Jan. 18, 2007
Several elite fencers – including two former NCAA champions, two others who have been an NCAA runner-up, 21 total All-Americans and 39 who have fenced in previous NCAA Tournaments – will be among the 10-team field this weekend at the annual Notre Dame Duals, set for the Joyce Center Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 20, and Sunday, Jan. 21. Fencing will begin each day at 8:00 a.m. and conclude in the mid-to-late afternoon (approximately 3:30). For the second straight year, the women’s bouts will be contested on Saturday while all of the men’s competition is slated for Sunday.
Notre Dame and Ohio State – two teams expected to be among the top contenders for the 2007 NCAA title – will face each other in the marquee matchups for each day, with the ND-OSU women scheduled to fence on Saturday in round-5 (starting at approximately 11:20 a.m.) while the Irish men will take on the Buckeyes at the same time on Sunday. Notre Dame won NCAA combined men’s/women’s team titles in both 2003 and ’05 (the program’s seventh all-time NCAA team title) while Ohio State was the 2004 national champion. Both teams finished among four teams bunched at the top of the 2006 NCAA leaderboard, with Harvard winning its first NCAA fencing title, Penn State taking second and OSU edging Notre Dame for third.
The other noteworthy team competing at the 2007 Notre Dame Duals is Wayne State – particularly in men’s and women’s epee – with the Irish and Warriors slatd to meet in the 8:50 a.m. slot on both days. Several other teams (Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, UC San Diego and Detroit) include a handful of top fencers (see below). The Notre Dame and Northwestern women have developed a fierce rivalry in recent years but those teams will not face off this weekend, as the Wildcat women will be competing at another event (the Haverford Invitational).
Results from the 2007 Notre Dame Duals (including team scores broken down by weapon) will be available at the following link:
Here’s a look at some of the top fencers to watch (all are former All-Americans) in the 2007 Notre Dame Duals, with team bouting schedules also following below:
(Note: several noteworthy fencers will not be competing at the Notre Dame Duals, including Notre Dame sabre standouts Mariel Zagunis and Patrick Ghattas and Ohio State epeeist Kaela Brendler; Zagunis is taking a three-semester leave of absence to focus on Olympic qualifying, Ghattas is competing this weekend at a World Cup event in Turkey and Brendler is sidelined with an injury).
Anna Garina (women’s epee; Wayne State) – 6-foot-1 Ukranian who won the 2004 and ’05 NCAA titles before finishing as the 2006 runner-up
Valerie Providenza (women’s sabre; Notre Dame) – three-time All-American who won NCAA title as a freshman in 2004 and reached the 2005 semifinals (also 9th in ’06)
Marek Petraszek (men’s epee; Wayne State) – two-time All-American who finished as 2005 NCAA runner-up, behind former ND fencer Michal Sobieraj (also 7th in ’04 and 13th in ’06)
Amy Orlando (women’s epee; Notre Dame) – reached 2005 NCAA title bout before losing to WSU’s Garina, also All-American in ’04 (10th) and 13th at ’06 NCAAs
Matt Stearns (men’s sabre; Notre Dame) – three-time NCAA participant and two-time All-American (14th in ’04, 10th in ’05, 11th in ’06)
Siobhan Byrne (women’s sabre; OhioState) – two-time All-American, reaching semifinals in 2005 (3rd, plus 7th in ’06)
Andras Horanyi (men’s foil; Ohio State) – reached 2006 NCAA title bout as a freshman, losing to his teammate and three-time champion Boaz Ellis
Jakub Jedrkowiak (men’s foil; Notre Dame) – two-time All-American who placed 7th at the NCAAs in 2005 and 8th in ’06
Christian Rivera (men’s epee; Ohio State) – All-American in 2005 (12th) who narrowly missed return to NCAAs in ’06
Teddy Levitt (men’s sabre; Stanford) – turned in an All-America performance as a freshman, placing 9th at the NCAAs
Adrienne Nott (women’s foil; Notre Dame) – capped a strong debut season by placing 6th at 2006 NCAAs, for All-America honors
Eva Jellison (women’s sabre; Stanford) – ranked among nation’s top sabre newcomers in 2006, with All-America 8th-place finish at NCAAs
Eileen Grench (women’s sabre; Ohio State) – classmate of Byrne’s who placed 11th at 2006 NCAAs for All-America honors
Justyna Koncsalska (women’s epee; Wayne State) – reached NCAA semifinals in her rookie year, placing 4th for 2006 All-America status
Chelsea Ambort (women’s epee; UC San Diego) – one of west coast’s top fencers and two-year veteran of the NCAAs, placing 19th in 2005 before All-America showing in ’06 (10th)
Kasia Kuzniak (women’s sabre; Wayne State) – claimed final All-America spot at 2006 NCAAs (12th)
Jason Paul (men’s sabre; Ohio State) – turned in an All-America showing as a freshman at the 2004 NCAAs (9th) but did not advance to NCAAAs in past two seasons, as member of deep OSU sabre squad
Rachel Liebing (women’s sabre; Cal State Fullerton) – veteran of two NCAA Tournaments, placing 12th in 2004 and 13th in ’05
Jarislaw Jelinek (men’s sabee; Detroit) – surprise newcomer who claimed All-America honors at 2005 NCAAs (11th, also 16th in ’06)
Amelia Gaillard (women’s foil; Ohio State) – an All-America sabre performer in 2005 (7th at NCAAs) before making switch to foil
The 16 other fencers in the 2007 ND Duals field who have competition experience in the NCAAs but were not All-Americans (13th-24th place) include:
• Five from Notre Dame: senior epeeist Aaron Adjemian (’05, ’06), senior foilist Frank Bontempo (’04), junior foilist Melanie Bautista (’06), sophomore foilist Mark Kubik (’06) and sophomore epeeist Karol Kostka (’06)
• Four from UC San Diego: foilists John Chung (’06), Cameron Sprowles (’05) and Jen Chun (’06), and sabreist Jason Runyan (’05)
• Stanford epeeist Clayton Kenney (’06) and foilist Richard Fulton (’06)
• Ohio State foilists Jason Pryor (’06) and Will Jeter (’05), plus OSU sabreist Mike Momtselidze (who qualified for the ’06 NCAAs but was unable to compete due to injury)
• Cleveland State foilist Mike Merker (’05) and Leigh Pendergrass (’05, while at James Madison)
• Wayne State foilist Lindsay Howard (’06) and sabreist Bobby Smith (’04)
Several newcomers also should be among the top performers at the 2007 Notre Dame Duals, with that group including the likes of Notre Dame women’s epeeist Kelley Hurley, a collection of elite Israeli imports (WSU men’s epeeist Slave Zingerman, OSU women’s foilist Julia Tikhonova and OSU men’s epeeist Noam Gill), Ukranian men’s epeeist Mykhaylo (also from OSU) and OSU foilist Lindsay Knauer. Ohio State’s deep men’s foil squad also includes sophomore Dmitri Kirk-Gordon while OSU junior epeeist Alexandra Obrazcova likewise will be a top opponent for the Irish.
The complete Notre Dame Duals schedule follows below:
Saturday, Jan. 20 – Women’s Teams Only
8:00 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Cal State Fullerton, Stanford vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State vs. Lawrence, Ohio State vs. UC San Diego (bye-Detroit)
8:50 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Wayne State, Ohio State vs. Cal State Fullerton, Stanford vs. Lawrence, UC San Diego vs. Detroit (bye-Cleveland State)
9:40 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Lawrence, Wayne State vs. Cal State Fullerton, Cleveland State vs. UC San Diego, Ohio State vs. Detroit (bye-Stanford)
10:30 a.m. – Cal State Fullerton vs. Detroit, Lawrence vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State vs. Ohio State, Stanford vs. UC San Diego (bye-Notre Dame)
11:20 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Ohio State, Cal State Fullerton vs. Cleveland State, Detroit vs. Stanford, Wayne State vs. UC San Diego (bye-Lawrence)
12:10 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. UC San Diego, Cal State Fullerton vs. Lawrence, Ohio State vs. Stanford, Detroit vs. Cleveland State (bye-Wayne Sate)
1:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Detroit, Cleveland State vs. Stanford, Wayne State vs. Ohio State, Lawrence vs. UC San Diego (bye-Cal State Fullerton)
1:50 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Cleveland State, Lawrence vs. Ohio State, Stanford vs. Cal State Fullerton, Wayne State vs. Detroit (bye-UC San Diego)
2:40 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Stanford, UC San Diego vs. Cal State Fullerton (optional), Cleveland State vs. Wayne State, Lawrence vs. Detroit (bye-Ohio State)
Sunday, Jan. 21 – Men’s Teams Only
8:00 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Cal State Fullerton, Stanford vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State vs. Lawrence, Northwestern vs. Detroit, UC San Diego vs. Ohio State
8:50 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Wayne State, Ohio State vs. Cal State Fullerton, Stanford vs. Lawrence, UC San Diego vs. Detroit, Cleveland State vs. Northwestern
9:40 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Lawrence, Ohio State vs. Detroit, Cleveland State vs. UC San Diego, Cal State Fullerton vs. Wayne State, Northwestern vs. Stanford
10:30 a.m. – Notre Dame vs. Northwestern, Lawrence vs. Wayne State, Cal State Fullerton vs. Detroit, Stanford vs. UC San Diego, Ohio State vs. Cleveland State
11:20 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Ohio State, Wayne State vs. UC San Diego, Lawrence vs. Northwestern, Detroit vs. Stanford, Cal State Fullerton vs. Cleveland State (optional)
12:10 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. UC San Diego, Wayne State vs. Northwestern, Ohio State vs. Stanford, Detroit vs. Cleveland State, Cal State Fullerton vs. Lawrence (optional)
1:00 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Detroit, Lawrence vs. UC San Diego, Ohio State vs. Wayne State, Cleveland State vs. Stanford, Cal State Fullerton vs. Northwestern (optional)
1:50 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Cleveland State, Lawrence vs. Ohio State, Wayne State vs. Detroit, Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford (optional), UC San Diego vs. Northwestern (optional)
2:40 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. Stanford, Northwestern vs. Ohio State, Lawrence vs. Detroit, Wayne State vs. Cleveland State, UC San Diego vs. Cal State Fullerton (optional)