Feb. 26, 2006

Ohio State swept the epee and sabre titles and also won in men’s foil while Northwestern won the women’s foil, in Sunday’s team competition at the annual Midwest Fencing Conference Championships. The host team Notre Dame was runner-up in all six weapons during the Joyce Center Fieldhouse action, including a 5-4 loss in the women’s foil final.

The second-seeded Notre Dame women’s foil team bested Indiana in the quarterfinals (5-1) before knocking off third-seeded Ohio State in a 5-0 semifinal, with a pair of wins from freshman Adi Nott (5-2 vs. Amelia Galliard; 5-0 vs. Kristen Rill) and sophomore Melanie Bautista (5-2 vs. Marquerite Plekhanov; 5-0 vs. Galliard) while freshman Emilie Prot edged Rill in a 5-4 bout.

Northwestern then won the decisive ninth bout over Notre Dame in the women’s foil final (5-4), with the Irish wins coming from Prot (5-3 vs. Natalie Wang; 5-4 vs. Jessica Florendo) and Nott (3-2 vs. Sam Nemecek; 5-1 vs. Wang).

The top-seeded Notre Dame women’s sabre team received a bye in the round-of-16 and beat Chicago and Michigan (both 5-1) before losing the 5-2 title matchup to the Buckeyes. Junior Valerie Providenza posted both of the Irish wins, besting Syvenna Siebert and fellow 2005 NCAA semifinalist Siobhan Byrne.

The Irish men’s sabre team was the No. 2 seed and advanced with wins over Xavier (5-1), Purdue (5-1) and Michigan (5-0) before losing the 5-2 final to OSU. Junior All-American Patrick Ghattas notched both of the Irish victories, beating Olympian Jason Rogers (5-3) and Mike Momtselidze (5-2).

The Irish women’s epee team also was the No. 2 seed, with wins over Cleveland State (5-1) and Northwestern (5-2) before losing the 5-2 to Ohio State. Junior Amy Orlando defeated fellow All-American Kaela Brendler (5-4) while freshman Kim Montoya had the other Irish win in epee, versus Leslie Lampman (4-1).

The men’s epee team was top-seeded and received a bye before posting 5-1 wins over Indiana and Purdue and dropping the 5-1 final to OSU. Junior Aaron Adjemian registered the Irish win in a 5-4 bout with Jason Pryor.

Notre Dame’s men’s foil team was seeded second and posted wins over Purdue (5-0), Northwestern (5-3) and Michigan (5-0) before losing the final to the Buckeyes (5-0).

Women’s Epee
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Northwestern; 4. Michigan; 5. Michigan State; 6. Chicago; 7. Cleveland State; 8. Minnesota; 9. Indiana; 10. Xavier; 11. Oberlin; 12. Purdue; 13. Wisconsin.
Quarterfinals – Ohio State def. Chicago (5-0)…Michigan def. Minnesota (5-1)…Northwestern def. Michigan State (5-0)…Notre Dame def. Cleveland State (5-1)
Semifinals – Ohio State def. Michigan (5-0)…Notre Dame def. Northwestern (5-2)
Final – Ohio State def. Notre Dame (5-2)

Men’s Epee
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Michigan; 4. Purdue; 5. Minnesota; 6. Indiana; 7. Chicago; 8. Detroit; 9. Cleveland State; 10. Lawrence; 11. Bowling Green; 12. Northwestern; 13. Michigan State; 14. Xavier; 15. Wisconsin
Quarterfinals – Notre Dame def. Indiana (5-3)…Purdue def. Detroit (5-0)…Michigan def. Chicago (5-1)…Ohio State def. Minnesota (5-0)
Semifinals – Notre Dame def. Purdue (5-1)…Ohio State def. Michigan (5-1)
Final – Ohio State def. Notre Dame (5-1)

Women’s Foil
Final Standings – 1. Northwestern; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Ohio State; 4. Michigan; 5. Lawrence; 6. Cleveland State; 7. Michigan State; 8. Indiana; 9. Detroit; 10. Chicago; 11. Wisconsin; 12. Oberlin; 13. Purdue; 14. Xavier
Quarterfinals – Northwestern def. Cleveland State (5-0)…Michigan def. Michigan State (5-1)…Ohio State def. Lawrence (5-4)…Notre Dame def. Indiana (5-1)
Semifinals – Northwestern def. Michigan (5-0)…Notre Dame def. Ohio State (5-0)
Final – Northwestern def. Notre Dame (5-4)

Men’s Foil
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Michigan; 4. Detroit; 5. Lawrence; 6. Northwestern; 7. Michigan State; 8. Bowling Green; 9. Wisconsin; 10. Cleveland State; 11. Minnesota; 12. Xavier; 13. Chicago; 14. Indiana; 15. Purdue
Quarterfinals – Ohio State def. Michigan State (5-1)…Detroit def. Lawrence (51)…Michigan def. Bowling Green (5-2)…Notre Dame def. Northwestern (5-3)
Semifinals – Ohio State def. Detroit (5-1)…Notre Dame def. Michigan (5-0)
Final – Ohio State def. Notre Dame (5-0)

Women’s Sabre
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Northwestern; 4. Michigan; 5. Michigan State; 6. Detroit; 7. Chicago; 8. Wisconsin; 9. Cleveland State; 10. Purdue; 11. Indiana; 12. Minnesota
Quarterfinals – Notre Dame def. Chicago (5-1)…Michigan def. Michigan State (5-1)…Northwestern def. Detroit (5-1)…Ohio State def. Wisconsin (5-0)
Semifinals – Notre Dame def. Michigan (5-1)…Ohio State def. Northwestern (5-0)
Final – Ohio State def. Notre Dame (5-2)

Men’s Sabre
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Northwestern; 4. Michigan; 5. Purdue; 6. Detroit; 7. Wisconsin; 8. Lawrence; 9. Minnesota; 10. Chicago; 11. Indiana; 12. Michigan State; 13. Oberlin; 14. Bowling Green; 15. Xavier
Quarterfinals – Ohio State def. Detroit (5-1)…Northwestern def. Wisconsin (5-4)…Michigan def. Lawrence (5-1)…Notre Dame def. Purdue (5-1)
Semifinals – Ohio State def. Northwestern (5-0)…Notre Dame def. Michigan (5-0)
Final – Ohio State def. Notre Dame (5-2)

Men’s Overall Final Results
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State 675; 2. Notre Dame 630; 3. Michigan 590; 4. Detroit 510; 5. Northwestern 465; 6. Lawrence 440; 7. Purdue 420; 8. Minnesota 415; 9. Wisconsin 350; 10T. Indiana 340; 10T. Michigan State 340; 12T. Bowling Green 330; 12T. Chicago 330; 14. Cleveland State 250; 15. Xavier 240; 16. Oberlin 85
Women’s Overall Final Results
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State 650; 2. Notre Dame 630; 3. Northwestern 625; 4. Michigan 570; 5. Michigan State 505; 6. Cleveland State 450; 7. Chicago 440; 8. Indiana 385; 9. Wisconsin 340; 10. Purdue 305; 11. Detroit 295; 12. Oberlin 285; 13T. Lawrence 260; 13T. Xavier 260; 15. Minnesota 245; 16. Bowling Green 0
Men’s and Women’s Combined Overall Final Results
Final Standings – 1. Ohio State 1325; 2. Notre Dame 1260; 3. Northwestern 1215; 4. Michigan 1080; 5. Michigan State 970; 6. Cleveland State 890; 7. Chicago 880; 8. Indiana 800; 9. Wisconsin 690; 10. Purdue 645; 11. Detroit 635; 12. Oberlin 615; 13. Lawrence 590; 14. Xavier 510; 15. Minnesota 485; 16. Bowling Green 85