March 13, 2011
DETROIT, Mich. – Freshman foilist Ariel DeSmet and senior sabreur Avery Zuck each earned gold medals on day two of the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Sunday at the Matthaei Center on the campus of Wayne State University. The gold medals pushed the Irish total to four after Eileen Hassett and Rachel Beck won gold in women’s sabre and women’s foil, respectively, on Saturday.
All told the Irish finished the two days with a total of 13 medals (out of a possible 18), winning at least two medals in each of the six weapons contested.
DeSmet captured the gold medal in foil with a dominant final pool, posting a perfect 9-0 record with a +31 indicator to hold off teammate Enzo Castellani, who finished with a stronger indicator of +32 but finished 8-1 after a 5-2 loss to DeSmet in head-to-head action.
Reggie Bentley closed out a sweep of the medals for the Irish in the weapon, claiming the bronze with a record of 6-3 and a +15 indicator.
In sabre, Zuck claimed his gold after earning silver in each of his last two appearances at the NCAA Midwest Regionals. The senior finished the final pool with a record of 8-1 and a +18 indicator to hold off Irish teammate Barron Nydam for the top spot. Nydam finished with a +21 indicator but a 7-2 record, which earned him the silver medal.
Freshman Kevin Hassett just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth amongst the final 10 with a 5-4 record and a +2 indicator. Alexander Coccia and Jason Choy finished sixth and seventh with records of 4-5 and 3-6, respectively, in final pool play.
While the Irish were unable to claim gold in men’s epee, James Kaull and Brent Kelly did claim the silver and bronze. Kaull concluded the final pool with a record of 6-3 and a +15 indicator to finish second, while Kelly finished with an identical record but a +12 indicator to place third.
Jacob Osborne finished fifth overall with a record of 5-4 and a +5 indicator in final pool play, while Greg Schoolcraft concluded in 12th place after going 1-5 in qualifying pool play.
NCAA Championship Selection Notes
Each team can qualify up to two men and two women per weapon for the NCAA Championship. The winner of each event at the Midwest Regional will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships and the Midwest region has five bids allocated to it for the NCAA Championships in each of the six events. Fencers are nominated by the NCAA Midwest Committee, and confirmed by the NCAA National Men’s and Women’s Fencing Committee on Tuesday, March 15. Nominations are based on the pre-regional “Fencer Strength Factor” (40 percent) and Regional Placement (60 percent). Each region also nominates two fencers in each event as at-large candidates; the at-large bids go to the two fencers with the highest Fencer Strength Factor.
MEN'S EPEE1. Marco Canevari, Ohio State2. James Kaull, Notre Dame3. Brent Kelly, Notre Dame4. Igor Tolkachev, Ohio State5. Jacob Osborne, Notre Dame6. Kristian Boyadzhiev, Ohio State7. John Marshall, Cleveland State8. Daniel Tafoya, Ohio State9. Eric Gurnowski, Ohio State10. Tim Nelson, Detroit11. Patrick Weber, Cleveland Stat12. David Cordie, Lawrence13. Greg Schoolcraft, Notre Dame14. Matthew DeStasio, Lawrence15. Salih Yasun, Cleveland State16. Cole Golke, Detroit
MEN'S FOIL1. Ariel DeSmet, Notre Dame2. Enzo Castellani, Notre Dame3. Reggie Bentley, Notre Dame4. Zain Shaito, Ohio State5. Michael Purdy-Sachs, Detroit6. Sam Hardwicke-Brown, Ohio State7. Andrew McDonald, Ohio State8. Yaroslav Ivanov, Detroit9. Michael Ramlow, Wayne State10. Brad Coon, Detroit11. Rafi Nersessian, Wayne State12. Alex Biehl, Lawrence13. Tim Mulligan, Wayne State14. Nathan Kumar, Wayne State
MEN'S SABRE1. Avery Zuck, Notre Dame2. Barron Nydam, Notre Dame3. Rhys Douglas, Ohio State4. Kevin Hassett, Notre Dame5. Michael Douville, Ohio State6. Jakub Gibczynski, Wayne State7. Alex Coccia, Notre Dame8. Jason Choy, Notre Dame9. Nikita Silantyev, Wayne State10. Demetrius Dixon, Wayne State11. Andrew Opalewski, Wayne State12. Fredrick Breslow, Lawrence13. Nick Kotz, Ohio State14. Tom Lorenzo, Detroit15. Tom Bienvenu, Cleveland State16. Jian (Alex) Chee, Lawrence17. Logan Clements, Detroit18. Bryan Twichell, Cleveland State
–ND–