Fencing: Tigers take sixth place at NCAAs

The fencing team sent 12 fencers to compete in the NCAA championship tournament at Harvard on March 25–28. The Tigers (Men: 21-3 overall, 5-0 Ivy League; Women: 27-3, 6-0) finished sixth place in the nation in the combined event, competing against 27 teams in the finals.

Princeton sent two competitors to each men’s and women’s event and had the maximum 12 fencers compete in the tournament. Junior Graham Wicas and freshman Jonathan Yergler competed in men’s epee, sophomores David Mandle and Alexander Mills in men’s foil, and senior Thomas Abend and junior John Stogin in men’s saber. On the women’s side, Princeton sent epeeists freshman Phoebe Caldwell and sophomore Susannah Scanlan, foilists freshman Brianna Martin and sophomore Rocky Rothenberg, and sabrists freshmen Joanna Cichomski and Eliza Stone.

Stogin, Mills, Wicas, Scanlan and Abend were returning to the NCAA championships for a second time.

In the finals, each school can send a maximum of 12 fencers, two per weapon and gender. Twenty-four fencers per weapon compete, so each fencer has a total of 23 bouts. The school that wins the most total bouts is the champion, so sending the maximum of 12 fencers to the tournament put Princeton in the best possible position. Penn State, Harvard and Notre Dame also sent 12 fencers.

Penn State took first place for the second consecutive year with 191 wins, and St. John’s University finished second with 182.

Princeton finished in sixth place with 135 wins, just two wins behind fifth-place Harvard, and Columbia and Penn finished right after Princeton.

“I have mixed feelings, because if before the season they said we would be sixth, I would be very happy,” head coach Zoltan Dudas said. “On the other side, there were very few points between us and Harvard. Because there are so many bouts, you always have the feeling that you could have done better.”

Coming into the tournament, the Tigers were ranked No. 4 by the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association poll. After the women’s tournament on Thursday and Friday, the Tigers held fourth place, then later dropped to sixth during the men’s competition.

Women’s saber contributed the most wins for the Tigers with 26, while women’s epee and foil each added 25 wins. The men’s saber squad added 17 wins, while the foil and epee squads earned 21 each.

Martin came in at sixth place in foil with 16 wins in her 23 bouts, while Rothenberg placed 15th with nine wins. In epee, Scanlan came in at seventh place with 16 wins, and Caldwell was 15th with nine wins. In saber, Stone took eighth place with 15 wins, and Chichomski came in at 13th with 11 wins.

Abend, who made his first appearance in the final tournament since 2007, took 12th place in saber with 11 wins, and Stogin came in at the 20th spot, winning six bouts. In foil, Mills earned wins in 12 bouts to come in 11th, while Mandle beat nine of his opponents for the 18th spot. Finally, Yergler finished ninth in the nation for epee with 13 wins, and Wicas contributed eight wins to grab the 20th spot.

“Everybody tried to do their best and they were fighting hard to do a good job as a team. A lot of first timers had very good performances. Because it is a two-day tournament, some started slowly, but on the second day they could always improve their performances,” Dudas said.

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Yergler, Mills, Stone, Martin and Scanlan earned All-America titles.

Overall, the Tigers have had a remarkable season, with both the men’s and women’s teams taking the Ivy League title for the first time since 2001. Furthermore, this is the team’s best finish in the final championship since 2003.

“Overall, I think this was a great end to a great season,” Dudas said.