March 5, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The top-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams claimed gold in two of the six individual tournaments being contested Saturday at the Midwest Fencing Conference (MFC) Championships.
Hayley Reese was the first of the Irish to bring home gold, capturing the women’s foil in morning action, followed by Courtney Hurley claiming the epee gold in the afternoon session.
All told, the Irish won 15 medals (out of a possible 24 due to third place ties in each weapon) including two golds, four silvers and nine bronzes.
A recap of Notre Dame’s performances in each of the weapons follow, while complete results of the individual championship – including pool play and direct elimination – can be accessed at und.com’s Midwest Fencing Conference Championship Central page, located on the sidebar of the fencing homepage.
Women’s Foil:
Reese earned the top spot entering the direct elimination rounds after putting together a perfect pool play ledger. She not only went 6-0 in her pool bouts, but did not drop a touch in any of the bouts as well. She advanced into the semifinals with wins over Alexis Duffey of Michigan State (15-2), Rebecca Grohman of Northwestern (15-8) and teammate Radmila Sarkisova (10-0). Once there, the senior defeated teammate Rachel Beck (11-9) and Northwestern’s Dayana Sarkisova (15-6) to claim gold.
Beck, Adriana Camacho and Grace Hartman each also advanced into the table of eight. Camacho finished in a tie for third after upsetting second-seeded Oksana Dmytruk of Ohio State, 12-10, in the quarterfinals before losing to D. Sarkisova in the semifinals, 15-8.
Beck and Hartman ran into each other in their quarterfinal bout, with Beck coming out on top 11-9 to advance into the semifinal match against Reese.
Other competitors for the Irish included Darsie Malynn and Katie Heinzen, who finished 14th and 22nd, respectively.
Women’s Epee:
Hurley continued her dominance of the MFC Championships, claiming her second gold in three years at the event. She secured the title with a 15-11 victory over Caroline Piasecka of Ohio State after beating Katarzyna Dabrowa of Ohio State (15-9) in the quarterfinals and Karalina Collins of Northwestern (15-8) in the semifinals.
Ewa Nelip also earned a spot in the top eight of the event and advanced into the top four after knocking off Erin vonKronenberger of Michigan State, 15-7. She earned the top seed going into the direct elimination tournament after posting a 6-0 mark in pool play with a +26 indicator.
Rounding out the Irish epeeists were Diane Zielinski (ninth), Phenix Messersmith (12th), Stephanie Myers (17th) and Caroline Dikibo (28th).
Women’s Sabre:
Sarah Borrmann put together a strong run, earning a silver medal finish. The senior entered direct elimination as the 10th seeded fencer but put together a string of victories over Blakely Meyer of Indiana (15-0), teammates Danielle Guilfoyle (15-5) and Abigail Nichols (15-8) and Falencia Miller (15-8) to earn a berth into the semifinals.
She then advanced into the finals after claiming a victory over teammate Lian Osier in the semifinals, 15-8.
Borrmann and Osier were not the only Irish fencers to reach the quarterfinals, however, as Eileen Hassett and Marta Stepien also made the table of eight. Hassett moved into the final four as she earned a 15-11 decision over Emily Chang of Ohio State. Stepien, meanwhile, fell to Osier in the quarters, 15-8, to end her tournament.
Abigail Nichols (11th), Beatriz Almeida (16th), Kathryn Palazzoto (20th), Danielle Guilfoyle (22nd), Julie Kohn (24th) and Colleen Dawes (37th) finished out the rotation.
Men’s Foil:
Enzo Castellani earned a silver medal for the Irish, after finishing second to Zain Shaito of Ohio State in the championship bout, 15-11. Castellani entered the direct elimination bracket as the top seed, going 6-0 with a +28 indicator in pool play. He rolled into the semifinals with wins over Nate Wilson of Michigan State (15-9), Jonahtan Kim of Northwestern (15-3) and Tim Mulligan of Wayne State (15-1). He then took down teammate Nick Kubik in the semfinals, 15-9, to earn the bid into the finals.
Along with Castellani and N. Kubik in the quarterfinals was Ariel DeSmet and Steve Kubik, who faced each other in a quarterfinal bout. DeSmet advanced into the semifinals with a 12-10 decision before falling to Shaito, 15-12. Nick Crebs represented the fifth Irish fencer in the quarters, losing to Castellani 15-8 in that bout.
Zach Schirtz (ninth), Grant Hodges (16th) and Teddy Hodges (t36th) concluded the Irish rotation.
Men’s Epee:
James Kaull and Jack Piasio led the way for the epee squad, as each earned a spot in the table of eight. Kaull entered direct elimination play in a tie for the second seed with a 6-0 record and a +24 indicator, while Piasio entered as the 10th seed with a 5-1 record and a +15 indicator.
Kaull’s path to the finals saw him knock off Patrick Weber of Chicago State (15-6) in the round of 64, Jake Trithart of Michigan (15-9) in the round of 32, Marvin Lowenthal of Michigan (15-7) in the round of 16, Piasio in the quarterfinals (15-10) and Marco Canevari of Ohio State (15-10) in the semifinals. He fell to Daniel Tafoya of Ohio State in the finals, 15-11.
Before dropping to Kaull in the quarterfinals, Piasio used wins over Brendan O’Flaherty of Lawrence (15-3), Narayan Pathi of Ohio State (15-11) and Kristian Boyadzhiev of Ohio State (15-14) to reach that point.
Greg Schoolcraft (ninth), Brent Kelly (11th), Jacob Osborne (12th), Chris Pinkowski (14th), Michael Rossi (17th) and Andrew Seroff (24th) rounded out the Irish in epee competition.
Men’s Sabre:
Barron Nydam secured another silver for the Irish, advancing to the finals of men’s sabre. He entered direct elimination as the top seed after going 6-0 with a +28 indicator in pool play.
Wins over Sam Lindberg of Minnesota (15-8), Mark Scherschel of Purdue (15-2) and Michael Douville of Ohio State (15-10) secured Nydam his spot in the quarterfinals. Once there, the Irish senior took down Nicholas Kotz of Ohio State (15-10) in the quarterfinals and teammate Jason Choy (15-8) in the semifinals before falling to Rhys Douglas of Ohio State in the championship match, 15-9.
Three other Irish fencers reached the table of eight, as Choy took down Alexander Coccia in the quarterfinals (15-14), before falling to Nydam. Kevin Hassett also reached the semifinals after defeating Jakub Gibczynski of Wayne State (15-10) in the quarters before losing to Douglas (15-9) in his semifinal bout.
Keith Feldman (ninth), Carl Ianiro (10th), William McGough (t11th), Anthony Schlehuber (14th), Alex Buell (18th), John Plunkett (21st) and Marcel Frenkel (22nd) rounded out the sabre competitors for the Irish.
The MFC Championships conclude tomorrow, as the Irish challenge 19 other squads in each of the six weapons and the overall conference crown. Action is slated to begin at 8:00 a.m. inside the Joyce Center Fieldhouse. For all the latest updates of the individual team competitions, check back with und.com and the Midwest Fencing Conference Championship central page located on the sidebar of the fencing homepage.
–ND–