Greg Howard 2006-07 Fencing Roster

2007 All-American
Academic All-America Candidate (3.67)
Men[apos]s Epee Team Captain

Veteran leader of epee squad who is coming off an All-America season in 2007 … local product who has become strong leader and dependable teammate within the Notre Dame program … entering his third season as captain of the Irish men[apos]s epee team … a lefthanded fighter who is a tremendous student of fencing, in addition to being an excellent academic performer at Notre Dame … top candidate for Academic All-America honors, after entering his senior year with a 3.67 cumulative grade-point average as an economics major … a diligent worker who has made key improvements in his footwork … utilizes an unorthodox timing in his attacks, with ability to maintain needed distance while keeping opponents off-balance and causing them to miss on parry attempts … his attack features good arm extension and a very precise point on his touches, with good accuracy hitting the wrist … also has strong parrying actions … combines with junior Karol Kostka to give the Irish men[apos]s epee squad a pair of All-America fencers … brings fiery intensity to his bouting, in contrast to calm demeanor off the strip … combines six-foot frame with good reaction skills and an improving, highly-modern style … an organized tactician who is able to focus on each point without a dropoff in his energy or effectiveness … son of a longtime Notre Dame professor, with deep appreciation for the spirit of Notre Dame and the fencing program[apos]s heritage … entered his junior year listed 48th in the USFA men[apos]s epee rankings, as of Dec. 1, 2006 … compiled 127-34 record (.789) in regular-season bouts during first three seasons with the Irish, leaving him only six wins shy of the Notre Dame career top-10 for men[apos]s epee wins … needs 35 victories in his final season to reach fourth place on that epee wins list … placed 13th at the annual Penn State Open, in the fall of 2007 …one of 39 Notre Dame student-athletes (including six other fencers) who are invited participants in the Academic Honors Program (faculty mentoring).

AS A JUNIOR: Won nearly 75 percent of his bouts in the 2007 regular season (47-17) before his All-America postseason run that included posting 5th-place finish in the Midwest Fencing Conference, taking 4th-place at the NCAA Midwest Regional and then closing with an 8th-place showing at the NCAAs … received the Steve Donlon Award (for men[apos]s epee team leadership) for the second time in his career while also being the men[apos]s fencing recipient of the Knute Rockne Student-Athlete Award … his 18-5 record at the Notre Dame Duals included outlasting Ohio State[apos]s Christian Rivera in tense 5-4 bout (gave ND men 13-12 lead but OSU won, 14-13) … also topped Stanford[apos]s Clayton Kenney (an NCAA Tournament veteran) at the ND Duals … faced several top fencers at the NYU Duals (11-6), with his top win coming over Yale[apos]s Michael Pearce (5-4), OSU[apos]s Rivera and Jason Pryor (both 5-4) and the Columbia duo of Brent Kelly (5-1) and Lorenzo Castertano (5-4) …went 2-1 in limited duty at the Midwest Duals (held at ND) before closing with an 8-2 win at the Duke Duals (highlighted by a 5-4 win over Johns Hopkins standout Dan Zielinski) and then 8-3 at the Northwestern Duals (including a 5-1 victory over Penn State[apos]s Arthur Urman) … lost MFC quarterfinal bout to Pryor (9-15) and then entered the Midwest Regional (also at ND) as #3 seed … rose up to top seed in the Regional (following strong pool bouts) and went on to edge Pryor in the round-of-8 (15-13) before losing semifinal to Wayne State[apos]s Marek Petraszek (11-5) and dropping tight 3rd-place bout versus his ND teammate Kostka (14-15) … his 13-10 record at the NCAAs (held in Madison, N.J.) included being the only Notre Dame men[apos]s fencer to beat an opponent from each of the other five top contending teams … combined with Kostka to compile the fifth-most wins of any men[apos]s epee duo at the NCAAs (ND managed just the 8th-most men[apos]s epee wins at the [apos]06 NCAAs) … helped the Notre Dame men post the maximum six All-Americans for only the third time under the current format (since 1995) … the Irish men totaled 85 wins at the NCAAs (most by an ND men[apos]s team since 2003) … split his 14 bouts on day-1 at the NCAAs, with his top win coming versus OSU[apos]s Mykhaylo Mazur (5-1) … secured second team All-America honors (8th place) after going 6-3 on the second day, with noteworthy wins over Harvard[apos]s Teddy Sherrill (4-2) PSU[apos]s Steffen Launer (5-4), Stanley Vaksman of St. John[apos]s (5-2), Stanford[apos]s Kenney (5-0) and Columbia[apos]s Dwight Smith (5-2), an eventual semifinalist … placed 13th at the Penn State Open in the fall of 2006, with top wins over PSU[apos]s Dennis Kraft (5-3) and James Moody (5-2) before losing to his Notre Dame teammate Aaron Adjemian in the direct-elimination phase (13-15).

AS A SOPHOMORE: Turned in strong 2005-06 regular season (44-9) before narrowly missing a spot in the NCAAs, with his postseason including a MFC runner-up finish and a 4th-place finish at the Midwest Regional … received the Notre Dame men[apos]s epee MVP award and Steve Donlon Men[apos]s Epee Leadership Award … his 13-2 record at the Northwestern Duals included top wins over UNC[apos]s Benton Heimsath (5-3) and Daniel Zielinski of Johns Hopkins (5-3) … added some impressive wins at the NYU Duals (8-4), topping the Ohio State duo of Denis Tolkachev (5-4, OT) and Pryor (5-1) while also beating Benjamin Bratton (5-2) and Adam Rodney (5-2) of St. John[apos]s (Tolkachev and Bratton had been NCAA semifinalists earlier in their careers) … his 3-0 record versus St. John[apos]s helped the epee team go 6-3 as the Notre Dame men topped SJU 17-10 … his 5-3 win over Columbia[apos]s Max Czapanskiy clinched another win for the Irish men at NYU (14-9) … his 9-0 mark at the Notre Dame Duals included a 5-3 win over Wayne State All-American Petraszek … also went 5-0 at the OSU Duals and 9-3 at the UC San Diego Duals (with a 5-2 win over Air Force All-American Tim French) … his MFC runner-up finish included a 15-13 semifinal with OSU[apos]s Rivera and the title-bout loss to WSU[apos]s Petraszek (9-15), the [apos]05 NCAA runner-up … his Regional results (in Cleveland) included three final bouts versus his teammates: a 15-9 quarterfinal versus Patrick Gettings, a semifinal loss to Adjemian (6-15) and a loss to Kostka in the 3rd-place bout … placed 12th at the Penn State Open in the fall of 2005, after losing in the round-of-16 to PSU[apos]s Moody (9-15) … his USFA results in the 2005-06 season included placing 47th at the North American Cup in Houston (Jan. [apos]06) and 46th at the Sacramento N.A.C. (April [apos]06) before a 37th-place finish at the 2006 Summer Nationals (in Atlanta).

AS A FRESHMAN: Finished 2005 with a 36-8 regular-season record and was vital part for successful epee squad … opened with 7-2 record at the NYU Duals … continued strong start by going 18-5 at the Notre Dame Duals before finishing with an 11-1 record at the Duke Duals, highlighted by 3-1 mark against eventual 2005 NCAA participants – with a 5-3 win vs. UNC[apos]s Heimsath, 5-2 victory over Duke[apos]s Nathan Bragg and 5-4 bout vs. Air Force[apos]s Jason Stockdale … scored two key wins over OSU in the MFC team championships, defeating Brian Gross (5-1) and Tolkachev (3-1) … finished seventh at the 2005 Regional but handed eventual champion Wojciech Dudek of Wayne State his only loss (4-3) … his 2004 fall bouts included placing eighth at the Northwestern Open and Penn State Open (8-5 in pools; upset second-seeded Phillip Steele of Harvard, 15-13), plus ninth at Junior World Cup in Louisville, Ky. … opened 2005 by placing 33rd in senior/open men[apos]s epee bouts at the N.A.C. in Overland Park, Kan. (lost 15-14 bout to OSU[apos]s Rivera) … later placed 17th at the N.A.C. in Chattanooga, Tenn. (April [apos]05) before a 6th-place showing at 2005 Summer Nationals in Sacramento, Calif.

PREP & PERSONAL: Attended nearby St. Joseph[apos]s High School while training at Mishawaka[apos]s Indiana Fencing Academy … represented SJHS in high school competitions, winning three Midwest titles ([apos]02-[apos]04) and the 2002 Great Lakes Sectional (2nd in [apos]01, [apos]03) … won silver medal at 2004 USFA Summer Nationals (U-19), after bronze-medal finishes at 2003 Junior ‘A’ event in Louisville, [apos]02 Summer Nationals (junior team event and open individual) and [apos]02 Junior Olympics (cadet level) … his top 2001 cadet finishes included fifth and sixth at North American Cups and third at Summer Nationals (2nd at [apos]00 N.A.C.; 3rd in [apos]99) … won Great Lakes Sectional in 1999 (2000 runner-up) … his top under-12 results included winning [apos]98 N.A.C. (after 2nd- and 3rd-place finishes in [apos]97 N.A.C. events and runner-up at [apos]97 Summer Nationals) … member of the National Honor Society … his parents are Nancy Gulanick and George Howard, a Notre Dame psychology professor … full name is Gregory Edward Howard … born May 11, 1985, in South Bend, Ind. … an economics major, enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters.