COLUMBUS, Ohio – Freshman Lucas Bolton provided the primary highlight as the Cleveland State University fencing team opened action at the Midwest Conference Championships Saturday inside Ohio State's French Field House.

The first day of competition was the individual portion of the event, featuring action in all three disciplines for both genders.

The rookie Bolton had the best individual finish by a Viking on the day. He reached the finals in the men's foil discipline, the first to do so in program history, despite being seeded 11th entering the event.

Bolton settled for second and was one of three Vikings inside the top 10 in the event. Redshirt sophomore Ahmad Taqi finished fifth while another rookie, Paul DiVenti, took seventh.

Due to his seed, Bolton got a bye during pool play and headed straight into the direct elimination portion. He claimed a trio of 15-10 wins to start in the bracket, the final one of which came against No. 6 seed Liam Smith of Ohio State. He then won his quarterfinal and semifinal matchups by identical 15-13 margins, as he claimed wins over the No. 3 seed and the No. 7 seed, before coming up short in the finals to his Ohio State foe.

Taqi and DiVenti both advanced to the quarterfinals in the bracket portion before falling to eventual finalists.

Cleveland State also had an individual top-10 finish in both the men's epee and men's saber events.

Freshman Jared Felker took seventh in the epee discipline while redshirt sophomore Declan Forth was ninth in the saber portion. Felker won his first three bracket bouts before losing to the eventual champion in the quarterfinals.

Sophomore Eric Hamdan also improved significantly upon his seed entering the day in the saber event. He was seeded 62nd entering competition but went 4-2 in pool play. He then won a pair of bracket matchups and would earn a 16th place finish.

The CSU women had to contend with a second powerhouse at the meet as Northwestern's presence, along with Ohio State, put a pair of nationally ranked squads competing on the female side.

Freshman Gabriella Hirsch had the best showing of a Viking female as she took 17th in the foil event. She went a perfect 6-0 in pool play, which helped her outperform her pre-meet rank by seven spots. Sophomore Claire Maltman joined her teammate in going undefeated in pool play in the foil event and finished 18th of the 61 competitors.

Sophomore Abigail Barr and freshman Maeve Kozak both suffered just one loss in epee pool play and would finish 18th and 19th, respectively, in the 56-women field.

Sophomore Dorian Pichola was the top finisher in the women's saber event for CSU as she placed 22nd of the 57 competitors.

As a result of their finishes Saturday, five Viking men earned All-Midwest Conference honors. Bolton claimed First Team accoaldes, DiVenti, Felker and Taqi garnered Second Team honors while Forth was named All-Midwest Honorable Mention.

Cleveland State will be right back in action Sunday to contest the team portion of the Midwest Conference Championships.