Contact: Jeff Sattora

South Bend, Indiana- Six different Cleveland State fencers- five men and one woman- placed in the top 11 in their respective divisions over the weekend at the 2013 NCAA Midwest Regional at the University of Notre Dame. The event consisted of athletes from Cleveland State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Northwestern, Detroit, Wayne State, and Lawrence.

Paul Duchow led the way for the Vikings, placing ninth in the Men's epee division with an 11-8 record on the day. Also competing with that weapon for the CSU men was Levi Young (9-11) who placed 11th and Salih Yasun (5-14) who placed 16th.

Head Coach Andy Tulleners mentioned Duchow as one of the stand-out performers individually, with the epee squad as a whole fencing well.

"On the men's side Paul Duchow really led the pack," Tulleners said. "It's such a long and intense day but I thought Paul did a nice job dealing with that."

"The men's epee squad fenced well," he added on the group as a whole. "I couldn't have been happier with how they fenced."

The men's sabre saw a second CSU fencer finish in the top 10 as Tom Bienvenu placed ninth with a 6-7 record. Paul Lenahanwho picked up two wins, placing 13th, joined him in the sabre division for CSU.

Rounding out the Cleveland State men's fencers for the weekend in the foil division were Phelan Spence, John Cuturic, and Zach Wetzig. Spence (4-9) led this group with a 10th place showing, followed directly by Cuturic (3-10) in 11th and Wetzig (0-14) in 14th. 

The CSU women also had two participants on the weekend at the Regional Championships in Amanda Brown (epee) and Christine Bocci (sabre).

Brown ended the day with four wins and an 11th place finish, while Bocci picked up one win in sabre, placing her 15th.

Tulleners was very happy with both of their performances on the weekend.

"Amanda Brown was dealing with a sprained ankle and I thought she did a really good job adjusting her tactics to accommodate that," Tulleners said. "She really overcame that injury and used good strategy to beat her opponents."

"For Christine, even though she didn't have a lot of wins, her fencing throughout the day just picked up incredibly," he added. "I was very pleased."

As the 2012-13 season concludes Tulleners was proud of what this group accomplished, also adding just how much he enjoyed this group.

"I had objectives for this season and I think we certainly met them, we peaked at the right time as a team" he said.

"One thing I can say is looking at the season the kids all had a great time and as a coach it's probably been one of the more fun seasons I've been involved in," he added. "The whole environment of the team and how they fenced and grew as fencers was excellent."