The men’s and women’s fencing teams competed in the NCAA Regional Championships this past weekend at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. The Judges were confident going into the event after winning most of their competitions this season. However, for both the men’s and women’s teams the season came to end at the NCAA Northeast Regional tournament. The Judges managed to send six fencers to the semifinal round of the tournament; however, none moved on to the finals.
The Judges provided top finishers in the men’s and women’s pools, both placing 17th. Guillermo Narvaez ’18 was seeded 23rd in the competition, but posted a 3-3 record in the first round of the competition and advanced to the 21st and final spot. The next match was in the semifinal round, which he also managed to win to finish 17th in the men’s foil. However, the placement was not enough to bring him to the final round.
The Brandeis men’s epee was the only group able to provide multiple fencers for the semifinals. Hoot staff member Albert Reiss ’17 and Ari Feingirsch ’16 entered the meet seeded 32nd and 33rd. They both went 3-1 in the first round of the same pool, beating opponents from Brown, NYU and Hunter College. Reiss took the match against Feingirsch. However, Feingirsch made it through the second round with a record of 3-3, earning victories over BC, Brown and NYU. Reiss won two matches in the second round against Harvard and NYU, but lost two matches by a tight score of 5-4. Reiss’ tight matches landed him in a fence-off for the final spot in the semifinals. Reiss defeated Avery Vella of Yale 5-2, earning a berth in the semifinal round. In the semifinal round Feingirsch defeated an opponent from Columbia University, who would eventually win bronze in the competition. Reiss couldn’t secure himself a win in the semifinal round, finishing in 20th place, while Feingirsch finished 18th.
The men’s sabre sent one fencer to the semifinals as well, Curtis Wilson ’18. Wilson started the competition seeded 21st and finished in the same place. He went 3-3 in the first round of competition, snatching wins from Hunter College, Vassar College and St. John’s Roman Sydorenko who would eventually be the tournament champion in sabre. Wilson beat Sydorenko 5-1 in the upset, but couldn’t add any wins in the semifinals.
For the women’s team, Sonya Glickman ’16 ended her college career with a semifinal match which also earned her 17th place in the women’s epee. Glickman also went into the tournament seeded 23rd in her weapon. Winning multiple matches, including a victory against a defending national champion from Columbia, Glickman had moved up to 13th place going into the semifinals, just one place shy of what was needed to qualify for finals. In the semifinals, Glickman beat fencers from Brown and MIT; however, she finished one win short of qualifying for finals.
In the women’s foil, Captain Caroline Mattos ’16 was unable to secure her third trip to the NCAA championships, finishing 18th in her weapon. Mattos was seeded 16th going into the competition and went 2-4 in the second round of the competition, beating fencers from Harvard and MIT. However, she only won one match in the semifinals, against a Brown fencer.
The Judges are set to hold the NCAA Championship tournament March 24 through 27. However, the Judges will not be represented in the competition, as no fencers from either the men’s or women’s team qualified.
