UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The University of Notre Dame men’s fencing team took to the strip for the first day of the NCAA Championships on Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center. The men’s round robin competition was first and the foil squad for the Irish stole the show in the opening three rounds.
The Irish finished the day with two top finishers of the three weapons along with a second place tally and two fourth places finishes. As a team, Notre Dame sits alone at first overall after the first day of the men’s competition. They hold a six point lead over hosts Penn State in second and are 10 points ahead of Boston College in third.
Men’s Foil
Andrew Machovec and Marcello Olivares dominated the first day of action which saw the pair rise towards the top of the foil leaderboard through the first three rounds. Machovec almost finished the day unblemished but ended up with a 14-1 mark with Olivares right behind him with a 13-2 record.
Machovec was flawless with a 7-0 mark and 4-0 mark through the first two rounds of competition. In the final round, he posted a 3-1 record but was 2-0 against both opponents from UC San Diego, who was one of the two teams that qualified the maximum 12 for the championships. Olivares went 5-2 in the pool play in the opening round before putting up 4-0 marks in the final two rounds of the day. The pair finished the day first and second in the foil standings.
Men’s Sabre
Competing in his first ever NCAA Championships as a freshman, Luke Linder did not disappoint. He got off to a roaring start after the pool play in the first round. He finished with a 6-1 record with his only defeat coming against Penn State’s Clement Perrier. The following two rounds, Linder was almost perfect and finished with 4-0 and 3-1 marks to end the day. He sat alone in first place in the sabre standings with a 13-2 record.
Jared Smith was up and down in the pool play with a 4-3 mark but did go 1-1 against Penn State, who is the other school with Notre Dame and UC San Diego to have 12 competitors this weekend. Smith went 5-3 in the final two rounds to finish the day 10-5 and in fourth place overall.
Men’s Epee
Stephen Ewart and Ariel Simmons were back at nationals on Thursday for their second and fourth championships, respectively. Both had some ups and down in the pool play but Simmons turned it on in the final two rounds of the day. He posted 3-1 marks in the second and third round to finish 9-6 on the day and in fourth place overall. Ewart was right behind him with an 8-7 record for the day and while slotting in at seventh place.
Standings
National Collegiate Fencing Championships
March 25-28, 2021
Bryce Jordan Center | Penn State
University Park, Pa.
Men’s Competition (March 25-26)
Epee (Rounds 1-3)
4. Ariel Simmons, 9-6 (+12)
7. Stephen Ewart, 8-7 (+6)
Foil (Rounds 1-3)
1. Andrew Machovec 14-1 (+51)
2. Marcello Olivares 13-2 (+34)
Sabre (Rounds 1-3)
1. Luke Linder 13-2 (+31)
4. Jared Smith 10-5 (+18)
Team Standings
1. Notre Dame 67
2. Penn State 61
3. Boston College 51
4. UC San Diego 47
5. NJIT 46
Up Next
The men will return to the trip 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 p.m. ET in the afternoon. Epee will go first followed by Foil and Sabre which will conclude with the finals in all three weapons.
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