The Brandeis fencing team began their season with a successful day on Saturday at the Big One Tournament, hosted at Smith College.
On the men’s side, four fencers medaled. Adam Austin ’11 and Alex Powell ’12 both took gold, while Jon Rollock ’11 and Julian Cardillo ’14 took the bronze medal home.
Austin went undefeated in pool play in the saber, going 6-0, and was seeded third into the direct elimination. In the quarterfinals, he had to fence against second-seeded and also undefeated teammate Rollock. In a close bout, Austin defeated Rollock 15-10.
Powell went 5-1 in pool in the epee competition and was ranked eighth afterwards. During the direct elimination round, Powell out-fenced fellow teammates Harry Kaufer ’13 in the round of 32, and Tucker Robinson-Neff ’13 in the round of 16. In the gold medal bout, Powell went into overtime against opponent, Jackson Crane from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Powell clinched the bout at 12-11 with less than one minute on the clock.
Julian Cardillo ’14 went 6-0 in the first round of foil action, and was rated second after pools. In the semifinal round of direct elimination, Cardillo fenced a difficult bout against Ethan Paterson from Sacred Heart University, and was defeated with a close score in overtime, 14-15.
Kaufer told The Hoot he was pleased with the team’s first meet, saying, “It was a good start to the season. Powell and [Austin] dominated the competition.”
For the women, Vikki Nunley ’13 earned bronze medal honors in foil action, going into play undefeated at 6-0. Nunley allowed just six touches against in her six bouts to claim the sixth seed in tournament action. In the first two rounds, she beat opponents from MIT and Wellesley, 15- and she dominated the third seed, Allison Chew of Mount Holyoke, in the quarterfinals, 11-10, before bowing in the semis to the eventual champion, Katherine Hawrot of Brown, 15-11.
Nunley and Austin were awarded University Athletic Association fencing Athlete of the Week honors for their performances this weekend.
