DURHAM, N.C. – The Notre Dame fencing team completed yet another weekend of duals as they took on the Duke Duals in Durham, North Carolina. Both the men’s and women’s squads took home to 4-1 records taking down Brandeis, Duke, MIT, Penn State, Northwestern, and Johns Hopkins.
The first day of competition at the Duke Duals featured the men’s team up against Brandeis, Duke, MIT, Penn State, and Johns Hopkins. The first match of the day was against Brandeis where the Fighting Irish took down the Judges 18-9. Nick Candela, Jack Oursler, and Sean Moon all completed 3-0 records. Noah Silvers, Josh Zhang, George Bivins, and Henry Nadile all finished with winning records of 2-1 as well. The tea also dominated against Duke where they won 18-9 again. George Bivins was the lone Irish who went 3-0 in the match, but Grant Dodrill, Paulo Morais, Ethan Augustine, Jack Oursler, Zhan, Candela, and Silvers all finished with winning individual records.
In an even more dominating fashion Notre Dame won against MIT 22-5. In the foil squad, only one bout was given up. Silvers, Augustine, Morais, and Will Attig all finished with 3-0 records. Two of the bouts in the epee squad went to overtime, and three bouts were one-touch bouts. The Irish fell to Penn State later in the day 10-17. In the final match for the men’s team, Notre Dame took down Johns Hopkins 20-7. Zhang, Attig, and Nadile all took 3-0 records. Hunter Candreva, Jason Zhao, Morais, and Moon all took 2-1 records to help the Irish to their victory.
On the second day of the Duke Duals, it was time for the women’s team to take on many of the same opponents. They also started their day against Brandeis and took them down with a matching score of 18-9. The foil squad was perfect on the day with Kate Apelian, Karina Yaroshenko, and Adriadna Tucker all went 3-0. Miriam Grady, Neve Harrison and Emily Chang all collected winning records en route to the match win. The Irish fell in their second match against Duke, 11-16. Despite the loss, Harrison, Yaroshenko, and Grady had winning records.
In a tight match against MIT, the Irish pulled out the win 15-12. The foil squad again proved to be dominant with Apelian, Tucker and Paige Luong all going 3-0. Victoria Tontcheva and Grady both had winning records as well to power the Irish to the match victory. In another tight match on the day Notre Dame took down the Nittany Lions of Penn State 15-12. Grady tallied another 3-0 finish on the day with teammates Tontcheva, Josephina Conway, Yaroshenko, Harrison, and Kaitlyn Hulseburg all finishing with 2-1 winning records to get that match win.
Next up was the Irish against Northwestern. Notre Dame took down the Wildcats 15-12. Grady, Conway, and Luong all finished with 3-0 records. Yaroshenko also finished with a 2-1 winning record to help the Irish win.
The Irish back in action when they head to the USA Fencing Junior Olympics on February 17 through February 20. Once they return, they will prepare for ACC Championships on February 25 and February 26.