Oct. 11, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Almost one year to the day of welcoming the Ohio State Buckeye fencing team to the brand new Castellan Family Fencing Center for an exhibition contest, the Buckeyes will return the favor and host the University of Notre Dame this weekend at the French Field House in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 12 for the first bouts of the 2013-14 season.
Both teams are members of the Midwestern Fencing Conference, with the Irish set to complete their final year in the MFC before joining the ACC in 2014-15. Notre Dame won the MFC Championship a year ago, supported by four individual titles and first-place finishes in the men’s foil, men’s sabre, women’s foil and women’s epee events. The Irish placed second in the men’s epee and women’s sabre team competitions as well.
Ohio State has been a strong contender on the NCAA scene for several years, winning the NCAA Championship in 2012 and finishing fourth in 2013. Notre Dame won the national championship in 2011, placed third in 2012 and finished second in 2013, bringing its tally of top-five finishes to 31.
In 2012-13, Irish fencers claimed nine All-America honors in 2013, with freshman women’s foilist Lee Kiefer and senior women’s epeeist Courtney Hurley being crowned champions of their weapons classes. Fellow foilists Madison Zeiss (women’s) and Gerek Meinhardt (men’s) tied for third.
“This match is one of the steps our team and other schools are taking to figure out a new form of dual matches. It’s an experiment, and is a good step forward for us to take when judging our form,” says Irish head coach Janusz Bednarski. “It is also an opportunity to find out where our strengths are early in the season, and what we need to improve on before the NCAA season begins.”
The individual bouts are set to begin at 9 a.m., with doors opening to the public at 7:45 a.m. A brief lunch break is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the team portion of the match beginning at 2 p.m. and set to conclude at 4 p.m.
For full results from the exhibition match, check back to und.com/fencing.
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