Even with the graduation of Kai Keller '07, a three-time NCAA qualifier, the men's fencing team's epée squad had the Judges' strongest performers at the season-opening New England Fall Collegiate individual tournament last Saturday.The Judges took four of the top eight spots in the 64-person draw for the epée weapon, as Will Bedor '10 won the event, Damien Lehfeldt '09 and Alex Clos '10 finished in a tie for third and Andrew Travis '10 finished in sixth place. On the women's side, the foil team led the way for Brandeis, as Jessica Newhall '09 and Stefanie Aucoin '08 each garnered third-place finishes in their event.

"We've taken away [from this weekend] that we're a good team, but we do have more to do to raise ourselves to the level of the better teams we fence," coach Bill Shipman said.

After going 4-2 in pool play, Bedor garnered the 19th seed in the 64-person bracket. He won each of his first four matches, defeating Brown University sophomore Adam Yarnell 15-8 in the quarterfinals. He then knocked off Clos, normally his teammate, 15-12 in the semifinals before blowing out Massachusetts Institute of Technology junior Matt Gethers 15-3 in the final.

"[Gethers] just couldn't reach [Bedor]," Shipman said. "Bedor was just too good, he had too many answers for [Gethers]."

Lehfeldt also won his first four matches in the tournament, but fell to Gethers 15-8 in the semifinals, while Clos, seeded fifth, won three matches before losing to Bedor. The Judges other three épées-Travis, Goldfarb, and Alex Casper '10-all fell to their teammates. Travis lost to Clos 15-7 in the quarterfinals, Goldfarb fell to Bedor 15-10 in the third round, and Casper, seeded first, was upset by Goldfarb 15-9 in the second round.

Three Brandeis fencers also occupied the top eight of the men's foil standings, as Will Friedman '09 finished second, Eugene Vortsman '09 finished in a tie for third and J.D. Carroll '09 finished sixth out of 72 foilists. All three fell to Brown University sophomore Adam Pantel-Carroll in the quarterfinals, Vortsman in the semifinals and Friedman in the final.

Friedman, who earned a second-straight NCAA berth in foil last season, said Pantel's fencing style proved to be a difficult challenge for him last weekend.

"[Patnel] can move his body in ways that I've never seen anyone else move their bodies while fencing," he said. "I'm fine with fencing someone with a more traditional style, so it took a while getting used to him."

On the women's side, no fencers made the final match, but several placed among the top eight finishers of their weapons. Newhall and Aucoin both reached the semifinals of the 69-player women's foil division, but lost there-Aucoin to Brown rookie Francesca Bartholomew 15-8, and Newhall to MIT sophomore Cordeila Link 15-10.

"I think I let [Link's] style get to me," Newhall said. "It was too confusing for me, and hard to hit her, so while she definitely won, I also lost it for myself because I let her mentally get to me."

In epée, rookie Emma Larkin '11 performed best for the Judges, finishing in seventh place, losing a tight 15-14 match in the quarterfinals to Vassar College rookie Sophie Courser. Meanwhile, Caitlin Kozel '09, an NCAA qualifier in epée last season, lasted only until the third round Saturday, losing 15-8 to MIT sophomore Stephanie Shin. Still, Shipman said he isn't concerned about Kozel's slow start.

"[Kozel] always comes on stronger at the end of the season than at the beginning, so she'll be fine," he said.

Kirsten Heinz '09 was the top Brandeis performer in the women's saber division, finishing in eighth place. After upsetting top-seeded Tufts University rookie Alexandra Cheetham 15-9 in the third round, Heinz fell to University of Massachusetts senior Laura Brassard 15-5 in the quarterfinals.

The teams fence next at the Northeast Conference Meet at MIT Nov. 17 at noon.