COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencing team opened up the 2025-26 season with eight combined wins at the Elite Invitational hosted by Ohio State on Sunday. The women’s team was a perfect 5-0 while the men’s team was 3-1.
Both teams beat Ohio State, Penn State and Princeton, while the women’s team also notched wins over Penn and Northwestern.
The women’s foil squad was dominant on the day, going a combined 39-8 on the day. Stavroula Garyfallou was a perfect 6-0 while Emma Griffin notched a 4-0 record, including 3-0 against Ohio State.
Defending national champions Eszter Muhari and Magda Skarbonkiewicz both returned to the strips to begin the seas. Muhari posted a 10-2 record in epee across four matchups, while Skarbonkiewicz was a dominant 14-1 as she looks to defend her place at the top of the collegiate sabre ranks.
On the men’s side, the Irish opened up with a 16-11 win over Ohio State to start the day. Kruz Schembri was 3-0 in epee against Ohio State, while Paulo Morais recorded a perfect 3-0 in Foil over the Buckeyes. In sabre, Grant Dodrill led his unit with a 3-0 record to help lead Notre Dame to a season-opening victory.
The women had no issue taking care of Penn State and Northwestern. The Irish beat both teams 23-4 in dominating fashion. Notre Dame also beat Penn 19-8 and held off Princeton 15-12 to complete the perfect day.
The men beat Penn State 20-7 and took down Princeton 15-12 to add two more wins on the day.