Irish Ready For 2025 NCAA Championships

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – For the 11th straight year, the University of Notre Dame fencing program will send the maximum allotted 12 fencers to the NCAA Championships this weekend. The Irish will compete for the title March 20-23 at the Multi-Sport Facility in University Park, Pennsylvania.

The Irish squad will have a mix of youth and experience competing at the championships. Six of the selections will be making a repeat appearance at NCAAs this season, while six have been selected for the first time.

Kaylin Hsieh and Eszter Muhari are no strangers to the NCAA Championships in epee, both having won previous individual NCAA national titles. In women’s sabre, Magda Skarbonkiewicz and Siobhan Sullivan are both making their NCAA Championship debuts. Women’s foil will be represented by third-time participant Rebeca Candescu and Ariadna Tucker in her first appearance.

On the men’s side Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle and Maruan Osman Touson are two of the veterans in epee, as Hamilton Meikle will be making his third straight appearance at the championships while this will be Osman Touson’s second appearance. The Irish duo of Chase Emmer and Ziyuan Chen will be competing in foil, marking Emmer will be making his second appearance after taking third at the 2023 NCAA Championships while this will mark Chen’s second-straight year competing in the event. Teammates Radu Nitu and Ahmed Hesham will each be making their sabre debuts at the championships during this weekend’s competition for Notre Dame.

The National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Fencing Championships include individual events in each of the six weapons, and fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four finishers in each weapon will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the non-advancing fencers being awarded a tie for third place.

Place finish in the championships will be based on points earned by each individual. A team will be awarded one point for each victory by its student-athletes during the round-robin portion of the Championships.

2025 Schedule…

Thursday, March 20

• 9 a.m. | Men’s Épée rounds 1-3
• 11 a.m. | Men’s Foil rounds 1-3
• 1:30 p.m. | Men’s Sabre rounds 1-3

Friday, March 21 | WATCH ON ESPN+

• 9 a.m. | Men’s Épée rounds 4-5
• 9 a.m. | Men’s Foil rounds 4-5
• 9 a.m. | Men’s Sabre rounds 4-5
• 1:30 p.m. | Men’s Semifinal and Championship Bouts (in the order of épée, foil and sabre)

Saturday, March 22

• 9 a.m. | Women’s Épée rounds 1-3
• 11 a.m. | Women’s Foil rounds 1-3
• 1 p.m. | Women’s Sabre rounds 1-3

Sunday, March 23 | WATCH ON ESPN+

• 9 a.m. | Women’s Épée rounds 4-5
• 9 a.m. | Women’s Foil rounds 4-5
• 9 a.m. | Women’s Sabre rounds 4-5
• 1:30 p.m. | Women’s Semifinal and Championship Bouts (in the order of épée, foil and sabre)

2025 Selections…