Contact: Jeff Sattora

SOUTH BEND, Indiana- The Cleveland State Vikings fencing team brought home solid performances this past weekend, combining for an 11th place overall finish at the 2013 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships held at South Bend, Indiana.

The CSU men took home a fifth place overall finish, with the women finishing 19th on the weekend to combine for that 11th place total.

The combined finish was an improvement from last season, and the program's highest finish since the 2008 season when the CSU men and women combined to place eighth.

"This weekend had some of the best fencing we've had all season," said Head Coach Andy Tulleners.

Throughout the weekend the championships consisted of both a team and individual format, with individuals fencing on their own Saturday, followed by the team match-ups Sunday.

On the team side of things Sunday the men's epee group led the way for CSU, placing fourth.

"The men's epee team really stepped up," said Tulleners on his leading group. "Each member of the team had some of his best fencing this year."

That epee group consisted of Levi Young, Paul Duchow, and Salih Yasun. Young was the top winner of the trio on the weekend; going 8-1 individually Saturday and 5-2 in the team portion Sunday to go 13-3 on the weekend.

"Levi Young really led the epee squad with both the best individual result on Saturday and led the squad with wins against OSU and Northwestern Sunday," Tulleners said.

The CSU men's sabre team finished in 10th Sunday with the foil placing seventh. 

For the women the sabre squad finished 16th with the epee group placing 13th. While the women spent the 2012-13 season low in numbers, Tulleners saw a group that worked hard and really improved from the start of the year.

"The women's team has shown great development this season and we are looking forward to great improvements next season with this year's growth and development," he said following the weekend.

Taking a step back to look at the weekend as a whole individually, three Vikings led the way on the men's side, picking up double-digit individual wins.

Junior sabre fencer Tom Bienvenu was at the top of that list with a 16-3 record, Phelan Spence at 14-4 and Young at 13-3 followed him in the double-digits. Paul Duchow (9-6) and Salih Yasun (8-6) also had winning records for the epee squad, and Paul Lenahanwent 8-6 in sabre.

For the women, Amanda Brown was the high winner with nine wins on the weekend; Sudeshna Chakraborty followed her with five wins, then Christine Bocci with four and Maureen Forinash with three.