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Vikings Compete at Midwest Fencing Regionals at Notre Dame

Vikings Compete at Midwest Fencing Regionals at Notre Dame
Posted: Mar 01, 2014

SOUTH BEND, Ind.- The Vikings competed at Notre Dame this weekend in the Midwest Conference Championships.

The men's team was led by the foil squad for the day.  Phelan Spence was given a bye through the initial seeding round due to the strength of his season. His initial seed was 9th. Spence won his first 2 15 touch bouts going 15-0 on his first and 15-4 on his second. Spence lost to Sam Hardwicke-Brown from OSU 7-15.


Gianfranco Trovato was 5-1 during the initial pool round and was 23rd after the pools. During the direct elimination round Trovato won his first bout 15-3 but lost his second bout to OSU's Sam Hardwicke-Brown in a close 13-15 loss. Trovato finished 23rd on the day.


Brandon Bauer was 4-2 in the pool round and seeded 33 after pools. Bauer won his first bout 15-11. Bauer lost his 2nd bout 1-15 vs. Ariel DeSmet from Notre Dame. DeSmet is an NCAA Champion and went on to win his 2nd conference championship on Saturday.


The men's epee squad was led by Paul Duchow who seeded out of the initial seeding round due to such a strong season performance. Duchow's initial seeding on the day was 10th. Duchow won his first 2 bouts going 15-6 and 13-12. Duchow lost a close bout to Marco de Guzman from OSU who is currently ranked 19th in the US.


Salih Yasun had the strongest showing of his 4 years at the conferences. Yasun was 5-1 in pools and seeded 24th after the pool round. Yasun won his first 15 touch bout 15-4. He lost his 2nd bout against Notre Dame's Dale Purdy 6-15.


Logan Eskew had the strongest showing this season in the initial pool round. Eskew went 3-2 in the pools and seeded 42nd after the pools. Eskew lost to Ian Broderick from Notre Dame in the first direct elimination round 9-15.

The womens team was led by the saber squad. Leading the women's saberists was Christine Bocci who was 5-1 in the pools and seeded 18th after the pools. Bocci won her first 15 touch bout 15-11 and lost her second to Cara Franke out of Northwestern 6-15.
Bringing up a very strong showing for the womens saber was Emily Serbinowki. Serbinowski was 5-1 in pools as well and seeded 20th. Serbinowski won her first bout 15-11 but lost her second 7-15 to finish 21st on the day in her first Midwest Conference.
 
Megan Rose was 3-2 in pools earning a 32nd seed. Going into the direct elimination round Rose fenced against Katie Lang of University Detroit Mercy. Rose was defeated 4-15 finishing the day at 36th.
The women's epee team had a harder day. Caitlin Thompson was 2-4 in pools and seeded 44th going into the direct elimination round. Thompson lost to Christina Allen of Northwestern 7-15.
The second epeeist from the women'squad; Claire Lewis was 1-5 in the pool round, seeding 54th. Lewis lost to Kaitlyn Wallace of Northwestern 0-15.
The women's foil team was led by Senior Maureen Forinash. Forinash went 3-2 in pools earning a 35th seed. Forinash lost her first DE bout 7-15. Sudeshna Chakraborty also went 3-2 in pools seeding 36th right behind Forinash. Chakraborty lost her first DE bout 9-15 finishing 36th on the day.
Samantha Finster went 2-3 in pools. Her 3 losses were all 4-5 losses and very close bouts. Seeding 45th out of pools Finster lost her first DE 5-15 to Katherine Kim from Northwestern. Rounding out the womens foil squad was Morgan Ashcraft. Ashcraft had her best performance of the season going 2-3 in pools. She seeded 50th out of pools and lost her first DE 0-15 to Stella Pointeau from Northwestern.
The team performed well and competes in the team event on Sunday. Last year the men's team finished 5th and the women's team finished 19th. The Vikings had an overall team finish of 11th. The goal of this season is to finish 7th at the conferences on Sunday.