Jan. 29, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams closed out play Sunday at the DeCicco Duals, each putting together 6-0 records against visiting club teams at the Castellan Family Fencing Center.
How It Happened
The Irish men’s squad opened the day with a 25-2 win over Wisconsin, followed by a 23-3 win over Virginia. They defeated Michigan State 25-2, then Michigan 21-6. Notre Dame closed out the day with a 24-3 win over Chicago and a 21-6 victory over McKendree.
The Irish women were nearly perfect against Wisconsin to start the day, defeating the Badgers 26-1. They downed Virginia 25-2 in the next match, followed by a 24-3 win over Michigan State. The Irish also upended Michigan 24-3, Chicago 23-4 and McKendree 25-2.
Key Contributors
Senior sabreur Ian Dwyer (9-1) and sophomore squadmate John Crandall (9-4) led the Irish men with nine wins apiece Sunday, while a handful of others posted at least six wins without a loss.
Junior sabreur Ian Jones, senior foilist John Crumpler and freshman foilist Nicholas Sloan each went 8-0 on the day; junior epeeist Nicholas Hanahan, sophomore epeeist Darius Zacharakis and sophomore foilist Michael Antipas all recorded 7-0 records; and junior sabreur Jonah Shainberg, senior epeeist Arthur Le Meur and junior foilist Steffen Felt each posted 6-0 records.
The Irish women were led by junior sabreuse Madeline Gallagher, who went 17-0 on the day. Freshman squadmate Christina Boitano was 9-0 on the day, and freshman Natalie Disher went 8-0. Also in sabre was freshman Regina O’Brien, who went 7-0 on the day.
The epee team was led by senior Marie-Anne Roche, who posted a 7-0 record, and sophomore Madeline Antekeier went 6-0 on the day. Sophomore epeeist Molly Hudson was also 6-0 Sunday.
In foil, junior Reagan Fitzgerald put together an 8-0 record, while juniors Erin Dietsche and Zoe Loh went 7-0 in Sunday’s competition. Freshman Samantha Viqueira was also undefeated at 5-0.
Up Next
The Irish will return to the Castellan Family Fencing Center next Saturday and Sunday for the Northwestern Duals, hosted by the Wildcats. Notre Dame’s facility will house the event while Northwestern’s fencing center undergoes renovations.
— ND —
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.