The two weeks since our last edition have been busy for the Brandeis fencing teams. The season opened on Nov. 2 with a split squad. Most of the team traveled out west to compete in the Western Invitational at University of California San Diego (UCSD). The rest of the Judges competed in the Northeast Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Invitational at Smith College, also called The Big One.
At the Western Invitational, the men’s team opened with a 15-12 win against Stanford University. The Brandeis epee and saber squads both won their matches 6-3, while the foil squad lost 6-3. Following their win against Stanford, the Judges took on the UCSD Tritons. The Judges won the saber event, but lost at epee and foil to lose the match 13-14. All three squads lost their match against Ohio State University, giving the Judges a 9-18 loss. The Judges then received back-to-back 11-16 losses against Harvard University and Air Force before closing out the Invitational with an 18-9 win against University of the Incarnate World with a win from all three squads. The saber squad had an excellent performance at the Western Invitational, winning five of their six matches. The epee squad got two wins, while the foil squad only managed to get the one against Incarnate World.
Tony Escueta ’25 led the men’s team with a 13-5 record. He went 3-0 against both Harvard and Incarnate World. Lev BenAvram ’26 ended the first day of the meet with a 10-2 record, but did not participate in the second day because he was traveling to compete in a World Cup event. Hunter Yu ’28 had wins in all six matches and led the epee squad with a 9-7 record. Lucas Strauss ’28 and Jake Sullivan ’27 each had eight wins.
The women’s team lost all seven of their matches at the Western Invitational. Against Tufts University, the saber squad pulled off a win, but the foil and epee squads both lost, resulting in a 15-12 loss for the Judges. The Judges then lost the next five matches by wide margins; they lost 18-9 against Stanford, 24-3 against UCSD, 6-21 against Ohio State, 9-18 against Air Force and 3-24 against Northwestern University. The Judges then lost a close match to Incarnate World that ended with a score of 13-14. The saber squad earned two wins, while the foil and epee squads each had just one.
Kat Xikes ’26 led the women’s team with nine wins, leading the saber squad. She had 3-0 matches against Tufts and Air Force. Kayla Turnof ’25 had eight wins. Vera Witte ’27 also had eight wins, leading the epee squad with a 3-0 record against Stanford and Incarnate World. Hannah Du ’26 led the foil squad with six wins.
At The Big One, the men’s saber squad produced two top-ten finishers. Anthony Rabinkov ’25 went 6-0 in pool play to earn the seventh seed in the direct elimination round. He won his first two elimination matches, 15-14 and 15-12, but ended up losing 13-15 in the quarterfinals. He finished tied for sixth place. Joy Qiu ’25 also finished in the top ten. He went 5-1 in pool play to earn the eleventh seed. He won his first elimination match 15-10 and upset the fifth seed with a 15-7 victory to advance to the quarterfinals. Like Rabinkov, he lost in the quarterfinals, earning himself eighth place. Other Judges with top-16 finishes include Sam Choun ’26, who placed 15th in men’s foil and Niara Dagli ’28, who placed 15th in women’s epee. Ella Richards ’27 and Rhea Menon ’26 finished in the top 16 in women’s foil, placing 14th and 16th respectively.
On Nov. 13, the Judges attended the Beanpot Invitational at Boston College. The women received their first win of the season with a 14-13 victory over The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Judges lost the saber competition 6-3, but pulled off a narrow 5-4 victory in the epee round before sealing the win with a 6-3 victory at foil. The Judges then lost their next two matches, losing 6-21 against Harvard and 8-19 against BC. Xikes and Witte each had five wins at the Beanpot.
The men’s team lost all three of their matches at the Beanpot. They lost 12-15 to MIT. The saber squad lost for only the second time this season during this match. The Judges then lost 7-20 to Harvard and 12-15 against BC. Escueta led the Judges with six wins. BenAvram went 5-1 in his matches against Harvard and BC. Mark Shamis ’25 had wins against all three opponents with a 5-4 record at the meet.
The men’s team currently has a record of 2-7. The women’s team has a record of 1-9. On Nov. 23, the Judges will travel to Brown University to participate in the Northeast Fencing Conference before hosting the Brandeis Invitational on Dec. 8.
