Feb. 5, 2005

COLUMBUS - Cleveland State gave a strong showing on Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Ohio State Duals as the men's foil squad continued its rise up the national rankings. The men defeated Bowling Green (16-11) and Detroit (18-8) to go 2-2, while the women upended Bowling Green (17-6) for their lone win in four duals.

The men's foil `A' team continued its impressive showing, going 3-0 to improve to 21-4 on the year, moving up to 10th in the nation in the process. Mike Merker went undefeated in nine bouts and is now 66-7 on the year, while Omer Deleeuw went 8-1 to move to 46-7 overall. Jeff Tormey went 8-3 to lead the men's epee team. In women's foil, Erin Mick went 9-3 to put her in position for an at-large Regional berth.

"After our upset of Notre Dame, I didn't think it would get any better, but being in the top ten is unbelievable for a small program like ours," head coach Jim Sager noted. "We have been practicing hard since September and I am so proud of the development of my whole team. I am especially proud of the way our men's foil team has responded this year. Mike Merker and Tom Kotula were the first pieces last year and newcomer Omer Deleeuw has put us over the top. I feel on any given day, we can beat any team in the country with this group. The best news is that they will be together for two more years."

Cleveland State is off for two weeks before hosting Case Western Reserve and Oberlin at noon on Feb. 19 in the Wolstein Center Auxiliary Gym.