Feb. 1, 2009
Complete NWU Duals Match Reports (men) in PDF Format 
Complete NWU Duals Match Reports (women) in PDF Format
EVANSTON, Ill. – The top-ranked Notre Dame men’s fencing team posted a 9-0 mark at the Northwestern duals, while the second-ranked women’s team went 11-0 inside the Crown Sports and Aquatic Center.
The men are now an impressive 17-0 on the season, while the women stand at 17-2. All told, the men and women combined to knock-off seven ranked opponents in Evanston, and each squad blanked an opponent (27-0).
The Irish return to action next weekend with two events scheduled. A portion of the men’s squad will travel to North Carolina to take part in the Duke Duals on Friday, February 6. Then, on February 7 and 8, the Irish play host to the Notre Dame Duals, slated to begin at 8:00 a.m. and run all day.
Men’s NWU Duals Recap The men posted wins over Johns Hopkins (23-4), first-ranked Penn State (14-13), Northwestern (20-7), Cleveland State (24-3), 10th-ranked North Carolina (21-6), Wayne State (24-3), Detroit (24-3), Lawrence (27-0) and third-ranked Ohio State (15-12).
Men’s Epee Karol Kostka (Krakow, Poland) paced the epee squad with 15 wins against just one loss. To close out his stellar weekend, Kostka, an epee team captain, posted a 3-0 record against the Buckeyes of Ohio State to help ensure the 15-12 win in what was one of Notre Dame’s closest matches of the weekend (see below). He also went undefeated on the first day at the NWU Duals with a 10-0 mark, including a 3-0 mark against Penn State that helped Notre Dame to the 14-13 win.
The men’s epee team also received important contributions from Conor Gettings (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Jacob Osborne (Colleyville, Texas) as each sophomore had eight wins. Gettings went 6-0 on day-two of action, posting 3-0 marks over Lawrence and Detroit, while Osborne had one of Notre Dame’s biggest wins of the season thus far as he defeated Penn State’s James Moody, 5-4, to clinch the Irish victory. A late substitute, Osborne had fallen behind 4-3 in the race to five touches, but he rattled off the next two touches for a 5-4 win, sealing Notre Dame’s defeat of rival Penn State.
Also recording epee wins for the Irish were Chris Pinkowski (Simi Valley, Calif.), Brent Kelly (Grapevine, Texas), Bill Ehrlich (Woodbury Minn.), Greg Schoolcraft (San Jose, Calif.) and Andrew Seroff (Boulder, Colo.). Pinkowski had seven wins, while Ehrlich (in his first action of the season), Schoolcraft and Seroff each had five wins.
Men’s Foil The men’s foil team combined to post a 67-14 (.827) record at the NWU duals, including a team-high 16 wins from Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.), who was making his NCAA debut for the Irish. The freshman, and 2008 U.S. Olympian, had Notre Dame’s match-clinching wins versus Cleveland State, Detroit, and Ohio State (see below). In the showdown with Ohio State, Meinhardt defeated OSU’s Zachary Parkins, 5-3, for the win.
Steve Kubik (San Antonio, Texas) was right behind Meinhardt in the win column, as the sophomore All-American posted a 14-1 (.933) record with clinching wins versus Johns Hopkins and Northwestern. Edging out Steve Kubik in winning-percentage was Teddy Hodges (Salina, Kan.), who posted a perfect 8-0 mark on the weekend, including a 3-0 mark versus Northwestern. Zach Schirtz (Rochester, N.Y.) chipped in with nine wins and Mark Kubik (San Antonio, Texas) had eight, while Reggie Bentley (Little Rock, Ark.) and Enzo Castellani (Keller, Texas) had six wins apiece.
Men’s Sabre The men’s sabre squad used a balanced attack to post a 66-15 (.815) record over the weekend. Keith Feldman (Stony Brook, N.Y.), Tom Horton (Franksville, Wisc.), Bill Thanhouser (Portland, Ore.), Matt Pentz and Avery Zuck (Beaverton, Ore.) each had double-digit win totals, while sophomore All-American Barron Nydam (Rancho Sante Fe, Calif.) also added eight wins. Leading the double-digit win contingent was Feldman, posting a 14-2 record at the event, including a 6-0 mark on the second day of competition. Horton and Thanhouser each had 12 wins. Thanhouser, a senior captain, had 3-0 records versus North Carolina (including the match-clincher) and Wayne State. Pentz posted a 10-4 record, including three wins versus Cleveland State, while Zuck had a 10-2 mark, including a 5-0 record versus Wayne State and Ohio State on the final day of competition.
Women’s NWU Duals Recap The women earned wins over Johns Hopkins (25-2), top-ranked Penn State (19-8), eighth-ranked Temple (19-8), Fairleigh Dickinson (24-3), Lawrence (25-2), Wayne State (23-4), Cleveland State (26-1), North Carolina (23-4), sixth-ranked Northwestern (16-11), Detroit (27-0) and third-ranked Ohio State (17-10).
Women’s Epee The Irish combined for an 87-12 (.879) mark in epee, their best weapon on the weekend. Ewa Nelip (Katowice, Poland) once again led the way as she posted an unblemished 18-0 record at the NWU Duals, including 3-0 records versus Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Penn State and Temple, while also adding two wins against Ohio State. Nelip has been nearly unbeatable in the 2009 campaign, posting a 37-2 record through three events.
Also helping to dominate the epee field were Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), Diane Zielinski (Bernardsville, N.J.) Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), Kimberlee Montoya (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Vanessa Rosa (El Paso, Texas). Courtney Hurley posted a 17-2 record at the event to improve to 31-5 on the season. Zielinski added 15 wins, including the match-clincher versus Fairleigh Dickinson, while Kelley Hurley added 14 wins, including the match-clinching victory over North Carolina. Montoya chipped in with a 12-3 mark and Rosa went 11-2, including 3-0 marks versus Fairleigh Dickinson and Lawrence.
Women’s Foil The women’s foil squad posted a 75-24 (.758) mark over the weekend, with Hayley Reese’s (Crestwood, Ky.) 24 wins leading the way. The freshman, who had only one loss at the event, posted 3-0 records versus Cleveland State, North Carolina, Detroit, Johns Hopkins and Penn State. She sealed Notre Dame’s win over rival Ohio State with a match-clinching win against Lindasy Knauer, 5-1. Reese is now 34-5 on the season.
Adrienne Nott (Pittsford, N.Y.) and Radmilla Sarkisova (Grand Rapids, Mich.) added 18 foil wins apiece. Nott, who had the match-clincher versus Wayne State, recorded 3-0 records versus Detroit, North Carolina and Johns Hopkins. Sarkisova also went 3-0 versus North Carolina as well as against Fairleigh Dickinson, Lawrence and Wayne State.
Katie Heinzen’s (Fairfax, Va.) nine wins combined with Christina LaBarge’s (Pasedena, Calif.) six wins to round out Notre Dame’s foil victories. Both underclassmen made their 2009 Irish debuts at the event.
Women’s Sabre The women’s sabre squad went 82-17 (.828) at the Northwestern Duals. Senior Ashley Serrette (Orange, N.J.) led the way by recording 23 wins, including 3-0 marks versus Detroit, Cleveland State, Wayne State, Lawrence, Fairleigh Dickinson and Johns Hopkins. The 24 wins move Serrette’s all-time win total to 215, breaking Valerie Providenza’s record for career sabre victories at Notre Dame.
2008 NCAA Champion Sarah Borrmann (Beaverton, Ore.) went 19-2 at the event and had clinching wins versus Johns Hopkins and Penn State. Borrmann broke the 100-career wins plateau as she now stands at 104-15 with the Irish. Eileen Hassett (Beaverton, Ore.) also reached the 100-win plateau over the weekend as she posted a 17-2 mark at the Northwestern Duals to run her record to 100-21 all-time with the Irish. The sophomore had the clinching win over eight-ranked Temple.
Beatriz Almeida (Chappagua, N.Y.) posted a 14-4 mark, including 3-0 records versus Fairleigh Dickinson, Lawrence and Cleveland State. Senior Christina Zoccoli (Delran, N.J.) chipped in with nine sabre wins as well. On the women’s side, Notre Dame freshmen Courtney Hurley, Zielinski, LaBarge, Sarkisova and Almeida combined for an impressive 70 wins at the event.
# 1 Notre Dame vs. # 3 Ohio State - Bout-by-Bout (men's)
MS Max Stearns (OSU) beat Bill Thanhouser (ND) 5-3; OSU leads 1-0MS Avery Zuck (ND) beat Dexter Wilde (OSU) 5-3; tied 1-1MF Gerek Meinhardt (ND) beat Colin Sutter (OSU) 5-1; ND leads 2-1MS Mike Momtselidze (OSU) beat Barron Nydam (ND) 5-4; tied 2-2MS Zuck beat Stearns 5-1; ND leads 3-2MF Zachary Parkins (OSU) beat Enzo Castellani (ND) 5-2; tied 3-3MS Thanhouser beat Momtselidze 5-4; ND leads 4-3MS Nydam beat Wilde 5-3; ND leads 5-3MS Zuck beat Momtselidze 5-4; ND leads 6-3MF Andras Horanyi (OSU) beat Steve Kubik (ND) 5-2; ND leads 6-4MS Nydam beat Stearns 5-4; ND leads 7-4ME Igor Tolkachev (OSU) beat Greg Schoolcraft (ND) 5-2; ND leads 7-5MS Thanhouser beat Wilde 5-4; ND leads 8-5 (ND wins men's sabre, 7-2)MF Sutter beat Castellani 5-3; ND leads 8-6ME Karol Kostka (ND) beat Eric Gurnowski (OSU) 5-3; ND leads 9-6ME Jason Pryor (OSU) beat Andrew Seroff (ND) 5-4; ND leads 9-7MF Horanyi beat Meinhardt 5-1; ND leads 9-8ME Kostka beat Tolkachev 5-4; ND leads 10-8MF S. Kubik beat Parkins 5-3; ND leads 11-8ME Pryor beat Schoolcraft 5-3; ND leads 11-9MF Horanyi beat Mark Kubik, (ND) 5-0; ND leads 11-10ME Seroff beat Gurnowski 5-2; ND leads 12-10MF Sutter beat Zach Schirtz, (ND) 5-2; ND leads 12-11ME Kostka beat Pryor 5-4; ND leads 13-11MF Meinhardt beat Parkins 5-3; ND leads 14-11 (ND clinches match; OSU wins men's foil 6-3)ME Tolkachev beat Seroff 5-2; ND leads 14-12ME Schoolcraft beat Sean Harder OSU 5-3; ND leads 15-12 (ND wins men's epee, 5-4)
# 2 Notre Dame vs. # 3 Ohio State - Bout-by-Bout (women's)
WS Falencia Miller (OSU) beat Eileen Hassett (ND) 5-4; OSU leads 1-0WS Sarah Borrmann (ND) beat Emily Chen (OSU) 5-4; tied 1-1WE Ewa Nelip (ND) beat Miriam Baranov, (OSU) 5-0; ND leads 2-1WS Margarita Tschomakova (OSU) beat Ashley Serrette (ND) 5-3; tied 2-2WE Courtney Hurley (ND) beat Elyse Gurnowski (OSU) 5-2; ND leads 3-2WS Borrmann beat Miller 5-4; ND leads 4-2WS Hassett beat Tschomakova 5-4; ND leads 5-2WE Julia Tichonova (OSU) beat Kelley Hurley (ND) 2-1(OT); ND leads 5-3WS Chen beat Serrette 5-4; ND leads 5-4WF Lindsay Knauer (OSU) beat Radmilla Sarkisova (ND) 5-4(OT); tied 5-5WE C. Hurley beat Baranov 5-2; ND leads 6-5WS Borrmann beat Tschomakova 5-4; ND leads 7-5WS Serrette beat Miller 5-1; ND leads 8-5WS Hassett beat Chen 5-4; ND leads 9-5 (ND wins women's sabre 6-3)WE Nelip beat Tichonova 5-2; ND leads 10-5WF Hayley Reese (ND) beat Allison Henvick (OSU) 5-3; ND leads 11-5WE K. Hurley beat Gurnowski 5-3 ; ND leads12-5WF Adrienne Nott (ND) beat Oksana Dmytruk (OSU) 4-3(OT); ND leads 13-5WE Tichonova beat C. Hurley 5-1; ND leads 13-6WF Reese beat Knauer 5-1; ND leads 14-6 (ND clinches match)WE K. Hurley beat Baranov 5-3; ND leads 15-6WF Dmytruk beat Katie Heinzen (ND) 5-2; ND leads 15-7WE Diane Zielinski (ND) beat Gurnowski 5-4; ND leads 16-7 (ND wins women's epee 7-2)WF Nott beat Henvick 5-3; ND leads 17-7WF Dmytruk beat Christina LaBarge ND 5-1; ND leads 17-8WF Knauer beat Nott 5-3; ND leads 17-9WF Henvick beat Heinzen 5-0; ND wins 17-10 (OSU wins women's foil 5-4)
— ND —