Feb. 28, 2011
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The University of Notre Dame men’s foil and women’s sabre fencing squads claimed gold at the inaugural U.S. Collegiate Squad Championships at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center on Sunday. Foilist Ariel DeSmet (Troutdale, Ore.) led the men with a 7-1 overall bout record, while Eileen Hassett (Beaverton, Ore.) paced the women’s sabre with a perfect 9-0 ledger.
The men’s foil squad entered the bracket as the No. 1 seed and advanced to the championship bout with wins over Hunter College (45-20) and NYU (45-21). In the championship bout, the Irish held off second-seeded Yale for a 45-33 victory and the gold medal.
The women’s route to the sabre finals was handled with relative ease, as the second-seeded unit knocked off Haverford College (45-17) and NYU (45-15) to earn their spot in the weapon finals. Once there, the Irish trio held off top-seeded Columbia, 45-42, to claim the gold medal.
Individually for the men’s foil, DeSmet earned seven wins, including a critical 7-5 decision over Yale’s Jonathan Holbrook in the championship bout. The rest of the rotation saw Zach Schirtz (Rochester, N.Y.) and Enzo Castellani (Keller, Texas) finish unbeaten at 6-0 and 5-0, respectively. Reggie Bentley (Little Rock, Ark.) finished the draw with a bout record of 4-1.
Only three competitors took to the strip for the women’s sabre unit, paced by Hassett’s nine wins. Sarah Borrmann (Beaverton, Ore.) concluded the tournament at 7-1, while Abigail Nichols (Concord, Mass.) ended 6-3 over the three matches.
The full Irish team returns to competition this weekend as they welcome in the 19 other Midwest Fencing Conference (MFC) teams for the MFC Championships on Saturday and Sunday at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.
–ND–