SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame fencing team had its first weekend of team competition of 2025, competing in the Philadelphia Invitational at Penn on Saturday and the St. John’s Invitational in New York City on Sunday.
Both the men’s and women’s teams won the prestigious St. John’s Supercup. All five teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions were ranked in the top 10 in the country at the event.
The Irish women finished with a record of 9-0 over the two days and are now 14-0 on the season while the men went a combined 7-2 in the two invitationals and have a mark of 12-2 for the 2024-25 season. Eleven of the women’s 14 wins are against ranked opponents.
ST. JOHN’S INVITATIONAL RECAP
The Sunday slate at the St. John’s Invitational was loaded as all four matchups on both the men’s and women’s side were top-10 showdowns across the board.
The Notre Dame women’s sabre squad was phenomenal on the afternoon, posting a remarkable combined record of 31-5 against the four top-10 opponents.
The Irish women continued their incredible start to the season at the highly competitive event, defeating No. 9 St. John’s 23-4 to open the day. Both foil and sabre were a perfect 9-0 against the Johnnies.
On the men’s side the Irish suffered their second defeat of the year with a narrow 13-14 loss to No. 8 St. John’s, despite winning both the epee and sabre portions of the matchup by scores of 5-4.
Both the women’s and men’s sides took down No. 3 Columbia, as the women pulled out a 15-12 result and the men edged the Lions with a score of 14-13. The women’s sabre provided a huge spark, winning 8-1 to give the Irish an insurmountable advantage. The men’s dual was tight throughout but freshman Ahmed Hesham clinched the match at 14-12 in sabre to give Notre Dame the victory.
Notre Dame’s third matchup was the highly anticipated matchup of the weekend, as it faced off against No. 1 Harvard on both the men’s and women’s side, making both bouts top-2 matchups in the country.
The Irish women managed to take down the top-ranked Crimson and remain unbeaten on the season, winning by a score of 15-12. The sabre team was once again the difference for Notre Dame, recording a 7-2 victory.
On the men’s side, the Irish had another nail biter, pulling out a 14-13 win to knock off No. 1 Harvard. The epee and sabre teams both won their bouts by scores of 5-4 to help the Irish pull through. Sophomore foilist Dominic Joseph came up with the heroics, coming off the bench to win the final bout and win the match.
Both teams closed out the weekend strongly, as the women defeated No. 10 Ohio State 19-8 while the men claimed a 17-10 victory over No. 6 Ohio State. The wins gave the Irish a sweep of the St. John’s Supercups. The sabre teams led the way for both teams, with the women going 7-2 against the Buckeyes and the men turning in an 8-1 result.
PHILADELPHIA INVITATIONAL RECAP
The Irish went a combined 9-1 during Saturday’s competition at Penn, with the women turning in a perfect 5-0 day and the men posting a 4-1 record.
Both squads defeated Sacred Heart, Penn State and UC San Diego. The women also defeated Cornell and Penn, and the men picked up a win over NJIT before falling to Penn in the final matchup of the afternoon.
The foil squads carried the day on both the men’s and women’s sides, as the men foilists combined for a 35-10 mark and the women went 33-12 in dominating performances. Mason Stanley paced the men’s side with an 8-1 record at the invitational and Stavroula Garyfallou and Emma Griffin each racked up seven wins apiece for the women.
Magda Skarbonkiewicz impressed in women’s sabre, going 9-2 in her 11 bouts. Kent Iyoki had a notable record in men’s epee, winning 8-of-9 bouts.
Notre Dame got off to a great start on both the men’s and women’s sides, dominating in wins over Sacred Heart. The women won by a score of 24-3 and the men posted an emphatic 25-2 victory to start 1-0.
The men then picked up wins over No. 5 Penn State (17-10), No. 15t UC San Diego (19-8) and No. 15t NJIT (23-4) while the women remained perfect with victories over No. 13 Penn State (20-7), UC San Diego (17-10) and No. 8 Cornell (19-8).
The women closed out their undefeated day by downing the host school No. 7 Penn by a score of 16-11 to improve to 10-0 on the season.
The men suffered their first loss of the season in the final matchup of the day, narrowly falling to No. 7 Penn by a score of 14-13.
The Irish are back in action next weekend with their only home competition of the season, as they host the annual DeCicco Duals inside the Castellan Family Fencing Center located in the north dome of the Joyce Center. The first day of competition is on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 9 a.m. ET followed by the final day of action which begins at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 26. Admission to the event is free.