The Brandeis men’s and women’s fencing team traveled to Duke University for the Duke Invitational on Feb. 11. This was some of the toughest competition these two teams faced all season. Last year, the men’s team went 2-3 at the competition and the women’s team went 0-5.
To start the day, the men’s team faced off against Notre Dame University. They got one of their two squad wins on the day with a 5-4 win in foil. However, they fell 2-7 in saber and epee. So they ended up losing to Notre Dame 9-18. The second matchup was against John Hopkins University. This is where the Judges got their second squad win of the day. Epee won 5-4, but John Hopkins won saber and epee 6-3. In the end the score was 11-16 in favor of John Hopkins.
Next came Pennsylvania State University. Brandeis could not capture a squad win and ultimately fell 9-18. In the Judges final matchup of the day, they faced the hosts, Duke. It was a tough fought match but the Judges eventually lost 8-19. Overall, the men’s team went 0-4 on the day. Six athletes shared the team lead in wins of four. This included sophomore Tal Kronrod ’25, senior Ben Rogak ’23, sophomore Toney Escuetta ’25, first-year Lev BenAvram ’26, senior Jack Hempe ’23 and junior Luke Ritchie ’24.
On the women’s side, the team also started off against Notre Dame. In this matchup was the Judges only squad win of the day. Here, senior Monica Aponte ’23 and sophomore Browyn Rothman-Hall ’25 each went 2-1 to pull off the 5-4 upset. That ended up being the Judges’ only squad win as they lost to Notre Dame 9-18. Next was Northwestern University, and it was another tough battle for the Judges. They narrowly lost saber 4-5 after senior Maggie Shealy ’23 went 3-0. The score against Northwestern was 22-5 in favor of Northwestern.
After that was Penn State. Saber was once again very close but lost 4-5. Shealy continued her strong day with another 3-0. Foil lost 3-6 and epee lost 2-7, giving an overall score of 9-18 in favor of Penn State. Finally came Duke, and the Judges only got three bout wins. All three of them came from Shealy in saber. The Judges lost their final matchup of the day 3-24. Overall, the women’s team went 0-4 for the day. However, Shealy was extremely impressive. She went 11-1 overall and accounted for 42% of the team’s points. Sophomore Alex McKee also was particularly good with a record of 2-1.
Both teams will next compete in the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Championships on Feb. 25.
