CLEVELAND, Ohio – Eleven student-athletes from the Cleveland State University fencing team are slated to continue their seasons this weekend by taking part in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships.

The Midwest Regional is taking place this Saturday, March 9, inside Notre Dame's Castellan Family Fencing Center with the women's competition slated to get underway at 9:00 a.m. and the men's competition to follow at 12:30 p.m. Live results will be available by clicking here.

CSU's total of 11 qualified individuals is its most since it took a program record 13 to the 2014 NCAA Regional.

The following Vikings qualified for the NCAA Regional event: Abigail Barr (women's epee), Sawyer Cornett (men's foil), Jonah Kassalis (men's epee), Jakarri Kent (men's foil), Claire Maltman (women's foil), Dorian Pichola (women's saber), Shelbie Seeberg (women's foil), Ahmad Taqi (men's foil), Will Waters (men's foil), John Wenger (men's foil) and Ian Wu (men's epee).

Taqi has the highest preliminary seed among Vikings, sitting fourth in the men's foil event.

The regional will consist of one round of pool play in each weapon, with total wins determining placement. Ties will be broken first by indicator then by touches scored.

In addition to Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Lawrence, Northwestern (women only), Notre Dame, Ohio State and Wayne State will compete in the regional. Defending national champion Notre Dame is ranked No. 1 nationally in both genders while Northwestern is No. 2 on the women's side. Ohio State is ranked among the top 10 nationally as well in both genders.

The two primary factors for determining selections for the NCAA Championships are the Fencer's Seeding Factor (FSF), which is weighted 40%, and the individual's placement at NCAA regional competition, which is weighted 60%. The FSF measures a fencer's performance against his or her opponents during regular-season competition.

The Midwest Region has the following allocations to the NCAA Championships this year: Women's Epee: 5, Women's Foil: 5, Women's Sabre: 4, Men's Epee: 4, Men's Foil: 4, Men's Sabre: 5. There are also two at-large selections in each event that are made on a national basis.

Any Vikings that advance onward from the Regional competition will have the benefit of competing at home. Cleveland State will be hosting the 2019 NCAA Fencing Championships March 21-24 in the Wolstein Center. Selections to the Championships will be announced Tuesday, March 12. A maximum of 24 participants in each event will advance to the NCAA Championships, with not more than two per event from one institution.