Fencing: Fencers continue hot starts to season

After last weekend, there’s no doubt about it — the men’s and women’s fencing teams can fight with the biggest and the best of them, and prevail.

Collectively, Princeton’s fencing teams racked up 23 wins, including four over other top-10 teams, at the Northwestern Duals.

The Princeton men proved as good as their No. 4 ranking. On Saturday, the Tigers went 4-2, sailing over North Carolina, Detroit, Stanford and Lawrence.

In each match it won, the team triumphed by at least nine bouts. Princeton’s closest match of the day came in an 18-9 win over Stanford.

The Tigers’ other wins proved more decisive. The Tigers trounced Detroit, 26-1; Lawrence, 24-3; and North Carolina, 20-7. Their two losses came from a closely contested 16-11 loss to No. 3 Ohio State and a 19-8 fall to perennial powerhouse No. 2 Notre Dame.

Returning with the same intensity and drive as the day before, the Tigers went 5-0 on Sunday. By beating No. 10 Duke, Cleveland State, UC San Diego, Caltech and Johns Hopkins, the team completed the weekend 9-2 and now sits at 14-3 for the season.

The Princeton women, ranked No. 9, also had a strong weekend.

On Saturday, the Tigers (18-3) took down No. 5 Northwestern, UC San Diego, Caltech, Cleveland State, Detroit and Wayne State.

The only loss of the day came in the Tigers’ heavily contested battle against No. 2 Notre Dame. Princeton fell 19-8 to the Fighting Irish, which was the team’s closest matchup of the weekend.

Like the men’s team, the women earned equal success on Sunday.

Wins over No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Temple, Duke, Fairleigh Dickinson, North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Lawrence propelled the Tigers to an 8-0 day and a 14-1 tournament.

The previous week, the Tigers’ epeeists brought the team more success on the national level.

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A selection of the team competed in the North American Cup, which was organized by the United States Fencing Association and held in San Jose, Calif., from Jan. 15 to 18.

Attracting athletes from all over the world, the event garners the highest level of competition. The tournament also enabled fencers to earn points that count for selection to world championship teams.

Freshman Jonathan Yergler triumphed over a field of 192 to capture the junior men’s epee event, which was open to fencers under age 20.

Fellow freshman Edward Kelley supplemented Yergler’s success with a 24th place finish in the event. Both succeeded in channeling their strength to the Division I men’s epee event.

Bearing no connection to NCAA Division I fencing, the competition was only open to fencers with high enough ratings.

Kelley and Yergler placed 10th and 49th, respectively, while junior Graham Wicas earned fifth.

Freshman Hannah Safford led Princeton in the junior women’s epee event to earn second of 115.

Sophomore Susannah Scanlan also excelled, finishing in 12th.

Scanlan finished 18th and Saffard 21st in the Division I competition, and Lindsay Campbell ’02 championed the 142-athlete field to pick up the title.

“I think the performances of the [Princeton] fencers set a good tone for the rest of the season,” Scanlan said.

Not only did the Tigers conquer the pressure of elite competition, they also conquered the pressure of Princeton during the most stressful time of year.

Flying across the country and devoting their energy to competition “speaks to the dedication of the athletes on the team,” Scanlan explained.

“Some fencers even took exams online the night before or after they competed,” she added.

The Tigers’ next challenges will travel to them, as the squads will host the Princeton Duals this Saturday. At that meet last year, the men went 5-0 and the women went 4-1.

The teams’ competition over the weekend includes a number of in-state rivals. The tournament will feature New Jersey fencing programs from Fairleigh Dickinson, Drew, Stevens Institute of Technology and New Jersey Institute of Technology.