelle Leach (Michigan); 12. Marquerite Plekhanov (OSU).
Quarterfinals – Prot def. Howard (15-11) … Florendo def. Wang (15-7) … Nemecek def. Galliard (15-9) … Nott def Bautista (15-2).
Semifinals – Prot def. Florendo (15-14) … Nemecek def. Nott (15-3).
Final – Prot def. Nemecek (15-9).
Also for ND – Rachel Cota (15th) and Colleen Walsh (16th).
Women’s Epee (field of 45)
Top 12 – 1. Anna Garina (Wayne State); 2. Kaela Brendler (Ohio State); 3. Sharon Sullivan (Northwestern) and Madeleine Stephan (Notre Dame); 5. Amy Orlando (ND); 6. Sara Pacherek (NW); 7. Aleksan Obrazcova (OSU); 8. Leslie Lampman (OSU); 9. Kim Montoya (ND); 10. Justyn Konczalska (WSU); 11. Kellie Fry (NW); 12. Megan Ross (NW).
Quarterfinals – Stephan def. Orlando (15-11) … Garina def. Obrazcova (15-6) … Sullivan def. Pecherek (15-4) … Brendler def. Lampman (15-12).
Semifinals – Garina def. Stephan (15-12) … Brendler def. Sullivan (15-12).
Final – Garina def. Brendler (15-7).
Also for ND – Becca Chimahusky (18th) and Marielle Connor (23rd).
Men’s Sabre (field of 58)
Top 12 – 1. Adam Crompton (Ohio State); 2. Patrick Ghattas (Notre Dame); 3. Matt Stearns (ND) and Mike Momtselidze (OSU); 5. Jaroslaw Jelinek (Detroit); 6. Jason Paul (OSU); 7. Bobby Smith (Wayne State); 8. Jason Rogers (OSU); 9. Nils Schaede (Lawrence); 10. Meng Zhong (Michigan); 11. John Downey (Cleveland State); 12. Bill Thanhouser (ND). Quarterfinals – Stearns def. Rogers (15-8) … Crompton def. Paul (15-12) … Momtselidze def. Jelinek (15-9) … Ghattas def. Smith (15-12).
Semifinals – Crompton def. Stearns (15-8) … Ghattas def. Momtselidze (15-12).
Final – Crompton def. Ghattas (15-12).
Also for ND – Nicholas Diacou (14th), Ryan Bradley (15th), Tom Horton (16th), Matt Doherty (19th), Alex Schumacher (27th) and Ceshino Brooks-DeVita (37th).