Nov. 22, 2003

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Members of the Notre Dame men’s fencing team competed in two individual competitions on Saturday, with most of the starters competing at Penn State in the annual Max Garret Open while several reserves were in action at the Ohio State Open.

Junior foilist Derek Snyder and freshman epeeist Aaron Adjemian both turned in third-place showings at Penn State while freshman sabre Matthew Stearns took fourth. Two other Irish freshmen – foilist Frank Bontempo and epeeist Patrick Gettings – both reached the quarterfinal round at Penn State.

The Notre Dame women also will be in action at two sites on Sunday, with the starters competing in the second day of the PSU Open while the reserves will play host to the Turkey Shoot open tournament at the Joyce Center Fencing Gym.

Snyder – who placed fourth at the 2001 Penn State Open and fifth in ’02 – ended his day by splitting a pair of one-touch bouts, losing a semifinal matchup versus Columbia’s Brian Sohn (14-15) before edging PSU’s Ian Schlaepfer in the third-place bout (15-14).

Adjemian dropped his semifinal bout to Wayne State’s Marek Petraszek (10-15) and then knocked off Brian Garrett of Rutgers (15-7) to finish third. His earlier wins included a 15-7 decision over PSU’s Alexander Breuske, in the round of 16.

Stearns posted a noteworthy win over North Carolina’s Wes Newkirk in the round-of-16 (15-9) before losing to PSU’s Marten Zagunis in the semifinals (11-15) and Ben Igoe of Rutgers in the third-place bout (9-15).

Bontempo’s final two bouts came versus his Notre Dame teammates, besting fifth-year fencer Forest Walton in the round-of-16 (15-11) before losing to Snyder in the quarterfinals (10-15). Gettings dropped his quarterfinal bout to RU’s Garrett (11-15).

Junior epeeist Michal Sobieraj – the defending NCAA runner-up who also placed second at the 2001 PSU Open and ninth in ’02 – failed to advance past the round of 16.

Three other Notre Dame fencers advanced to the final of the consolation bracket, with senior North Carey winning the epee consolation round while senior Brian Dosal bested sophomore Nico Diacou in the sabre consolation final (15-8).

Notre Dame freshman Patrick Ghattas – one of the nation’s top-ranked junior-level sabremen – did not compete at Penn State, due to a World Cup conflict in Italy (freshman women’s epeeist Amy Orlando also is competing at that event).

Top finishers at the OSU Open included senior Michael Macauley taking third in the epee field and four others who advanced to the quarterfinal round: freshman foilist Eamon Murphy, sophomore epeeist Craig Brede, senior sabre Brendan Prendergast and junior sabre John Espinosa.

Macauley – who edged Brede in the quarterfinals (15-14) – nearly reached the title bout, losing 14-13 to Zach Morrell in the semifinals, while Murphy was eliminated by eventual runner-up Alexander Law of OSU. Prendergast’s quarterfinal loss came versus defending NCAA champ Adam Crompton of OSU, brother of former ND All-American Andre Crompton.

Four other Notre Dame epeeists – senior Nick Schumacher, junior T.J. McNally, sophomore Matthew Terrault and freshman Jesse Laeuchli – reached the round of 16, as did freshman sabre Adam Ertur.