Irish In First After Opening Day At NCAA Championships

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Irish got off to a great start at day one of the 2025 NCAA Championships at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania, jumping out to first place with 61 points after the opening day of action.

The Irish finished day one of nationals with four top-three finishers combined in sabre (Ahmed Hesham and Radu Nitu) and foil (Chase Emmer and Ziyuan Chen). As a team, Notre Dame’s 61 points put the Irish in the top spot, as St. John’s (57) and Columbia/Barnard (53) round out the top three in the team standings.

MEN’S SABRE

The two newcomers to the NCAA Championships put on a show in men’s sabre, as Hesham and Nitu turned in strong day one performances. Hesham sits atop the standings through three rounds with a nearly perfect record of 14-1. Nitu isn’t far behind, as his 11-4 mark has him in fourth heading into the final day of men’s competition.

MEN’S FOIL

Notre Dame’s two representatives in foil currently sit in second and third heading into Friday’s final two rounds of pool play, as Emmer posted a record of 12-3, good enough for second after the opening day. Teammate Ziyuan Chen is right on Emmer’s heels with a mark of 11-4 for third place after the first three rounds. Both enter Friday in position to reach the semifinal knockout rounds.

MEN’S EPEE

Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle and Maruan Osman-Touson got the day going for Notre Dame in epee. Hamilton Meikle enters Friday in ninth place with a record of 8-7 but he is still within striking distance of earning a spot in the semifinal, as he is just one win behind the fencer currently in fourth. Osman Touson picked up five victories on the day and is in 22nd place. The two Irish fencers will wrap up round robin action on Friday morning.

DAY ONE RESULTS

Epee (Rounds 1-3)
9. Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle, 8-7 (+5)
22. Maruan Osman Touson, 5-10 (-11)

Foil (Rounds 1-3)
2. Chase Emmer, 12-3 (+28)
3. Ziyuan Chen, 11-4 (+15)

Sabre (Rounds 1-3)
1. Ahmed Hesham, 14-1 (+43)
4. Radu Nitu, 11-4 (+23)

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Notre Dame (61)
2. St. John’s (57)
3. Columbia/Barnard (53)
4. Harvard (40)
5. Princeton (40)

UP NEXT

The men will return to the strips for the final two rounds of the round-robin play Friday morning. After the two rounds are completed, the top-four finishers will advance to the semifinals starting at 1:30 p.m. ET in the afternoon. The semifinal and finals will be streamed live on ESPN+.