Feb. 27, 2008
Contact: Greg Murphy
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Cleveland State men's and women's fencing teams competed at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships over the weekend at Notre Dame.
Held over two days, there were 194 individual entries and 20 team entries, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, Bowling Green, Case Western, Chicago,Detroit, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Lawrence, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Oberlin, Purdue, Wayne State, Wisconsin and Xavier.
The men's squad captured three finalist team trophies, the most in CSU's participation in the conference.
The foil team led the way with a second place finish. After Saturday's individual performances of sophomore Liran Gross, freshman John Marshall and sophomore Steve Montgomery, the foil team surged past favored regular season champion Notre Dame and took over the second seed behind Ohio State.
Winning all the brackets, the foilists held on to second place, losing to Ohio State as Gross and Marshall were named to the All Conference Team. The foil team set a regular season record of 27 team wins and Gross set an individual record for wins in the regular season of 81 victories.
The epee team had its highest finish ever at the championships. Senior Jeff Tormey, an all-conference selection, led the way as the team earned the number three seed and never relinquished it.
Sophomore Shawn Wright clinched the third place trophy with a dramatic victory over Indiana.
With the finishes of the foil and epee teams, Cleveland State held on to third place overall behind Ohio State and Notre Dame.
"We are being recognized amongst the elite teams in the Midwest," head coach Jim Sager said. "The men's team has become competitive against former National Champions Notre Dame and Ohio State. The commitment and team-work this year has been amazing. It is great to see the support they give each other. This young team has such a respect for the sport, the heritage of 76 years of fencing at CSU and Fenn, and their fellow students.
"This year we had great team depth and with the addition of assistant coach Andy Tulleners last year, we have made great strides for such a young team. Andy brought experience, countless hours of volunteer work, and youthful enthusiasm to the teams. I am truly grateful for his hard work and passion."
The women had a tougher time at the championship due to several missing starters and tough competition. During a rebuilding year, the women's saber team fought hard for a sixth place finish. Led by Katie Smetena, Hannah Simms and Danielle Shephard came back to win in the bracket busters for 6th place.
The official announcement for the NCAA Regional Championships will be Thursday. Ten out of 18 starters should be traveling to Detroit Mercy on March 2. It will tie the record of total qualifiers to the official semi final round of the National Championships to be held at Ohio State Mar 3 to 16. Qualifiers names will be released once the official announcement has been made.
"I am so proud of this group of athletes for their passion and their spirit," Sager said. "As the season winds down, I want to thank the friends and family who have followed us to different meets this year and supported us. It was great to be able to share this record setting year with them."
