March 24, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Notre Dame fencing team certainly lived up to its top-billing on the first day of the 2011 NCAA Championships on Thursday at the French Field House on the campus of Ohio State. The team ended the day atop the leaderboard after securing 61 points. Individually, four of the Irish athletes in competition reached the 10-win plateau, led by Ariel DeSmet (Troutdale, Ore.) going 12-2 in men’s foil.
The Irish as a team amassed 61 total points and hold an eight-point lead over Penn State (53) after the first day. St. John’s rounds out the top three after securing 40 points. Men’s foil combined for 23 points on the day for the Irish, while sabre secured 21 points and epee claimed 17.
DeSmet concluded his day on a hot streak, claiming his last seven bouts that he competed in. After his first 14 bouts, he sits in third place, just behind David Willette of Penn State. DeSmet finished with an identical record but his +34 indicator falls just behind that of Willette, who finished at +35.
Junior Reggie Bentley (Little Rock, Ark.) did more than hold his weight in his first appearance at the NCAAs, posting an 11-3 record with a +26 indicator. He sits alone in fourth place. After going 3-2 in his first round of bouts, Bentley proceeded to go 8-1 in his final three rounds.
Miles Chamley-Watson of Penn State is the leader of foil after day one, recording a 13-1 record with a +32 indicator.
Both Irish men’s sabreists, much like the foilists, reached the 10-win mark after the first day. Avery Zuck (Portland, Ore.) sits in third place after finishing his first four rounds with an overall record of 11-3 with a +31 indicator. Senior Barron Nydam (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) is in sixth place after finishing at 10-4 with a +10 indicator.
Alexander Ochocki of Penn State leads the sabre after the first day with a record of 13-1, with Daryl Homer of St. John’s in second with a 12-2 record.
James Kaull (Washington, D.C.) and Brent Kelly (Grapevine, Texas) took to the strip for the Irish in epee. Kaull, a sophomore, ended the day in fifth place after finishing with a record of 9-5 and a +6 indicator. He earned two big wins on the day by securing a pair of overtime wins against Jacob Wischnia of Penn (2-1) and Nicholas Vomero of St. John’s (4-3) to conclude his day.
Kelly, making his first career appearance at the NCAA Championships, ended his day 8-6 with a zero indicator. He also defeated Vomero in an overtime bout to begin his fourth and final round (4-3) to mark his biggest win of the day.
Marat Israelian of St. John’s leads overall after going 11-3 with a +24 indicator in his first 14 bouts.
Men’s fencing action concludes tomorrow (Friday) with rounds five through seven of round robin play. Following the completion of those rounds, the top-four finishers in each weapon will fence simultaneous semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine the individual champion, and the losers being awarded a tie for third place. An institution’s place in the championship will be based on points earned by each individual win in pool play only.
Check back with und.com for a complete recap of the second day of the championships. Fans also can follow the Irish by logging into the live blog, while overall results and streaming video can be accessed at http://www.prisedefer.com/NCAA.
Final Day One Results:
Place Name Points ME MF MS1 Notre Dame 61 17 23 212 Penn State University 53 8 25 203 St. John's University 40 17 4 194 Harvard University 39 14 10 154 Ohio State University 39 18 8 136 Princeton University 38 16 12 107 Penn 37 14 7 168 Duke University 28 14 8 68 Stanford University 28 12 9 710 Columbia/Barnard 21 5 12 411 Yale University 20 8 1212 U.S. Air Force Academy 18 7 10 113 Sacred Heart University 15 6 914 Vassar College 13 4 915 Brandeis University 11 3 816 New York University 7 716 Wayne State University 7 718 Cleveland State 5 518 Detroit Mercy 5 518 Drew University 5 518 U.C. San Diego 5 522 Boston College 3 322 Brown University 3 322 UNC, Chapel Hill 3 3
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