January 24, 2012

Men's Fencing Update 2

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Important victories at major events highlighted the action as the men’s fencing season began the stretch drive toward the 2012 Ivy League Round-Robins last weekend with several Ivy teams taking part in the St. John’s Super Cup, the NYU Invitational and the Philadelphia Invitational.

Columbia came up with a victory over sixth-ranked St. John’s (14-13) as well as a win over defending NCAA Champion and fourth-ranked Notre Dame (15-12) at the St. John’s Super Cup on Jan. 21, which featured five of the top-six ranked teams in the country. In the only intra-League matchup of the weekend, Harvard defeated the Lions (16-11), also at the St. John’s Super Cup.

The Penn men posted a perfect 6-0 record at its Philadelphia Invitational, including wins over eighth-ranked Duke (14-13) and ninth-ranked Sacred Heart (14-13). Yale went 3-2 at the NYU Invitational, highlighted by a 20-7 win against the hosts.

The 2012 Ivy League Round-Robins will be contested at Yale on Feb. 11-12. The road to the NCAA Championships then begins on March 10 and 11 with the NCAA Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast Regionals. The four-day NCAA Championships will then be contested on March 22-25 in Columbus, Ohio with Ohio State serving as the host.

Brown
The Bears, who are receiving votes in the latest CollegeFencing360.com Coaches Poll (Jan. 18), return to the fencing strips at the NFC No. 2, which Boston College will host on Jan. 28.

Columbia
The Lions, who are also receiving votes in the CollegeFencing360.com Coaches Poll, went 2-3 at the St. John’s Super Cup on Jan. 21 and followed with a 1-4 showing at the NYU Invitational on Jan. 22 … at the St. John’s Super Cup, Columbia beat sixth-ranked St. John’s (14-13) and fourth-ranked Notre Dame (15-12), but fell to third-ranked Harvard (16-11), fifth-ranked Ohio State (14-13) and top-ranked Penn State (14-13) … the win over SJU was keyed by a 6-3 mark in sabre, including three wins by freshman Will Spear … all told, sophomore foilist Bo Charles went 10-5 on the day … at the NYU Invitational, the Lions downed Wayne State (21-6), but in a day that featured several rematches from the St. John’s Super Cup, Columbia fell to North Carolina (17-10), Notre Dame (21-6), Ohio State (18-9) and St. John’s (14-13) … sophomore epeeist Alen Hadzic led the team with a 10-5 mark at the NYU Invitational … Columbia next faces Vassar, Sacred Heart and NYU on Feb. 8 as part of The Historical Meet Plus.

Harvard
The third-ranked Crimson went 1-4 at the St. John’s Super Cup on Jan. 21 … Harvard earned a 16-11 win over Ivy foe Columbia but fell to fifth-ranked Ohio State (15-12), top-ranked Penn State (17-10), sixth-ranked St. John’s (19-8) and fourth-ranked Notre Dame (15-12) … freshman foilist Brian Kanshige and senior Valentine Staller, who competes in sabre, posted 10-5 records on the day ... the Crimson are off until the 2012 Ivy League Round-Robins.

Penn

The seventh-ranked Quakers posted a perfect 6-0 mark at its Philadelphia Invitational on Jan. 22 … Penn turned in wins over ninth-ranked Sacred Heart (14-13), North Carolina (26-1), NJIT (19-8), Haverford (22-5), eighth-ranked Duke (14-13) and Johns Hopkins (18-9) … dating back to 2007, the Quakers have won 24-straight matches at the Philadelphia Invitational ... in the win over Sacred Heart, Penn was boosted by a 6-3 mark in sabre and sophomore epeeist Clifford Fishler landed the final touch to give Penn the narrow victory … junior Evan Prochniak (sabre) and freshman Jason Chang (epee) led the Quakers past the Blue Devils with 3-0 records in the match … the Quakers are back in action on Jan. 28 at the Penn State Invitational.

Princeton
The second-ranked Tigers are back in action on Feb. 4 and 5 when they travel to Evanston, Ill. for the Northwestern Duals.

Yale
The tenth-ranked Bulldogs posted a 3-2 record at the NYU Invitational on Jan. 22 … Yale turned in wins over NYU (20-7), Wayne State (17-10) and North Carolina (19-8) but suffered a narrow defeat to fourth-ranked Notre Dame (14-13) as well as a loss to fifth-ranked Ohio State (20-7) … the Bulldogs fence next in a home dual versus Sacred Heart on Jan. 28.