Sophomore foilist Frank Bontempo - pictured with assistant coach Zoltan Dudas - will be looking to solidify his NCAA chances with a strong showing at this weekend's Midwest Regional.

Irish Look To Qualify Maximum 12 Fencers For NCAAs, At Sunday's Midwest Regional In Detroit

March 3, 2005

The Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams face an important final step in preparing to compete for the 2005 NCAA title, during Sunday’s annual Midwest Regional qualifier (March 6) that is being held this year in Detroit at Wayne State. Selections for the NCAA Championship are based on two primary criteria: regional seeding (40%) and regional finish (60%). Each school can qualify a maximum of two fencers per weapon, with the NCAA field including 24 in each weapon.

The Midwest Region’s automatic NCAA spots vary by weapon, including six in women’s foil and women’s epee, five in men’s epee and men’s sabre, and four in men’s foil and women’s sabre. Notre Dame and Ohio State – the respective ’03 and ’04 NCAA champions – will be looking to qualify the maximum 12 fencers for the 2005 NCAAs (March 17-20, at the Brown Convention Center in Houston), with the Irish and Buckeyes both looking good for at least 11 bids heading into the Regional.

Two teams from other regions – Penn State and St. John’s – join ND and OSU as the teams most likely to contend for the 2005 NCAA title while Ivy League squads such as Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale also could produce a high number of NCAA entrants.

Notre Dame could qualify just one fencer in men’s foil while Ohio State potentially will qualify only one in women’s epee. A handful of at-large NCAA spots also exist, thus providing one final chance for teams to qualify the maximum 12-fencer contingent. During the ’02-’03 seasons, Notre Dame qualified 11 fencers after the Regional before adding a 12th qualifier through the at-large process while the ’04 team qualified 10 after the Regional and an 11th fencer via the at-large process.

The exact numbers used in the NCAA selection process are pre-Regional “power rating” (which determined seeding) and then the placing in the Regional standings.

Here’s a look at how the Regional seedings and matchups shape up, sorted by weapon:

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Three-time NCAA champion Alicja Kryczalo is the top seed at the 2005 Midwest Regional.

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WOMEN’S FOIL (6 spots) – Four of the nation’s top fencers during the past four seasons are entrenched atop the seedings, with (seeds 1-4) ND’s Alicja Kryczalo, OSU’s Hanna Thompson, ND’s Andrea Ament and OSU’s Metta Thompson set to close their careers with another NCAA appearance … Northwestern veterans Julie Foldi and Jessica Florendo round out the top-6 seeds and likely NCAA entrants … ND freshman Melanie Bautista is the 7th seed and is in position to be the region’s NCAA alternate (she would rotate into the NCAAs if Kryczalo or Ament are unable to compete) … Bautista likely has to hold off Northwestern sisters Natalie and Christina Wang (the 8th and 9th seeds) to maintain the alternate spot … Kryczalo won the 2002, ’03 and ’04 (5-3 fenceoff vs. Florendo) Regional titles while Ament was 3rd from ’02-’04 … Hanna Thompson did not fence in the ’04 Regional (due to injury) while Metta placed 5th (7-4) and Foldi tied for 3rd (9-2) … Florendo beat Kryczalo in the 2004 Regional round-robin (5-1) but lost to Foldi to force the fenceoff with Kryczalo (each was 10-1 in the round-robin) … Ament’s 2004 Regional losses came to Kryczalo and Florendo (both 3-5) but she beat Foldi (5-2) … Kryczalo (5-3) and Ament (5-1) both posted wins over Metta Thompson … Kryczalo owns a 9-5 career record vs. the lefthanded Hanna Thompson in college bouts (they are nearly even, 6-5 for Kryczalo, in postseason bouts), with Thompson winning at the 2005 NYU Duals (3-2) and in the ’05 MFC team final while Kryczalo won their recent ND Duals meeting (4-3) … Kryczalo avenged a round-robin loss by beating Hanna in the 2002 Regional fenceoff (5-3) and beat her again in the ’03 Regional … not included in the above-mentioned 9-5 head-to-head series is Thompson’s 10-9 overtime win vs. Kryczalo in the semifinals of the Penn State Open in the fall of ’04 (halting her quest for a rare fourth title) … Ament and Hanna Thompson have split six previous college bouts, including Ament’s thrilling comeback in the 2004 NCAA semifinals (7-6 in OT, after trailing 5-1) … Hanna won 2-of-3 earlier bouts this season vs. Ament (3-5 at NYU Duals, 4-2 at ND Duals, win in MFC team final) and beat Ament at the ’02 and ’03 Regionals …

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Senior Andrea Ament (left) and freshman Melanie Bautista combine with Alicja Kryczalo give Notre Dame the region’s top trio of women’s foilists.

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Kryczalo is nearly unbeaten vs. Metta Thompson (12-1) in their college bouts (8-0 postseason) while Ament holds a 9-4 series edge vs. Metta … earlier bouts this season saw Metta gain a split vs. the top ND pair at the NYU Duals (0-5 vs. Kryczalo, 5-2 vs. Ament) before losing 5-2 bouts to both at the ND Duals and getting swept again by Kryczalo and Ament (5-2) in the ’05 MFC team title bout … Ament beat Metta in the ’02-’04 Regionals … Kryczalo (10-1) and Ament (9-1) both have posted strong records in recent college bouts vs. fellow senior Foldi, with Foldi beating Kryczalo at the 2005 NYU Duals (5-2; 0-5 vs. Ament) … Kryczalo is 7-1 vs. second-year NU fencer Florendo in college bouts, including a prelim bout at the ’04 Regional and a 5-2 win at the ’05 ND Duals … Ament’s 5-0 mark in recent college bouts vs. Florendo include last week’s huge comeback to win the MFC title (15-11; forged 10-10 tie after trailing 1-8).

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Freshman Jakub Jedrkowiak is the top-seeded men’s foilists for the 2005 Midwest Regional.

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MEN’S FOIL (4 spots) – Defending NCAA champion Boaz Ellis of Ohio State holds the top seed, followed by ND freshman Jakub Jedrkowiak, OSU’s Richard Spicer and Mike Merker of Cleveland State … OSU’s Will Jeter is the 5th seed (he can make the NCAAs only by overtaking Spicer) while ND sophomore Frank Bontempo is the 6-seed, essentially one spot out of the NCAA field heading into the Regional (CSU’s Omer DeLeeuw also is in the picture as the 7-seed) … Bontempo will be looking to duplicate his strong ’04 Regional showing (3rd place) and thus move into the NCAAs (he also could earn an at-large spot) … unlike in women’s foil, most of the top men’s foil finishers at the ’04 Regional have moved on – including ND’s Derek Snyder (the ’04 champion, did not fence in ’04 due to injury), ND’s Forest Walton (4th) and OSU’s Nathan Weir (4th) … Ellis was the ’04 Regional runner-up while Merker tied for 4th … Jedrkowiak’s runner-up finish at the Penn State Open in the fall of ’04 included a 15-10 win over Ellis in the semifinals but he lost 5-1 bouts to Ellis at the NYU Duals and the ND Duals, also losing to him in the MFC team bouts (5-2) … Jedrkowiak swept OSU fencers Jeter (5-2, 5-2) and Kevin Stuart (5-1, 5-2) at the NYU and ND Duals, adding a 15-8 win over DeLeeuw in the MFC quarterfinals before dropping the 15-7 final to Bontempo … Ellis has compiled a string of wins over Bontempo, in the ’04 MFC title bout (15-5), the ’04 Regional (5-0), the ’04 NCAAs (5-0), the ’05 NYU and ND Duals (both 5-2) and the ’05 MFC team bouts (5-0) … Bontempo lost to Stuart at the NYU Duals (3-5) and ND Duals (2-5) but beat Jeter at both events (5-4 in each).

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Sophomore epeeist Amy Orlando is aiming at a return to the NCAAs.

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WOMEN’S EPEE (6 spots) – Former NCAA champions Anna Garina (Wayne State) and Kerry Walton (ND) are the top seeds but Walton will not compete due to a World Cup conflict (she likely still will receive a spot into the NCAAs due to the special petition process) … the 3-6 seeds include WSU’s Anna Vinnikov, OSU’s Kaela Brendler, ND sophomore Amy Orlando and NU’s Sharon Sullivan while OSU’s Marguerite Plekhanov (7-seed) will be battling to make the NCAA field … Garina won the 2004 Regional title based on total-point indicators, after tying four others (Vinnikov, OSU’s Alexandra Shklar, Brendler and Sullivan) with 8-3 round-robin records … Walton (6th) and Orlando (7th) both had off-days at the ’04 Regional but each advanced to the NCAAs (Orlando as an at-large pick) … ND senior Becca Chimahusky (who beat Brendler in the ’04 Regional and 5-2 in last week’s MFC team bouts) is the 9-seed but could move into the alternate spot with a strong showing … Orlando has posted a couple of recent wins over the 6-foot-1 Garina, at the ’04 NCAAs (3-2) and the ’05 NYU Duals (5-4) but the Ukranian beat Orlando in the ’04 MFC team semifinals (14-11), the ’04 Regional (5-1) and again in the ’05 MFC semi’s (5-3) … the veteran Vinnikov had defeated Orlando at the ’04 Regional (5-4), the ’04 NCAAs (5-1), the ’05 ND Duals (5-4) and the ’05 MFC team semifinals (5-4) before Orlando broke through with a 15-13 win over Vinnikov in the MFC semifinals (Walton then edged her in the 15-14 final) … Chimahusky turned in a 5-2 win over Vinnikov last week in the MFC team semi’s … Brendler holds a slim edge over Orlando (4-3) in ’04 and ’05 college bouts … Orlando avenged a 4-1 loss to Brendler at the ’05 NYU Duals by beating her at the ND Duals (4-3) and in the MFC team bouts (5-3, also beating Plekhanov 3-2) … Orlando’s freshman season included a win over Brendler in the MFC team bouts (5-1) but she lost to her in ’04 at the ND Duals (3-4), the Regional (2-5) and the NCAAs (4-5) … Orlando also owns a recent win over Brendler at the North American Cup event in Richmond, Va. … Orlando ((3-2) and Chimahusky (2-1) notched close wins over Plekhanov at the ’05 ND Duals (2-1) … Orlando won easily over her club teammate Sullivan in the ’05 MFC quarterfinals (15-6) after they had split six previous college bouts (including Sullivan’s 5-1 win at the ’05 ND Duals) … Orlando split vs. Sullivan in the ’03-’04 regular season (4-5 at NU Duals; 5-3 at ND Duals), followed by a 5-1 win in the MFC team bout, a 3-2 loss in the Regional and a 5-4 overtime win in the NCAAs … Chimahusky beat Sullivan at the ’05 ND Duals (5-2).

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Notre Dame senior Michal Sobieraj (left) and Ohio State’s Denis Tolkachev (right) will battle again at the ’05 Regional.

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MEN’S EPEE (5 spots) – The top seeds heading into the regional are OSU’s Denis Tolkachev, ND senior Michal Sobieraj, WSU’s Marek Petraszek, OSU’s Christian Rivera and ND sophomore Aaron Adjemian but ND freshman Greg Howard is lurking as the 6th seed (meaning that the higher Regional finisher among Adjemian and Howard likely will be ND’s second entrant) … WSU veteran Wojciech Dudek is the 7th seed but he could surge into the NCAA field with a strong Regional finish … Tolkachev (9-2) won the ’04 Regional title while Sobieraj (who lost 5-2 to Tolkachev) and Poland countryman Dudek tied for 2nd (8-3) … Adjemian nearly surged into the ’04 NCAA field after tying with Petraszek, Rivera and OSU’s Spencer Jones for 4th in the Regional … Sobieraj – who won the ’02 Regional title and was the ’03 runner-up – is 4-2 in his past six college bouts vs. Tolkachev … Sobieraj defeated Tolkachev in the ’04 MFC quarterfinals (15-10) and in the ’04 NCAA third-place bout (15-8, after losing to him in a 5-1 round-robin bout) before beating him at the ’05 NYU and ND Duals (both 5-2) and then losing to the Russian in the MFC team bouts (2-5) … Adjemian – who lost to Tolkachev at the ’04 Regional (2-5) – split 5-3 bouts vs. the OSU sophomore at the ’05 NYU Duals (win) and ND Duals (loss) … Howard lost his first two bouts vs. Tolkachev (1-5 at NYU, 3-5 at ND Duals) but beat him in the MFC team bouts (3-1) …

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Sophomore epeeist Aaron Adjemian is close to securing a spot in the NCAA field.

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Petraszek beat his countryman Sobieraj at the ’05 ND Duals (4-3), after beating him at the ’04 Regional (5-3) and the ’04 NCAAs (5-4) to avenge Sobieraj’s 15-9 win in the ’04 MFC title bout … Adjemian beat Petraszek at the ’04 Regional (5-3) while Howard lost to him at the ND Duals (1-5) … Rivera had a 2-1 showing vs. ND at the ’05 NYU Duals (5-3 vs. Sobieraj, 5-4 vs. Howard, 1-5 vs. Adjemian) but lost to Sobieraj (3-5) and Adjemian (4-5) at the ’04 Regional … Dudek’s recent results vs. ND include 5-2 losses to Sobieraj and Howard at the ’05 ND Duals … Sobieraj lost to Dudek at the NCAAs during their freshman seasons (3-5, in ’02) but he beat Dudek at the ’04 NCAAs (5-1) … Sobieraj earlier defeated Dudek in the ’04 Regional (5-1), the ’04 MFC team semifinals (5-2) and in the individual semifinals (15-11), plus the ’03 ND Duals (5-4) … Dudek posted a 5-3 win over Adjemian at the ’04 Regional.

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Sophomore sabre Valerie Providenza will be looking to use the Regional as a springboard to her NCAA title defense.

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WOMEN’S SABRE (4 spots) – ND and OSU likely are locked into the four spots, with ND freshman Mariel Zagunis holding the top seed (she, like Walton, is competing in a World Cup event this weekend and likely will receive an NCAA spot via special petition) … OSU freshmen Eileen Grench, Siobhan Byrne and Amelia Gaillard hold the 2-4 seeds, followed by ND sophomore Valerie Providenza … NU’s Mai Vu, Lauren Dunn and Lauren Van Gieson are bunched in the 6-8 seeds but would need strong Regional showings to snatch one of the NCAA spots … ND sophomore Angela Vincent (the ’04 Regional runner-up) is the 9-seed … OSU’s Marquerite Plekhanov (9-2, now fencing epee) was a surprise winner at the ’04 Regional, followed by Vincent, OSU’s Louise Bond-Williams and Syvenna Siebert, and Providenza … Providenza’s 2005 bouts vs. OSU include 1-2 records vs. all three, beating Gaillard at NYU (5-4), Byrne at the ND Duals (5-3) and Grench in the MFC team bouts (5-2) … she lost to Byrne (2-5) and Grench (4-5) at NYU and Gaillard (2-5) and Grench (2-5) at the ND Duals … Providenza’s 1st-place finish at the Penn State Open in the fall of ’04 included a win over Byrne … she also took home the ’04 Junior Olympics gold medal after beating Gaillard in the semifinal (15-14) and Grench in a 15-9 final … Providenza holds a 5-1 record in recent college bouts vs. Van Gieson, including a 15-8 semifinal at the 2005 MFCs (also 15-6 in ’04 MFC semi’s, 3-5 at ’04 Regional, 5-0 at ’04 NCAAs, 5-1 at ’05 ND Duals, 5-2 in ’05 MFC team bouts) … Providenza’s recent 3-1 record vs. Vu includes last week’s MFC title bout (15-2), the ’04 Regionals (5-3) and NCAAs (5-2) and the ’05 ND Duals (4-5) … Providenza beat Dunn at the ’04 ND Duals (5-2), the ’04 MFC quarterfinals, the ’05 ND Duals (5-3) and the ’05 MFC team bouts (5-0) … Vincent’s recent bouts include several close losses to OSU this season and a sweep of the NU fencers at the ’05 ND Duals.

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Sophomore sabre Patrick Ghattas and classmate Matt Stearns will do battle with their Ohio State rivals at the ’05 Regional.

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MEN’S SABRE (5 spots) – OSU and ND also hold down the top spots in this weapon, with the 1-4 seeds including OSU’s Jason Rogers, ND’s Patrick Ghattas, OSU’s Adam Crompton and ND’s Matt Stearns … OSU claimed the top-3 spots at the ’04 Regional (Crompton, Jason Paul, Colin Parker) while Ghattas and Stearns tied for 4th (8-3) … Detroit’s Jaroslaw Jelinek is the 5-seed for the ’05 Regional and likely will claim the final NCAA spot (Paul is the 6-seed and likely alternate) … Rogers did not fence in the ’04 college season while training for the Olympics … he posted 5-3 wins over Ghattas and Stearns at the ’05 NYU Duals and beat them again at both the ND Duals (5-1 vs. Ghattas, 5-2 vs. Stearns) and in the MFC team bouts … Rogers also beat Ghattas last fall in the Penn State Open quarterfinals (15-12) … Crompton, the two-time NCAA champ, did not face the ND fencers at the NYU Duals (due to a black card earlier in the day) but he swept the Irish at the ND Duals (5-2 vs. Ghattas, 5-1 vs. Stearns) … Crompton also defeated Stearns in the semifinals (15-11) and Ghattas in the final (15-6) of the 2004 MFCs and went on to sweep them in the ’04 Regional (5-1 vs. both) and in the NCAAs (5-3 vs. Ghattas, 5-0 vs. Stearns) … Ghattas delivered a 5-2 win over Crompton last week in the MFC team bouts … Paul lost to Ghattas at NYU Duals (5-0) but avenged that loss at the ND Duals (5-4) while again beating Stearns (5-1, after 5-4 at NYU) … Ghattas rallied to beat Paul in the 2004 MFC semifinals (15-14) and beat him again at the Midwest Regional (5-0) but Paul won the NCAA matchup (5-1) … Stearns lost to Paul at the ’04 Regional (4-5) and beat him at the ’04 NCAAs (5-2) before losing to him last fall at the Penn State Open (14-15).

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Sophomore Matt Stearns is one of 10 current Notre Dame fencers who competed in the 2004 NCAAs.

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