2014 runner-up Princeton looks to retake national fencing title

Junior sabre Gracie Stone knows what it’s like to be a national champion.

“My freshman year was amazing in that we won NCAA for the first time in combined team and the first time as Princeton since the sixties,” she said. “So it was just a ridiculous and wonderful way to start out my fencing career here.”

Having narrowly missed being crowned national champions last year, the bus ride home from Columbus, Ohio seemed that much longer for the squad. This year, it seems only appropriate that the team’s season begins where it ended last year at Ohio State University for the first dual meet of the year. The team, led by head coach Zoltan Dudas, looks to build on last year’s success and travel home as national champions at the end of the season.

Last season, Penn State’s Nittany Lions were eventually crowned national champions, while the Tigers placed second with the women’s team placing first overall individually, and the men’s team fifth overall individually. At the Ivy League tournament, the women’s team was an undefeated 5-0 and was crowned Ivy League Champions. The men’s team placed second, after Harvard and Columbia tied for the championship.

Even though the fencing team graduated six women and five men, there is still ample experience. Led by six seniors this year, the team has a strong core. Robert Daniluk at foil, Luke Politi at épée and Michael Wiest at sabre head the men’s team. The women’s team is led by seniors Christina Efthimion at épée, Sharon Gao at foil and Ambika Singh at foil.

While it seems that fencing is simply an individual sport, the team dynamic cannot be underemphasized. While each dueler competes for him or herself, each competitor is attempting to gain a win for the team’s cumulative record. For a team to win a dual meet, a majority of individual duels must be won. Similar to tennis, each individual victory carries the same amount of weight.

A team cannot thrive with just a handful of successful fencers. Even a team with the best dueler in the world cannot win without depth behind him. A deep team is vital for victories in the important dual meets. However, this is something, however, that the Princeton team could have working against itself this season. “We are very, very small this year. We only have five freshmen, which is definitely on the smaller side, so it’s very interesting,” Stone noted. However, she was very quick to point out the positives of this: “I think it could actually be a good thing in that it’s a little worrisome that there’s no room for things like injuries or bad days … But because of that we are all training a lot harder.” According to Stone, each fencer will be starting, so there is little room for error.

In addition to six seniors, the team also has a lot of post-season experience. The roster is full of athletes with accolades bestowed upon them by the NCAA. This year’s women’s teams captains, seniors Katharine Holmes (épée) and Singh, along with junior Anna Van Brummen (épée) received first-team all-Ivy honors last season. Stone (sabre) also received this honor, along with an Ivy League Most Outstanding Rookie award last year.

On the men’s side, the team welcomes back four talented fencers. Sophomore Alex House had an outstanding freshman season at épée. Last year, he was first-team all-Ivy, Ivy League Championship Outstanding Rookie of the Year and came in thirteenth at the NCAA championships. Sophomore Jack Hudson won the bronze medal at the NCAA championships in the épée, junior Rodney Chen placed nineteenth in the foil and sophomore Peter Pak finished fifth in the men’s sabre. Additionally, freshmen Allison Lee, Taylor Chin, Eddy Chin and Thomas Dudey are seen as potentially immediate-impact athletes.

While the eye remains on a national championship, it is hard for either team to refute that the dates they have marked on their calendars are Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 when the teams travel to Columbia for the Ivy League dual meet. Both teams come into the season with confidence, especially for the Ivy League duel. “I think we could win Ivies this year,” senior captain Michael Wiest said. “It’s kind of a function of everyone showing up and doing their job on a given day. And if everyone does that, it could go well.”

With a team full of strong veterans and burgeoning stars, it appears that the Tigers will have an opportunity to win a number of titles this upcoming season.