Feb. 26, 2005

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s fencing team – which moved atop the national rankings earlier this week – placed first in Saturday’s team competition at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, held in the Joyce Center Fieldhouse. The men finished second to Ohio State, as did Notre Dame in the overall team standings.

The weekend concludes on Sunday with the individual competition set to begin at 8:00 a.m. – with key semifinal and final bouts slated for late morning and early afternoon.

With all other bouting finished, attention turned to the women’s foil final as Notre Dame edged OSU 5-4, giving the women enough points to vault into first place. Freshman Melanie Bautista scored the decisive bout with a 5-0 decision over Alexandra DiCerbo. The championship victory capped a dominating season for the women’s foil squad, which has not lost to any of the 27 opposing squads it has faced in 2005.

The Irish reached the finals in both sabre competitions but were bested by Ohio State each time. Down 4-3, the Buckeye women rallied in the final two bouts of sabre, winning each by a slim 5-4 margin. Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the semifinals of both men’s epee and men’s foil while the women’s epee squad lost to Wayne State in its semifinal.

Here are additional notes (by weapon) followed by the full final standings:

Women’s Foil – Notre Dame defeated Detroit (5-1) and Michigan (5-0) before taking the crucial win over Ohio State (5-4) in the title showdown … the final was tightly-contested, with each team trading wins until ND scored the final two bouts … three-time NCAA champion Alicja Kryczalo and two-time NCAA runner-up Andrea Ament swept OSU’s Metta Thompson (Ament’s 5-2 win was followed by Bautista’s clinching victory) but the Irish duo was swept in turn by Metta’s twin sister and fellow All-American Hanna Thompson.

Men’s Foil – ND advanced past Chicago and Michigan (both 5-0 decisions) before losing a 5-2 final to Ohio State and topping Northwestern (5-2) for third place … freshman Jakub Jedrkowiak went 7-1 with his only blemish being a 5-2 loss to ’04 NCAA champion Boaz Ellis of Ohio State … Ellis registered wins over ND sophomore Frank Bontempo (5-0) and freshman Diego Quinonez (5-1) … OSU took first by defeating Cleveland State (5-1).

Women’s Epee – The Irish beat Cleveland State (5-1) but lost to Wayne State (5-3) in the semifinal … Notre Dame then scored a 5-1 victory over Ohio State in the third-place match … senior Becca Chimahusky scored impressive 5-2 victories over two NCAA Tournament veterans, OSU’s Kaela Brendler and WSU’s Anna Vinnikov … Vinnikov and ’04 NCAA champion Anna Garina swept ND’s top pairing of Kerry Walton and Amy Orlando (Vinnikov 5-2 over Walton and 5-4 over Orlando; Garina over Walton and Orlando, each 5-3) … Orlando added a 5-3 victory over Brendler and a 3-2 win over sabre-turned-epeeist Marguerite Plekhanov in the third-place match … WSU beat Northwestern in the epee final (5-2).

Men’s Epee – ND beat Chicago (5-1) but lost the semifinal match to Ohio State (5-3) before rebounding in a 5-1 win over Northwestern for third place … the loss to the Buckeyes marked the first time the ND men’s epee squad tasted defeat in 2005, as they went 24-0 during the regular season … the Irish jumped out to a 3-1 lead over OSU, thanks in part to senior Michal Sobieraj’s 5-4 win over Christian Rivera sandwiched between two wins from freshman Greg Howard (5-1 over Brian Gross and 3-1 over All-American Denis Tolkachev) … Tolkachev clinched the match with his 5-2 win over Sobieraj … Sobieraj had won his previous three bouts over the Russian native – a 15-8 win in the ’04 NCAA third-place bout and two victories during the ’05 regular season … Ohio State topped Wayne State (5-3) in the men’s epee final.

Women’s Sabre – The Irish posted 5-2 wins over Wayne State and Northwestern before losing the title match to Ohio State … the 5-4 loss to the Buckeyes was an exact mirror image of Notre Dame’s previous two losses to OSU during the regular season – with three wins from freshman Mariel Zagunis but OSU winning five of the six other bouts … Zagunis defeated Siobhan Byrne (5-0), Eileen Grench (5-1) and Amelia Gaillard (5-3) … sophomore Valerie Providenza scored a 5-2 win over Grench in the opening bout … both Providenza and Zagunis fared well vs. Northwestern’s trio of former NCAA participants – Providenza notched wins over Lauren Van Gieson (5-2) and Lauren Dunn (5-0) while Zagunis dropped just two total touches in her three wins over Dunn, Van Gieson and Mai Vu.

Men’s Sabre – ND tallied a 5-2 win against Purdue and a 5-1 decision over Northwestern before losing to OSU in the final … down 3-0, the Irish creeped back into the title match when Patrick Ghattas registered a 5-2 victory over two-time NCAA champion Adam Crompton and fellow sophomore Matthew Stearns posted a 5-4 win over All-American Jason Paul … OSU snuffed out a potential rally by taking the next two bouts.

Overall – 1. Ohio State 1,030; 2. Notre Dame 975; 3. Northwestern 910; 4. Wayne State 830; 5. Michigan 780; 6. Michigan State 700; 7. Purdue 550; 8. Chicago 525; 9. Cleveland State 505; 10. Detroit 465; 11. Bowling Green 340; 12. Lawrence 335; 13. Oberlin 310; 14. Minnesota 205.

Men’s Overall – 1. Ohio State 540; 2. Notre Dame 475; 3. Northwestern 435; 4. Wayne State 420; 5. Michigan 360; 6. Michigan State 340; 7. Purdue 315; 8. Cleveland State 295; 9. Bowling Green 280; 10. Detroit 225; 11. Chicago 215; 12. Lawrence 185; 13. Minnesota 130; 14. Oberlin 120.

Women’s Overall – 1. Notre Dame 500; 2. Ohio State 490; 3. Northwestern 475; 4. Michigan 420; 5. Wayne State 410; 6. Michigan State 360; 7. Chicago 310; 8. Detroit 240; 9. Purdue 235; 10. Cleveland State 210; 11. Oberlin 190; 12. Lawrence 150; 13. Minnesota 75; 14. Bowling Green 60.

Men’s Epee – 1. Ohio State; 2. Wayne State; 3. Notre Dame; 4. Northwestern; 5. Purdue; 6. Michigan; 7. Michigan State; 8. Chicago; 9. Bowling Green; 10. Minnesota; 11. Lawrence; 12. Cleveland State; 13. Oberlin; 14. Detroit.

Men’s Foil – 1. Ohio State; 2. Cleveland State; 3. Notre Dame; 4. Northwestern; 5. Bowling Green; 6. Michigan State; 7. Michigan; 8. Wayne State; 9. Purdue; 10. Detroit; 11. Lawrence; 12. Minnesota; 13. Oberlin; 14. Chicago.

Men’s Sabre – 1. Ohio State; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Wayne State; 4. Northwestern; 5. Michigan; 6. Detroit; 7. Michigan State; 8. Purdue; 9. Chicago; 10. Cleveland State; 11. Bowling Green; 12. Lawrence; 13. Oberlin.

Women’s Epee – 1. Wayne State; 2. Northwestern; 3. Notre Dame; 4. Ohio State; 5. Michigan; 6. Michigan State; 7. Chicago; 8. Cleveland State; 9. Purdue; 10. Oberlin.

Women’s Foil – 1. Notre Dame; 2. Ohio State; 3. Northwestern; 4. Michigan; 5. Wayne State; 6. Michigan State; 7. Detroit; 8. Chicago; 9. Lawrence; 10. Oberlin; 11. Purdue; 12. Cleveland State; 13. Bowling Green.

Women’s Sabre – 1. Ohio State; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Northwestern; 4. Michigan; 5. Detroit; 6. Michigan State; 7. Wayne State; 8. Chicago; 9. Purdue; 10. Minnesota; 11. Lawrence; 12. Cleveland State; 13. Oberlin; 14. Bowling Green.