EVANSTON, Ill. - The Cleveland State fencing teams competed in the Midwest Conference Championships at Northwestern on Saturday, February 21^st.

Along with 21 other varsity and club teams the Vikings competed in a direct elimination tournament. The teams were seeded into the event based on their season win/loss per each weapon for men's and women's.

The women's foil team came into the event with a 5^th place women's foil team seed, the best in 15 years. The women had a bye into the round of 16. The first round the women faced off versus Xavier. The women defeated Xavier 5-1. The second round was versus Chicago. The women fenced well but lost to Chicago 3-5. The women's foil squad finished 5^th place. This the best result for the foil squad in over 15 years.

The women's Saber squad seeded 10^th after a tough season of injuries and only having 2 competitors for part of the season. The saber squad faced Lawrence in their first round with only 2 fencers instead of the standard 3. Despite being short the squad defeated the 7^th seed Lawrence team 5-2 making it into the round of 8. The Vikings then competed against the 2^nd ranked Oakland team. Losing 5-3 after giving up 3 automatic wins from being short one competitor. The saber squad finished 8^th. Their best finish since 2008.

The women's epee squad was also short 1 fencer for the bulk of the season. Their initial placement into the tournament was 16^th. The Vikings defeated Oberlin in a very closely matched contest where the victories were tied at 2-2. The Vikings won out based on scoring more points against Oberlin to advance into the second round. The Vikings went up against the number 1 ranked Northwestern epee squad. Despite the strength of the Northwestern epee squad the women's team pulled off 1 hard fought victory eventually falling 5-1. The epee squad finished 16^th for the day.

The women's team as a whole finished 9^th for the day. This is the second time in the last 7 years that the lady Vikings made the top 10.

The men's foil squad was seeded 3^rd, the best seed for all 3 men's squads. The squad faced off versus Iowa first. The men eventually defeated Iowa in a closely contested match of 5-4. The second round saw the men face off against Illinois. The squad defeated Illinois 5-0. The Vikings competed against the 2^nd seed Lawrence in their semifinal round. The Vikings struggled and came up short losing to Lawrence 3-5. In the 3^rd place fence off the men's squad recollected themselves and dominated Wisconsin in a 5-0 win, finishing 3^rd place. The Vikings brought home a trophy from the conferences for the second time in two years.

The saber team was seeded 12^th at the end of the season. They faced off against the 21^st ranked Wayne State team. Unfortunately the saber squad was short due to injuries on the team and only fielded 2 fencers instead of 3. The saber squad lost early to Wayne 3-5 to finish 17^th overall.

The men's epee squad was seeded 12^th. As a result of injuries our top epeeist Paul Duchow was fencing foil to help the squad make a top 3 finish. So the squad was lighter than normal. The men faced 18 seed Illinois in the first round. After a round of some very good fencing the Vikings fell to Illinois 5-2. The Viking epee squad finished out 17^th place overall.

The men finished the day out at 12^th place. "This was a tough finish after finishing 4^th place last year, however we have also had more injuries this year than I have experienced in my 7 years at Cleveland State. I believe the injuries where a big factor how much we struggled during the season.

Overall the Vikings finished in combined 10^th place for both the men's and women's team.