CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State University fencing team will open the postseason this weekend as it competes at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships.

The two-day event, held at Ohio State's French Field House, will see individual competition taking place Saturday, Feb. 22, and team competition taking place Sunday, Feb. 23. Action will get underway both days at 8:00 a.m. will a full schedule of events listed on the championship central page.

This will be the second trip to Ohio State this season for the Vikings. The programs opened their 2019-20 campaigns at the OSU Duals and combined for a 9-3 mark at the event.

Cleveland State posted a dramatic improvement at last year's conference championships and will be looking to continue its upward momentum this weekend.

The Vikings finished eighth at the 2019 Midwest Championships, a 12-place improvement from the season prior, as they finished with 1,005 total points. The CSU men placed fifth at the event last year, their best such finish in 15 years. CSU was led last year by the men's foil unit, which placed second overall, finishing behind only Ohio State.

Ahmad Taqi led the way from an individual perspective for CSU at last year's league championships with his 10th place showing in men's foil.

The Vikings last competed three weeks ago when they headed to the NU Duals at Northwestern. While both squads went 1-5 at the event, they were routinely facing foes that were ranked or receiving votes nationally. The men's squad also suffered a narrow 14-13 loss to North Carolina while the women's program had its best showing at the Northwestern event in over 20 years when considering total bouts won.

On the weekend prior at Notre Dame's DeCicco Duals, the CSU men (6-1) had the second-best record of any team at the event while the Viking women (5-2) had the third-best mark of any female team.

Cleveland State will resume action in two weeks' time as those that qualify can compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional Saturday, March 7.