Ariel DeSmet 2013-14 Fencing Roster

HONORS & AWARDS

• NCAA Foil Champion (2011)
• NCAA Foil 10th-Place Finisher (2013)
• First Team All-American (2011, 2015)
• Third Team All-American (2013)
• ACC Foil Second-Place Finisher (2015)
• 2015 ACC Scholar-Athlete Of The Year (2015)
• MFC Foil Champion (2013)
• MFC Foil Fourth-Place Finisher (2011)
• First Team All-MFC (2011, 2013)

AS A FIFTH-YEAR SENIOR: Finished stellar career with third NCAA All-America honor, finishing tied for third at the NCAA Championships … registered a 16-7 mark in the men’s foil portion of the NCAA Championship, eventually falling to eventual champion Alex Massialas of Stanford, 15-8, in the semifinal … went 37-12 in dual meets on the season, including 7-0 during the team event at the ACC Championships as the Irish captured their first conference title … went 11-2 during individual competition en route to second place at ACCs … named the 2015 ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year … wrapped career with 130-30 dual bout record … earned a monogram.

AS A SENIOR: 

AS A JUNIOR: Finished in 10th place at the NCAA Championships, earning third-team All-American accolades … won MFC Foil Championships … was a key combatant for the men’s foil squad, posting an impressive bout record of 40-5 throughout the regular season … stands in 10th place on the top 30 fencers by win/loss percentage list with a .918 career percentage … is tied for fourth with former head coach Michael DeCicco on the foil-only list … at the St. John’s Duals, posted three scores of 3-0 and two 2-1 bout records to start the season 13-2 … battling Ohio State, defeated defending NCAA champion Zain Shaito five touches to two, and continued on to beat fellow Buckeyes Chris Colley and Sam Hardwicke-Brown with matching scores of 5-4 … against Penn State, defeated Jeremy Goldstein 5-4 before losing by one to Daniel Gomez … regrouped to defeat David Gomez 5-2 … versus Harvard, had impressive wins of 5-4, 5-1 and 4-2 against Crimson opponents … against host St. John’s, won first bout 5-3 before dropping one versus Eli Schenkel, 5-2 … came back to win against Michele Caporizzi 5-0 and did not lose again the rest of the day … at the NYU Duals, went undefeated with a perfect 15-0 mark … versus Columbia, posted matching scores of 5-2 against all three combatants … facing Schenkel for the second time in as many days, won with a lopsided score of 5-2 to avenge the loss a day earlier … against the Violets, bested Andrew Ark and Phil Jamesson 5-0 before upsetting their teammate Christian Vastola 5-2 … at Northwestern Duals, notched a 6-3 record for the day … was impressive in wins against Ohio State and Stanford, but struggled against Princeton … after missing the Duke Duals, came back and went undefeated at home in the Notre Dame Duals … defeated Tyler Gace and Quentin Schneider of Wayne State 5-0 and 5-2, respectively … against Lawrence, notched a duet of 5-0 scores to help the foil squad blitz their Viking counterparts 9-0 … finished the day with another 5-0 win over Air Force’s Alex Chiang … at MFC Championships, finished pool play as the No. 1 seed and boasting a +27 indicator … earned lopside wins against Cailean Rosseter (Wisconsin) 15-2 and Geoff Marino (Michigan) 15-9 … beat fellow Irishmen Ryan Murphy, 15-6, and Grant Hodges, 15-9, to advance into the semifinals … narrowly won over Shaito, 15-14 … bested Schneider of Wayne State once more to clinch the title with a score of 15-6 … at NCAA Midwest Regional, finished round robin play with an identical record to Irish teammate Gerek Meinhardt, 12-1, forcing a fence-off between the two … after besting Meinhardt in pool play, 5-4, lost the fence-off 5-3 to settle into second place … at NCAA Championships, went 9-6 on the first day to finish in ninth place … concluded the round-robin portion 13-10, in 10th place, earning third-team All-America status.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Did not compete during the 2012-13 NCAA season due to Olympic training.

AS A FRESHMAN: Enjoyed a tremendous freshman campaign that saw him finish with a near-perfect 28-1 record on the regular season en route to winning the NCAA Championship in men’s foil and being tabbed a first team All-American … earned first monogram … opened the campaign with an 11-0 showing at the NYU Invitational, including a perfect 3-0 sheet against St. John’s … earned first collegiate victory over Shiv Kachru of Yale, 5-3 … responded the following day with a 5-1 mark at the St. John’s Challenge, including again going a perfect 3-0 against the host Red Storm … fenced in only one matchup at the Notre Dame Duals, finishing with a 2-0 record against Air Force … defeated NCAA participant Daniel Cohen (5-2) and Nick Stockdale (5-1) in the match … posted a perfect 6-0 mark the following week at the Northwestern Duals, including going 3-0 in the opener against Princeton … in that match, earned decisions over Alexander Mills (5-4), David Mandle (5-3) and Robert Malcolm (5-0) … clinched the foil against Stanford at 5-3 with a 5-4 victory over Alex Khoshnevissian … also clinched the foil against UC San Diego, taking down Brennan Louie in perfect fashion, 5-0 … ended regular season with a 4-0 docket at the Irish Duals, going 2-0 against Chicago and 1-0 against both Illinois and Michigan State … reached the semifinals of the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, defeating teammate Steve Kubik in quarterfinal action (12-10) before falling to eventual champ Zain Shaito of Ohio State (15-12) … entered the direct elimination draw as the two seed, finishing pool play with a perfect 6-0 record with a +27 indicator … finished first at the NCAA Midwest Regionals, concluding final pool play with a perfect 9-0 record and a +31 indicator … helped team to eighth NCAA National Championship as well as qualifying for the individual title semifinals after finishing with an 18-5 pool play record and a +41 indicator … won the individual championship after defeating Penn State’s David Willette in the semifinals (15-6) before defeating his Nittany Lion teammate Miles Chamley-Watson in the title bout, 15-13 … became the first Irish freshman since Charles Higgs-Coulthard in 1984 to win individual gold in his first NCAA appearance … named the Notre Dame Most Valuable Foilist.

PREP & PERSONAL: Trained at the Northwest Fencing Club while attending Reynolds High School … captured the state championship each of his four years of high school … competed in junior events throughout his four years at Reynolds … finished 17th in the rankings during the `06-07 season, including three top-10 finishes and a career best third-place result at the Comunidad de Madrid Nov. 18, 2006, earning 20 points toward rankings … secured 24 points toward his ranking at the Junior World Championships (April 13, 2007) in Belek, finishing ninth overall … competed at the Senior World Championships in Beijing in `08 … also has been a member of four World teams, participated in the Junior Olympics and captured a national championship … born in Troutdale, Ore. … son of Lane and Christine DeSmet … graduated from the Mendoza College of Business.