Nov. 20, 2007
Members of the Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams have returned to campus after compiling some impressive results at the annual Penn State Max Garret Open. Five different Irish fencers reached the semifinals in their respective weapons, led by a runner-up performance from freshman men’s foilist Zach Schirtz. Two other newcomers – men’s epeeist Greg Schoolcraft and women’s sabreists Eileen Hassett – turned in third-place finishes, as did junior women’s foilist Adrienne Nott (the runner-up at the 2006 event). Yet another freshman, men’s sabreist Barron Nydam, reached the semifinals and ended up in fourth place.
A pair of Notre Dame fencers – Ewa Nelip (women’s) and fellow Poland native Karol Kostka (men’s) – finished sixth in their respective epee competitions.
Here’s a summary of the Notre Dame competitors, sorted by weapon:
MEN’S FOIL (field of 63) – Schirtz (Richester, N.Y.) built on a solid performance in pool play to win several close bouts in the elimination rounds before falling in the final to defending NCAA champion Andras Horanyi of Ohio State (6-15) … Schirtz defeated Penn’s Alex Salsman in a dramatic quarterfinal (15-14) before holding off Yale’s Nate Botwinick (15-13) to advance to the championship … freshman Steve Kubik finished 14th, after nearly knocking off Horanyi in the round-of-16 (13-15) … his older brother and fellow San Antonio native, junior Mark Kubik (16th), also reached the round-of-16 but lost a 12-15 bout to PSU’s Nicholas Chinman … three ND sophomores – Teddy Hodges, Xavier Lebec and Diego Silva – also competed in the PSU Open and finished outside the top-32 … senior Jakub Jedrkowiak did not fence in this year’s event (he was the foil champion of the 2005 PSU Open, also reaching the final bout in ’04) … Mark Kubik previously was 20th at the 2005 PSU Open before registering a 4th-place finish at the 2006 event.
WOMEN’S FOIL (field of 47) – Nott (Pittsford, N.Y.) knocked off Penn’s Abby Emerson in the quarterfinals 915-6) but lost to OSU’s Lindsay Knauer in the semifinals (4-15) … she then bounced back to post a convincing win over one of her Midwest Region rivals, Northwestern’s Samantha Nemecek (15-6) … freshman Hayley Reese (Crestwood, Ky.) battled to a 14th-place finish in her first appearance at the PSU Open … senior Rachel Cota narrowly missed a finish in the top-32 … Nott was 12th at the PSU Open as a freshman in 2005 before reaching the final in 2006.
MEN’S EPEE (field of 68) – Schoolcraft (san Jose, Calif.) pulled off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets en route to his bronze-medal finish … trailing 9-12 in the waning moments of his quarterfinal bout vs. top-seed Jimmy Moody of Penn State, Schoolcraft rattled off four straight points to stunningly take the 13-12 win as time expired … he then lost to another PSU fencer (6-15 vs. Arthur Urman) but rebounded for a 13-10 win over Penn’s Sam Monk 13-10 in the 3rd-place bout … Kostka’s 10-5 win over OSU’s Avi Somir sent him to the round-of-8 (where he lost a 9-15 bout to Yale’s Michael Pearce) … senior Greg Howard (Granger, Ind.) ended up 13th, after a round-of-16 loss to Urman (11-15) … ND freshmen Conor Gettings, Chris Pfarr and Andy Seroff finished outside the top-32 … Howard has finished 13th or higher in all four of his PSU Open appearances (also 8th in ’04, 12th in ’05, 13th in ’06) … Kostka’s best finish at the PSU Open was as a freshman (4th; also 14th in ’06).
WOMEN’S SABRE (field of 46) – Hassett (Beaverton, Ore.) defeated Harvard’s Alexa Weingarden in the quarterfinals (15-12) but lost to OSU veteran Eileen Grench in an 11-15 semifinal before topping PSU’s Falencia Miller to claim the bronze (15-9) … her classmate Sarah Borrmann was forced to withdraw due to injury while junior Ashley Serrette placed 29th … junior Christina Zoccoli placed outside the top-32 … Serrette was 21st at the 2006 PSU Open.
MEN’S SABRE (field of 60) – Nydam (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), on the heels of winning the North American Cup Under-20 competition in Dallas, kept a hot hand by defeating North Carolina’s Bob Ziechmann in the quarterfinals (15-9) before losing to a pair of elite college fencers (OSU’s Mike Momtselidze in a 9-15 semifinal and PSU’s Franz Boghicev in the 12-15 bout for 3rd-place … junior Bill Thanhouser (Portland, Ore.) placed 12th while freshman Avery Zuck (Beaverton, Ore.) was 14th (his classmate Alex Buell finished outside the top-32) … Thanhouser also placed 12th at the 2006 PSU Open and reached the round-of-16 in 2005.
WOMEN’S EPEE – Nelip beat PSU’s Maria Joao Reis in the round-of-16 (15-11) BUT lost a tight quarterfinal bout vs. the eventual champion Anastasia Ferdman of PSU (13-15) … junior Kim Montoya (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished 11th, narrowly missing a spot in the top-10 … Montoya was the runner-up at the 2005 PSU Open and placed 25th in 2006.