Fencing in the News

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[glow=red,2,300]Waddington clinches sabre gold[/glow]The Daily Hindu
India's National Newspaper
Jan 25, 2005

www.hindu.com/2006/01/25/stories/2006012512481800.htm

CHENNAI: Scotland's C. Waddington rushed towards her coach and manager, and managed to land a kiss on their cheeks. Waddington, the reigning British junior champion and unseeded here proved, at times, patience can be a virtue. The 19-year-old blunted the challenge of the top-seed Sarah Ellis of Northern Ireland 15-11 in the women's sabre individual final of the Commonwealth junior (under-20) fencing championship at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday. As Scotland's coach David Rollo said, "She (Waddington) counter-attacked well, her timing, movement and feet preparation were really good."

Turning the tables

Ellis, who has taken part in two World and three European junior championships, was expected to script a relatively easy over her opponent, but Waddington turned the tables on the top-seed, showing exemplary skills in defence.

"I'm extremely happy as this is a big victory in my career, more so with England, Wales and other countries taking part," Waddington said. The losing semifinalists Holly Newman and Jessica Davies, both from Wales, finished joint third.

Among the eight Indians in the draw of 32 in the direct elimination round, only Nongmaithem (India `A') reached the second round, defeating Sandeep Kaur of the `B' team in the first round. Earlier, in the qualifying rounds, where 26 fencers were divided into four pools, Ellis won five of the six matches in her group, while Waddington clinched four victories out of the five matches in her group. On Wednesday, men's individual foil and women's individual epee events are scheduled.

Rene Roch, president, International Fencing Federation, inaugurated the tournament.

The results: (final): C. Waddington (Sco) bt Sarah Ellis (NIR) 15-11.

Semifinals: Waddington bt Holly Newman (Wal) 15-4; Sarah Ellis bt Jessica Davies (Wal) 15-12.

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FENCING: Providenza sets out to repeat title
Injured sabrer battled food poisoning during last year's NCAAs
By Dan Tapetillo
The Observer
South Bend, IN, USA
1/26/06

www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/paper660/news/2006/01/26/Sports/Fencing.Providenza.Sets.Out.To.Repeat.Title-1505588.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.ndsmcobserver.com

It's hard topping an NCAA national championship, but that is exactly what junior sabre Valerie Providenza has set out to accomplish.

Thriving on the momentum of last season, Providenza and the rest of the Irish squad are looking for a repeat of their 2005 national title and continuing Notre Dame's fencing legacy.

"The motivation to win came toward the end of last year," Providenza said. "So we will only add to the excitement from last year as we get closer and closer to the championships this year."

The Irish confidence comes from their ambition for dominance, illustrated no better than by Providenza's performance in last year's NCAA championships.

During the first two days of team competition - the men's portion of the tournament - Providenza came down with food poisoning and needed to be hospitalized. She was not released until an hour and a half before her bout on the third day of the championships, the beginning of the women's portion of championships. She had barely enough time to warm up.

"I was so exhausted when I got out of the hospital," Providenza said. "So I was just taking one bout at a time and trying to conserve my energy between each one."

Despite her illness, Providenza managed a score of 19-4 in the 23 round-robin bouts. This record was enough in the women's sabre competition to place her near the top of the standings. She competed in the semi-finals, earning a great deal of respect from her teammates.

"It was really encouraging to see her compete that well," junior sabre Matt Stearns said. "She gained a lot of respect for being such a tough competitor. I think it was also inspiring for all the girls competing at the end."

Though Providenza finished fourth in the women's sabre competition, it was a strong enough performance to help Notre Dame overcome a 24-point margin to edge its fiercest competitor, Ohio State, and win its seventh national title with a score of 173-171.

"Going into those final days, we were concerned," Stearns said. "Even that first day [of the women's competition] we were in a tough spot because we only made up [11 of the 24 bouts] and knew they had 13 real tough bouts the next [and final] day. But our girls fenced amazing and Ohio State didn't come through and it came out in our favor."

With the help of Providenza and the rest of women's team, the Irish women won a total of 103 bouts - the most wins for a women's program in a single NCAA championship.

But despite the success found in last year's team, the Irish are looking to repeat.

"We definitely have a shot at another title this year," Stearns said. "And it looks like it is going to be another good match-up against Ohio State."

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Men's Fencing Hosts Vassar on Sunday
Lone home meet of season starts at 10 a.m. in Jadwin Fencing Room.[/size][/color]
GoPrincetonTigers.com
Princeton,NJ,USA
Jan. 26, 2006

goprincetontigers.collegesports.com/sports/m-fenc/spec-rel/012606aab.html

After being away from competition for nearly two months, the Princeton men's fencing team begins its season in earnest on Sunday against Vassar at 10 a.m. in the Jadwin Fencing Room. It's the only home dual meet of the season for either the men's or women's team and the last competition before the two-weekend Ivy League Championships begin.

Princeton has competed in two meets so far this season, both at Penn State. The first was an individual event in October in which Tommi Hurme and Ben Solomon both finished in the top three in the epee. Early last month, Princeton went back to State College, Pa., for dual meets with Penn State, North Carolina, Rutgers and NYU, topping all but the host Nittany Lions. Solomon won all 12 of his bouts that weekend.

Vassar enters the meet with a 4-7 overall record in duals and is 1-1 against Ivy opponents, defeating Yale last weekend but losing to Brown last month.

After this meet, the Tigers compete almost every weekend into mid-March when the NCAA Championships are held in Houston, Texas.

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New Coach and New Attitude for NB Fencing Proving Successful
By Jennifer Small
Shore Publishing
Madison, CT, USA
1/26/2006

www.shorepublishing.com/archive/re.aspx?re=930c4ad8-eefc-4b3c-99e9-7c99587be8ec

North Branford - The North Branford fencing program is flying under the radar—not only in the town as many are unaware the school has a fencing team, but also through its season as a team that is surprising some people.

Currently, the boys are undefeated with a 4-0 record, while the girls stand at 3-1.

“We're here for a purpose, to try and win and to actually win—we fight,” said first-year Coach John Tejada. “It's a program that's not used to winning. They're still getting used to the fact that they can win. The fighting ability that we have is our biggest strength.”

Another one of North Branford's strengths is its attitude and camaraderie.

“We're that team that yells a lot—we cheer, we high five, we bump chests,” Tejada said. “We turn it from a traditional fencing meet into a football game or a basketball game. It should be like any sport. We're obnoxious and I don't care because I know my kids are having fun.”

With half of the team being first-year fencers, North Branford has to rely on its experienced fencers to steadily provide points while the rookies gain some experience. With just three seniors on the team, the core of the T-Birds will remain mostly intact over the next couple years.

“We have a couple people we know we can depend on. The others who are less experienced, we just need them to work together for a win,” said Tejada. “As we get those second-tier fencers more experience on the strip and more experience over time, that's what's going to help. It's my job to make sure they're good enough to get at least one win even on bad days. We have to be better than the other team's worst fencer.”

When the T-Birds need points, they turn to Emi Seaman. She is currently undefeated at 11-0.

“Emi's the best fencer on the team, she could be one of the best in the state,” said Tejada. “She has the tools and the drive to do it. She practices a lot. She's having a great year and doing what she's supposed to be doing. She's not letting the team down with that.”

Senior captain Alex DeFrancesco is a vocal leader.

“He's the guy the team rallies around,” Tejada said. “He's very animated with what he does. I love to watch him fencing because I love that.”

Jessica Robinson and Laura Harrison are the other two seniors on the team and they share a starting spot. Besides Seaman, the other starting spots on both sides are up for grabs.

“The good thing is that everyone knows if they work hard, they can earn playing time,” Tejada said. “They've become very supportive of each other. They didn't get along before but they've become very close—they've become teammates, family. They don't have to like each other all the time, but when push comes to shove, they support each other and at meets, it's us versus them.”

The “us vs. them” attitude has done well for the T-Birds this season.

Against a young Hale Ray team, both teams took home wins, the girls, 8-1, and the boys, 5-4. Against Bacon Academy, the T-Birds earned two more victories, a 7-2 win for the girls and a 6-3 win for the boys. The boys' team then came out on top of Old Lyme, 5-4, and the girls dropped their first meet of the season, 4-5.

The girls came right back in the next meet, taking an early 5-1 lead over Griswold before coasting to a 6-3 win. The boys also won at Griswold, though it wasn't as easy of a path.

The boys were losing and had to win their last three matches to come away with the win. They were able to pull it off and came out on top, 5-4.

“That was the most exciting so far and the kids did a great job coming through in the end,” said Tejada. “The girls have been pretty stellar besides that loss.”

North Branford is setting itself up for the state tournament in early March with individual states on March 4 and team states on March 11.

“We have the team and we can do it but it's not going to be easy,” said Tejada. “It's just a matter of executing. We have the ability and we can succeed once the kids truly start believing they can.”

While winning is important and will help the team reach its goal of states, a more important thing to Tejada is having fun. Besides fencing, the team plays other games together, including dodgeball.

“It's always easier to have fun when you're winning, but you can have fun either way,” said Tejada. “We're having fun and the results are there. The kids are all happy, the parents are all happy—it's one big lovefest over in North Branford.”

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Four NCAA Individual Champions To Headline Joyce Center Fencing Bouts This Weekend At The ND Duals[/b][/color]
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
CollegeSports.com
Notre Dame, IN, USA
Jan. 27, 2006

und.collegesports.com/sports/c-fenc/spec-rel/012706aab.html

Four former NCAA individual champions - plus several other elite All-Americans - will be among the 10-team field this weekend at the annual Notre Dame Duals, set for the Joyce Center Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 28 (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) and Sunday, Jan. 29 (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.). This year's event has a unique format, as most of the women's bouts will be contested on Saturday while all of the men's competition is slated for Sunday (Duke will fence all of its bouts, for men and women, on Sunday).

Notre Dame and Ohio State - the top-two finishers from the 2005 NCAAs - will not face each other at the ND Duals this weekend, after fencing last weekend at the NYU Duals (the Irish and Buckeyes also will not face each other at next week's OSU Duals).

Results from the ND Duals (including team scores broken down by weapon) will be available at the following link: www.nd.edu/~fencing/results/ndduals06schedule.htm

Saturday's marquee women matchups include #1 Notre Dame vs. #7 Northwestern at approximately 2:00 p.m. and 2nd-ranked Ohio State vs. the Wildcats in the next round (3:00). Fans also will want to catch the Wayne State women's epee team - led by two-time NCAA champion Anna Garina - in action, with the Warriors fencing Notre Dame at 3:00 and OSU at 4:00. Most notably, Garina likely will face ND junior Amy Orlando in a rematch of the 2005 NCAA title bout that was won by the six-foot Ukranian (Garina also defeated another ND fencer, '05 graduate Kerry Walton, in the '04 NCAA final).

Top bouts to watch on Sunday include: the Duke women vs. Northwestern at 9:00 a.m.; full matches for Duke (men and women) vs. Notre Dame (10:00; ND men are ranked #2), Wayne State (11:00) and Ohio State (noon; OSU men are #1); the ND men vs. Wayne State (led by '05 NCAA epee runner-up Marek Petraszek) at 3:00; and the OSU men vs. Wayne State at 4:00.

The two-day event will provide spectators the chance to see four former NCAA champion fencers in action, plus four others who have reached the NCAA title bout and four more who have been third-place finishers. The field is highlighted by 32 competitors who have competed in previous NCAA Tournaments, with 25 of them registering All-America top-12 finishes.

The former NCAA champions who are slated to be on hand include Notre Dame junior sabre standout Valerie Providenza ('04; also 4th in '05), plus three two-time champs: WSU's Garina ('04 and '05), OSU junior foilist Boaz Ellis ('04 and '05) and OSU senior sabreist Adam Crompton ('03 and '04; also 7th in '05). Three other Notre Dame fencers - Orlando in epee, junior Patrick Ghattas in sabre and sophomore Mariel Zagunis (the '04 Olympic gold medalist), also in sabre - each finished as runner-up at the 2005 NCAAs, as did WSU's Petraszek in men's epee (he lost to former ND standout Michal Sobieraj).

The four who have been NCAA third-place finishes include: OSU junior epeeist Denis Tolkachev (in '04; also 4th in '05), senior sabre Jason Rogers (in '02 and '03; fenced for USA at '04 Olympics, then 5th at '05 NCAAs) and sophomore women's sabre Siobahn Byrne ('05), and Duke junior Anne Kercsmar ('04; also 16th in '05).

Other All-Americans to watch this weekend at the ND Duals include (finish indicates '05 NCAAs, unless specified): ND sophomore foilist Jakub Jedrkowiak (7th), OSU sophomore sabre Amelia Galliard (7th), OSU junior junior epeeist Kaela Brendler (5th; also 7th in '04), OSU junior sabre Jason Paul (9th in '04), ND junior sabre Matt Stearns (10th), Detroit senior sabre Jaroslaw Jelinek (11th), Duke junior women's sabre Ibtihaj Muhammad (11th), OSU junior epeeist Christian Rivera (12th), Northwestern junior foilist Jessica Florendo (12th).

A handful of others have fenced at the NCAAs, including: ND junior sabre Angela Vincent ('04), junior foilist Frank Bontempo ('04) and junior epeeist Aaron Adjemian ('05); OSU sophomore foilist Will Jeter ('05); NU junior epeeists Courtney DuBois ('05), senior epeeist Sharon Sullivan ('04), senior sabre Emily Pasternak and junior sabre Mai Van Vu ('05); Duke junior sabre Allison Schafer ('05) and sophomore foilist Jackson McClam (21st); and Cleveland State foilust Mike Merker ('05).

Each of the top teams also include several top newcomers who are sure to make their name at future NCAA tournaments.

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Bronze for NZ in junior fencing champs
Stuff.co.nz
Wellington, New Zealand
1/27/06

www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3553422a1823,00.html

New Zealander Monique Coleman has won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth junior fencing championships in India, losing her foil semifinal to eventual winner Yu Ling Tay of Singapore.

Coleman, from the Hutt Valley Swords, had beaten the No 2 seed Ruth Yi Lin of Singapore 13-12 in the last seconds of her quarterfinal bout to reach the semifinals, where she lost 15-12.

Coleman, a Prime Minister's Athlete Scholarship holder, had just spent two months training in Singapore in preparation.

In other New Zealand results, Auckland's Sarah Qi, seeded 30, knocked out the third seed Loidam Devi Moirangtehm of India in the round of 16 before bowing out in the quarterfinals to Natasha Thomson of Scotland.

About 180 junior fencers from nine Commonwealth countries are competing in the championships.

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Fencing looking to move up in rankings
By Brian Hacker, Staff Writer
The Penn State Digital Collegian
University Park, PA, USA
1/27/06

www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/01/01-27-06tdc/01-27-06dsports-03.asp

The season might be months old for the Penn State fencing team, but this weekend's competition is only the second team event that the Nittany Lions have had and the first since early December. The event takes place on Jan. 28 and is being hosted by the team in the White Building.

The field for this weekend's match includes a number of strong teams, the best of which are St. John's, Penn and Columbia. Columbia will be the strongest team the Lions will compete against this weekend. Other teams include Duke and Drew.

During the competition, the men will fence in five matches and the women will fight in six matches.

Penn State fencing head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov is not making any predictions about the outcome of the matches this weekend until he sees which players show up for the schools.

"Everything depends on what kind of team they will bring. Some of their team members might not come due to World Cup qualifying rounds next weekend," Kaidanov said. He added that no Lions will be missing this weekend, but some members of the team will miss next weekend's match at Brandeis in Boston due to the World Cup, most notably freshman Caitlin Thompson, the women's standout in the saber weapon.

The first NCAA rankings came out ranking the women second behind Notre Dame and the men third behind Ohio State and Notre Dame, respectively.

Kaidanov was not disappointed or pleased with the rankings.

"It's nice, but it is the opinion of those people who take the poll," Kaidanov said. He added that even though the men lost to Harvard in December, they are still ranked ahead of the Ivy League school. He also feels that the women's side is really an open field, but is fine with Notre Dame being ranked ahead of the Lions.

The team hopes to show why it deserves such a high ranking with a strong performance not only this weekend, but also next weekend as well, as it continues towards the NCAA Championship in March.

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Tourney fencing successes for Bernards and Ridge
By JEFF HAMMOND Sports Writer
The Bernardsville News
Bernardsville, NJ, USA
January 25, 2006

www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15997395&BRD=1918&PAG=461&dept_id=506495&rfi=6

The annual statewide Santelli (girls) and Cetrulo (boys) fencing tournaments, held at Voorhees High School over the weekend of Jan. 7-8, provided top finishes for area fencing teams.

(full article contains 639 words)
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Men's Fencing Goes Perfect 4-0 at Philadelphia Invitational
Rutgers University Scarlet Knights Online
NJ, USA
January 25, 2006

scarletknights.com/fencing/news/release.asp?prID=3508

PHILADELPHIA, PA - After an impressive showing on Saturday, Jan 21, in which the Rutgers University men's fencing team defeated Yale and Vassar, RU returned to action this past Sunday and rolled to four straight wins over Duke (19-8), Haveford (21-6), Johns Hopkins (21-6) and Penn (16-11).

Junior Ben Igoe (Staten Island, NY) went a perfect 12-0 on the afternoon and led the Scarlet Knights to their four victories. Igoe's prowess with the saber has been impressive this season and his performance on Sunday solidified his importance to this year's RU team.

Senior saber Philip Dolata (Ballston Lake, NY) went 6-0 against Haveford and Johns Hopkins.

The women's team did not fair as well in the multi-team meet. The Scarlet Knights defeated Haveford, 16-11, but fell to Duke, Cornell and Temple.

The Scarlet Knights will be back in action on Sunday, Feb. 5 when they head back to Philadelphia, PA to square off against a group of teams including: Temple, James Madison, Army, Stevens and Farleigh Dickinson.

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Indian fencing team perform creditably
Chennai Online
Chennai, India
1/29/06

www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7BCD35CDE6-5773-4C32-B9FC-D12449536E89%7D&CATEGORYNAME=National

Chennai, Jan 28: Making their debut at the Commonwealth level, Indian fencers have performed creditably as they claimed their third bronze medal here tonight, on the penultimate day of the week long inaugural Commonwealth Junior Fencing Championship.

India's third bronze medal came in the Women's Epee event.

The Indian quartet of Sandhyarani Devi Moirangthem, Samashakhi Devi Laishram, Lakshmi Narjala and Ruchi Trikha went down fighting to Malaysia 41-45.

In the final, England thrashed Malayasia 45-29 for the gold.

Australian men and Scottish women have been ruling the roost in their medal hunt as the former claimed the Men's Epee team final, while the latter won the Women's Sabre team Gold.

In a keenly fought men's Epee final, Australia's Dean Wiliams, Martin Camilleri, David Walsh and David Baker were given a tough fight until the ninth and last bout. However, Camilleri displayed better technique in his hits against Tom Bennet to dash England's hopes with a total tally of 45-42.

Stiff competition was also witnessed in the women sabre Team final where Scotland put paid to the aspirations of Northern Ireland with a slender two point margin victory. Scots won 45-43, while England and Wales claimed bronze medals.

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North San Diego County business briefs:
San Diego Fencing Center Opens
North County Times
Escondido, CA, USA
1/28/06

www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/01/28/business/news/23_19_131_27_06.txt

ESCONDIDO ---- The San Diego Fencing Center is celebrating its grand opening from 3 to 6 p.m. today with free fencing for all athletes and plenty of good sport to watch.

The SDFC, at 1770 S. Escondido Blvd, is a new training facility dedicated to the sport of fencing. For information, call [phone] or visti www.sandiegofencing.com/.

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High school roundup
NorthJersey.com
Hackensack, NJ, USA
January 28, 2006

www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNDcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY4Njk4MjgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

POMPTON LAKES -- In the past four years, Susan Lewis, head coach of Wayne Hills girls fencing, has seen her team go from middle of the pack to Passaic County champion.

The Patriots won 33 bouts and had two gold medalists Friday night as they captured the County title, narrowly defeating last year's champion, Pompton Lakes, which finished with 31 victories.

Wayne Valley was third with 27 wins.

"It feels like somebody should pinch me," Lewis said. "With all the noise, I didn't know we had won until somebody poked me."

The Patriots were propelled by first-place finishes from Cindy Ludirdja in foil and Julia Strekalova in epee. It was the second year in a row that Strekalova won the gold at the County tournament.

"She's very competitive," Lewis said of her A-strip epee fencer. "And if she has a bad day, she never gives excuses."

Wayne Valley's Jennifer Kostialik, a B-strip fencer, won the gold in saber.

"She's a good worker and she's been successful because she loves what she does," said Wayne Valley coach Chris Awad. "She has a great teammate in Lisa Saldeen, and they both work well together."

The close finish of the tournament was hardly surprising as the three teams have been battling it out atop the Passaic County standings all season.

"The competition in Passaic County has been great because it makes us work harder and fence better," said Lewis. "Pompton Lakes is a wonderful team and they keep us honest. Whenever my kids get tired of practicing I just say, 'Hey, Pompton Lakes isn't going to sit around waiting for us to beat them.' It keeps us working hard and trying to get better because they do the same."

West Milford got second-place finishes from Allison Jirouschek in foil and Ginny Blackowski in epee. The Pompton Lakes trio of Katie Stanton (foil), Nikki Bookstaver (epee) and Kelsey Hanrahan (saber) swept the bronze medals.

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TEMPLE FENCING HOLDS OWN AGAINST NATIONALLY RANKED COMPETITION
OwlsSports.com
Temple University Athletics
Philadelphia, PA, USA
1/28/2006

www.owlsports.com/sports/wfencing/releases/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=16752

STATE COLLEGE, PA — The Temple women’s fencing team went 2-3 at the 2006 Penn State Invitational today knocking off fourteenth ranked Duke (16-11) and Haverford (24-3). The Owls dropped matches to sixth ranked St. John’s (10-17), third ranked Columbia (7-20) and second ranked host Penn State (5-22).

The sabre team showed great strength going 3-2 on the day including a 5-4 win against the nationally ranked St. John’s sabre squad. Leading the sabre swords was sophomore Kristine Jones who finished 8-7. Senior squad leader Keri Ecker went 6-9 and freshman Ashlee Phillips finished 4-11.

In women’s foil, sophomore Samantha Myles finished with a squad best 7-5. Senior captain Jenna Remmert contributed a 4-7 finish and senior Maryanne Forsythe and freshman Nina Gernes both went 3-3.

Sophomore epee fencer Brianna Ferrara led her squad with a 7-6 finish. Fellow sophomore Marla Nacey went 6-8. Freshmen Kaitlyn Uckert and Melissa Forsythe finished 3-3 and 6-6 respectively.

Coach Brad Baker said, “It was a good day to show us what it takes to be one of the top fencing schools in the country.”

The Owls’ record stands at 8-5 on the season. They will be back in action this weekend when they host the Temple Invitational at McGonigle Hall Saturday, February 5.

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Big Red Secures Four Victories at Wellesley
Sabre leads the way with two 9-0 matches
CollegeSports.com
Cornell Big Red
Ithaca, NY, USA
Jan. 28, 2006

cornellbigred.collegesports.com/sports/w-fenc/recaps/012806aaa.html

WELLESLEY, Mass. - The Big Red fencing team put on an impressive display of swordsmanship en route to a 4-0 overall mark on Saturday at the Wellesley Fencing Invitational in Wellesley, Mass. The four victories improve Cornell's record to 7-4. Tufts, which finished at 3-1, was the Big Red's closest competition in the multi-meet.

The two schools did not have to wait long to fence each other, as they were paired off in the afternoon's opening round. Tufts established its domination in foil, picking up seven wins to Cornell's two. The Big Red, however, used its edge in epee, led by All-American Meghan Phair,, and sabre, led by Alex Heiss, to earn the victory. The epee team won eight of the nine bouts against Tufts, with sabre capturing six, to finish the match at 16-11 in favor of Cornell.

After a bye in round two, the Big Red's next two opponents were Vassar and Hunter. The sabre squad pitched in a pair of perfect 9-0 performances against the two schools. Cornell fencers, though, were just as good with the tips of their blades as foil and epee both went 15-3 over the course of rounds three and four. The end results were commanding victories, 23-4 over Vassar and 26-1 against Hunter. Vassar concluded the day at 1-3, while Hunter, a newcomer to the event this year, struggled to an 0-4 mark.

In the day's final round the Big Red was matched up with the host school, Wellesley. The visitors were in control of all three weapons, racking up 6-3 marks in both foil and epee and going 7-2 in sabre. The 17-8 triumph ensured that the Big Red would head home to Ithaca undefeated on the afternoon and with momentum heading into next week's Ivy Championships. It also dropped Wellesley to 2-2 on the day.

Cornell's sabre team finished the competition at 31-5; epee went 29-7, while foil was 23-13.

The Big Red will be home next weekend to play host to traditional foes Brown, Harvard, and Princeton in the first round of the Ivy Championships in Ithaca on Sun. Feb 5.

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Cats fall to top-two nationally ranked teams
The No. 7 Wildcats went 6-2 in Day One of Notre Dame Duals in South Bend, Ind.[/b][/color]
NUsports.com
CollegeSports.com
Jan. 28, 2006

nusports.collegesports.com/sports/w-fenc/recaps/012806aac.html

South Bend, Ind. - Northwestern's fencing team went a combined 6-2 on Saturday at the Notre Dame Duals in South Bend, Ind. The Wildcats defeated the University of Chicago (23-4), Wayne State (19-8), Lawrence (27-0), Oberlin (27-0), Detroit-Mercy (25-2) and Cleveland State (25-2). The two losses were to the top two ranked women's fencing teams in the country, Notre Dame (9-18) and Ohio State (13-14).

NU opened the day with five easy wins before facing host team, Notre Dame. NU fell to the reigning National Champions, but the Wildcat foil team defeated the Irish foil team in the process.

"I was pleased with our foil team against Notre Dame," said head coach Laurie Schiller. "They (NU's foil team) lost back in the fall to Notre Dame's foil team, but they showed how much they have improved by winning today."

NU's match vs. No. 2 Ohio State literally came down to the last touch. Trailing early in the dual, NU rallied back to a 13-13 tie with one epée match remaining. With the score tied 4-4 in that final match, OSU tallied the final hit for the 5-4 win of the bout and the 14-13 dual win.

"Today was a good and bad day for us," Schiller said. "The team fought hard, especially the comeback against OSU. I thought we prepared well and did a good job of competing in all of the duals."

NU has one dual match tomorrow vs. Duke at 9 a.m.

Day One Results of Notre Dame Duals
8 a.m. - Chicago 4, Northwestern 23
10 a.m. - Northwestern 19, Wayne State 8
11 a.m. - Northwestern 27, Lawrence 0
Noon - Northwestern 27, Oberlin 0
1 p.m. - Northwestern 25, Detroit-Mercy 2
2 p.m. - Notre Dame 18, Northwestern 9
3 p.m. - Ohio State 14, Northwestern 13
4 p.m. - Northwestern 25, Cleveland State 2