This past weekend the men and women’s fencing team began their season with the New England Fall Collegiate Championships at Smith College. The combined men and women’s teams took home eight medals at the invitational.
The men’s fencing team took home five medals at the invitational, one gold and four bronze. The winner of last year’s NEIFC, Ian Quin ’20 took home gold for the Judges for the second year in a row. Quin went 6-0 in pool play and earned sixth seed. In Quin’s first match-up of the invitational, he defeated his opponent from Boston University 15-2 before edging out teammate Trevor Filseth ’20, 15-4. Quin managed 15-12 wins over his next two opponents from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Boston College in order to secure a spot in the semi-finals. Quin moved past another foil fencer from Boston University, 15-6, to ensure his gold medal in the men’s foil competition.
The rest of the men’s medals were bronzes across the three weapons, foil, epee and saber. Elishua Litle ’18 tied for third in foil, taking home a bronze for Brandeis. Meanwhile, top seed Leon Rotenstein ’20 and 18th seed Garrett Tordo ’21 both made it to the semifinals in saber to bring home two more bronze medals for the Judges, tying for third. Tenth seeded Hunter Stusnick ’18 tied for third in men’s epee action for the last bronze medal for the Judges this past weekend.
For the women, Joanne Carminucci ’19 won gold in the foil bracket, while the Judges earned a bronze in both epee and foil. Carminucci reached the quarterfinals last year in the same invitational and earned the fourth seed this year, going undefeated in pool play. In the opening round of direct elimination, Carminucci edged out her Dartmouth opponent 15-13, before beating out a Sacred Heart fencer, 15-8, in the second round and earning a berth in the quarterfinals. It was in the semifinals that Carminucci met the top seed from Boston College. Carminucci easily defeated the top seed on her way to the finals, with a 15-6 win before beating a fencer from Sacred Heart in a 15-10 victory to win the gold. The win was Carminucci’s second career gold medal.
Two other Judges on the women’s fencing team brought home medals. Hannah Mui ’20 made it to the semifinals in the foil bracket. Mui was seeded 10th going 5-1 in the invitational. Liz Feller ’18 was the other women’s fencer to earn bronze. Feller, seeded eighth, reached the semifinals in the epee bracket to take home third place.
The men and women’s fencing team will compete at the first Northeast Fencing Conference of the season at Brown in two weeks, on Nov. 18.
