Feb. 29, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams will travel to Detroit, Mich. to take part in the NCAA Midwest Regional this Sunday, March 2. The competition will be held at the University of Detroit Mercy. Both Fighting Irish teams will attempt to qualify the maximum 12 fencers for the NCAA Championship, which will be held in Columbus, Ohio March 13-16.
Each team at the Regional can qualify up to 12 athletes, with two from each weapon. Top-five finishers will receive automatic bids in sabre and epee and top-four finishers in foil will receive auto-bids. In addition to the automatic bids, several at-large bids will also be available. Selections for the NCAA Championship are based on two primary criteria: power ranking (40%) – which determines the regional seeding – and regional finish (60%).
The Regional features a direct-elimination stage following pool rounds. The competition will feature preliminary pool rounds (if needed) to seed for the 16-fencer double-elimination tournament, with the first eight spots being fenced out.
The Notre Dame women enter competition as the No. 2 team in the latest United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) poll, while the Fighting Irish men are ranked third. Both Irish squads finished second at last weekend’s Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, which were held at Notre Dame.
Freshman Ewa Nelip took the conference title in the epee, while she also helped the Irish capture the team epee crown. The Fighting Irish men had 12 all-conference honorees, while the women boasted seven.
Earning first-team all-MWFC honors for the Notre Dame women were Nelip (epee), Hayley Reese (foil), Eileen Hassett (sabre) and Sarah Borrmann (sabre). Copping similar accolades for the Irish men were Karol Kostka (epee), Mark Kubik (foil), Steve Kubik (foil), Bill Thanhouser (sabre) and Barron Nydam (sabre).
Ohio State, who will be competing at the Midwest Regional, took first at the conference meet in both the men’s and women’s action. The Buckeye women are ranked first and the men are second.
Here is a breakdown of the current Fighting Irish season records (career records in parenthesis):
Women’s Epee
Kimberlee Montoya 71-15 (150-46), Kelley Hurley 47-1 (98-5), Ewa Nelip 45-6 (45-6), Vanessa Rosa 23-44 (23-44), Nichola Lubold 14-13 (14-13)
Women’s Foil
Adrienne Nott 69-10 (170-22), Hayley Reese 69-12 (69-12), Emilie Prot 42-20 (138-48), Rachel Cota 40-17 (135-48)
Women’s Sabre
Sarah Borrmann 73-7 (73-7), Eileen Hassett 67-12 (67-12), Ashley Serrette 66-25 (184-72), Christina Zoccoli 19-10 (40-30)
Men’s Epee
Greg Howard 47-10 (174-44), Karol Kostka 46-16 (137-45), Greg Schoolcraft 38-19 (38-19), Andrew Seroff 34-5 (34-5), Chris Pfarr 24-4 (24-4), Conor Gettings 12-2 (12-2), Rich Molina 7-2 (7-2), Matt Gasperetti 5-3 (5-3), Bill Ehrlich 4-1 (11-7)
Men’s Foil
Zach Schirtz 47-11 (47-11), Steve Kubik 42-9 (42-9), Teddy Hodges 37-10 (37-10), Mark Kubik 36-7 (118-45), Jakub Jedrkowiak 29-10 (157-45), Xavier Lebec 13-8 (21-10), Diego Silva 12-8 (20-11)
Men’s Sabre
Bill Thanhouser 47-19 (139-41), Avery Zuck 39-8 (39-8), Barron Nydam 36-12 (36-12), Tom Horton 28-13 (72-34), Alex Buell 24-18 (24-18), Matt Pentz 11-10 (20-15), John Plunkett 5-9 (5-9)
For more information on the 2008 NCAA Midwest Regional log onto www.detroittitans.com.
2008 NCAA Midwest Fencing Regional SeedingsUniversity of Detroit MercyMarch 2, 2008
Men's Epee14 fencers. 2 pools of 7, top 12 advance toDirect Elimination with repechage(all places will be fenced out)1. Greg Howard, Notre Dame2. Slava Zingerman, Wayne State3. Karol Kostka, Notre Dame4. Mykhylo Mazur, Ohio State5. Sean Harder, Ohio State6. Greg Schoolcraft, Notre Dame7. Jason Pryor, Ohio State8. Bishara Korkor, Ohio State9. Andrew Seroff, Notre Dame10. Andy Snell, Cleveland State11. Shawn Wright, Cleveland State12. Alexander Kaeding, Lawrence13. Jeff Tormey, Cleveland State14. Joe Fresard, Wayne State
Men's Foil14 fencers. 2 pools of 7, top 12 advance toDirect Elimination with repechage(all places will be fenced out)
1. Andras Horanyi, Ohio State2. Ben Parkins, Ohio State3. Mark Kubik, Notre Dame4. Jakub Jedrkowiak, Notre Dame5. Zach Schirtz, Notre Dame6. Colin Sutter, Ohio State7. Steve Kubik, Notre Dame8. Joe Doherty, Ohio State9. Liran Gross, Cleveland State10. Craig Budzynski, Detroit11. John Marshall, Cleveland State12. Brad Coon, Detroit13. Jamie Gawecki, Detroit14. Steve Montgomery, Cleveland State
Men's Sabre13 fencers. Preliminary round will consist of a pool betweenfencers seeded 8-13, top five advance.Second round will be two pools of 6.All advance to Direct Elimination with repechage(all places will be fenced out)
1. Mike Momtselidze, Ohio State2. Avery Zuck, Notre Dame3. Sergey Smirnov, Ohio State4. Barron Nydam, Notre Dame5. Robert Douville, Ohio State6. Bill Thanhouser, Notre Dame7. Jakub Gibczynski, Wayne State8. Dexter Wilde, Ohio State9. Tom Horton, Notre Dame10. Nils Schaede, Lawrence11. John Downey, Cleveland State12. Alex Chee, Lawrence13. Doug Sollman, Detroit
Women's Epee20 fencers. First round will be pool of fencers seeded 15-20,top 4 advance. Second round will be three pools of 6,top 16 advance to a Direct Elimination with repechage(places 1-12 will be fenced out)
1. Kaela Brendler, Ohio State2. Alexandra Obrazcova, Ohio State3. Kelley Hurley, Notre Dame4. Ewa Nelip, Notre Dame5. Kayley French, Northwestern6. Christa French, Northwestern7. Joanna Niklinska, Northwestern8. Kimberlee Montoya, Notre Dame9. Justyna Konczalska, Wayne State10. Leslie Lampmann, Ohio State11. Megan Ross, Northwestern12. Elyse Gurnowski, Ohio State13. Emanuela Bercea, Wayne State14. Chira Terzuolo, Lawrence15. Elise Pfaltzgraff, Lawrence16. Courtney Zemkosky, Cleveland State17. Ashley Colbert, Detroit18. Brooke Snyder, Cleveland State19. Vanessa Rosa, Notre Dame20. Valerie Austin, Detroit
Women's Foil14 fencers. 2 pools of 7, top 12 advance toDirect Elimination with repechage(all places will be fenced out)
1. Oksana Dmytruk, Ohio State2. Lindsay Knauer, Ohio State3. Samantha Nemecek, Northwestern4. Julia Tichonova, Ohio State5. Natalie Wang, Northwestern6. Adrienne Nott, Notre Dame7. Hayley Reese, Notre Dame8. Meredith Baskies, Northwestern9. Emilie Prot, Notre Dame10. Emily Rames, Detroit11. Rachel Cota, Notre Dame12. Dorothea Schurr, Lawrence13. Melanie Kathan, Lawrence14. Samantha Strassburg, Wayne State
Women's Sabre16 fencers. Two pools of 8.All advance to Direct Elimination with repechage(1-12 places will be fenced out)
1. Eileen Grench, Ohio State2. Siobhan Byrne, Ohio State3. Sarah Borrmann, Notre Dame4. Eileen Hassett, Notre Dame5. Karolina Budna, Wayne State6. Falencia Miller, Ohio State7. Ann Bartoszewicz, Wayne State8. Ashley Serrette, Notre Dame9. Allison Keller, Northwestern10. Adrienne Shon, Northwestern11. Whitney White, Northwestern12. Roberta Sims, Detrot13. Ashley McLemore, Detroit14. Christina Bartell, Lawrence15. Katie Smetana, Cleveland State16. Anna Kotov, Wayne State