CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For the eighth time in program history, the Fighting Irish men’s fencing team has claimed the ACC team title. Notre Dame won the championship, going 4-0 on the day including defeating No. 2 UNC in the final matchup to secure the trophy.
The men’s team title gives Notre Dame head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia eight in his career, tied for the most in ACC history. The Irish men have now captured five of the last seven men’s crowns at the conference championships.
Notre Dame began the round-robin format by dismantling Stanford by a score of 17-10 to begin 1-0 on the afternoon. James Sennewald carried the Irish in epee with a 3-0 performance against the Cardinal.
The Irish then pulled out a nail-biter against Duke, defeating the Blue Devils 14-13 to improve to 2-0. The epee team’s 6-3 win was huge for the Irish and allowed them to escape with the win.
Notre Dame then downed Boston College by a score of 15-12 to stay perfect at 3-0 and set up a showdown against UNC for the title in the final round. The Irish won both epee (7-2) and foil (5-4) against the Eagles to give the team a shot at the title.
The final matched up the top-seeded Irish against the No. 2 seed Tar Heels, as both sides were unbeaten on the day. Notre Dame roared out to a 5-0 lead in the early stages to take a commanding lead.
Notre Dame kept the Tar Heels at arms distance the rest of the way, never letting the hosts really get into the match. The Irish clinched the title at 14-9, as Radu Nitu won the final sabre bout to claim the championship. The Blue and Gold went on to win the matchup by a score of 16-11.
WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Irish women swept all three weapons in the individual portion of the championships for the fourth straight season.
Rebeca Candescu (foil), Magda Skarbonkiewicz (sabre) and Eszter Muhari(epee) each claimed individual titles on the women’s side on Saturday. Candescu’s title marks her second ACC individual title in her career.
Notre Dame has not lost a women’s individual title since the 2016 season, as the only year the Irish didn’t win every title was the 2021 championships in which the team didn’t compete due to COVID precautions.
The Blue and Gold couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day, as the team qualified all four fencers into the quarterfinals in each of the three weapons. Notre Dame was the only team to accomplish the feat.
Kyle Fallon (epee), Rebeca Candescu (foil) and Jadeyn Williams (sabre) each earned the top seed after strong showings in the pool portion of competition.
During the knockout portion of competition, the Irish dominance continued. Ten of the 12 semifinalists over the three weapons were Notre Dame fencers, including all four in epee (Fallon, Muhari, Felicity Sebastian and Kaylin Hsieh).
Candescu faced teammate Ariadna Tucker in the foil final. The bout came down to the wire with Candescu pulling out a close 15-13 win to claim her title. Tucker took silver and last year’s champion Josephina Conway made the podium with bronze.
The epee finals pitted Notre Dame teammates Muhari and Hsieh against each other, two fencers that have captured major international titles already in 2025. Muhari came out on top with a score of 14-11 and Hsieh claimed silver. Notre Dame’s Kyle Fallon claimed bronze.
Sabre was the only weapon that didn’t have an all-Irish final, as Skarbonkiewicz took on Kunling Tong from Duke. Skarbonkiewicz completed the Fighting Irish sweep of individual gold, defeating the Blue Devil 15-9 to capture the title as a freshman. Williams took bronze in the event, giving the Irish eight of the nine podium spots.
The ACC Championships wrap up on Sunday with the women’s team championships and the men’s individual championships. The men will compete for the individual titles in the morning session beginning at 8 a.m. ET followed by the women’s team championship in the afternoon session.