This weekend, Brandeis hosted the NCAA Fencing Championships. After four days of fast-paced action, all three weapons for both the men’s and women’s sides featured competitive semifinal and final matchups on a raised platform in the middle of Red Auerbach Arena. The atmosphere was electric the entire time, as hordes of supporters came to cheer on their fencers. The University of Notre Dame, Penn State University and Columbia University sent notably large contingencies which featured school flags, raucous cheers and large cutouts of their fencers’ faces. Pool play was long and grueling as each competing fencer faced the other 23 in their respective weapon for a chance to land in the top four and continue on to the next day.  

In women’s saber, sophomore Adrienne Jarocki of Harvard University, who went 19-4 in pool play, faced fourth-seeded freshman Leanne Singleton Comfort of University of California San Diego in the first semifinal while second-seeded senior Gracie Stone of Princeton University matched up against third-seeded junior Mathilda Taharo of St. John’s University. Jarocki and Stone were well ahead of the other seeds in pool play, with Stone coming one win short of matching Jarocki’s top seed while earning three more wins than Taharo. As such, the matchup of Jarocki and Stone was expected as they cruised to 15-9 and 15-8 semifinal wins respectively. Jarocki then claimed her second national title in three years as she defeated Stone by a final score of 15-10 in front of healthy local Harvard support. 

In the foil event Junior Eleanor Harvey, the second seed from The Ohio State University dispatched freshman Sabrina Massialas of the University of Notre Dame by a score of 15-9. The top seed, senior Jackie Dubrovich of Columbia, squeaked by Harvey’s Ohio State teammate, junior  Alanna Goldie by a score of 15-14. Perhaps feeling the nerves of the first match, top seed Dubrovich could not hold an early lead against Harvey and fell by a score of 15-10, earning the Ohio State junior a national title.

The epee was slower and more deliberate on the women’s side as freshman Charlene Liu, the top seed from Princeton, needed all three rounds to outlast junior Eugenia Falqui of Ohio State by a score of 13-8. In the meantime, sophomore Jessie Gottesman-Radanovich of Penn State University avoided a 2-3 upset by defeating junior Mason Speta of Columbia University in a hard fought 15-12 match. Gottesman-Radanovich matched on to the title by defeating Liu by a score of 15-10.

On the men’s side, the top seeds dominated their fields. For the sabers, last year’s winner, sophomore Andrew Mackiewicz of Penn State, came in with another victorious performance. His 19-4 pool play record separated himself from the rest of the field and he made it past sophomore Edward Chin of Princeton in the first semifinal by a score of 15-11. On the other side of the semifinals, senior Ference Valkai of St. John’s defeated junior Kaito Streets of Penn State. In the final, Mackiewicz had to call for a trainer as he held an 11-9 lead, but he proceeded to punish Valkai’s aggression to hoist his second consecutive individual saber title and Penn State’s third-straight individual saber title. 

The foil competition was heated as well, as sophomore Max Chastanet of Ohio State took the first seed with an 18-5 mark in pool play. Chastanet had a tough semifinal matchup in facing the enormous senior Adam Mathieu of Columbia. Chastanet booked his trip to the final with a 15-11 win. The other semifinal pit junior Nobuo Bravo of Penn State against freshman Axel Kiefer of Notre Dame. Eventually Bravo outfought Kiefer, earning a 15-11 win of his own. However, Bravo was no match for Chastanet in the final as Chastanet dominated him by a score of 15-3 in the most lopsided elimination match of the day. In the first epee match, top-seeded and defending champion senior Jake Hoyle tried to make his senior season as good as his junior one. He fought back from 10-4 to barely inch by sophomore Lewis Weiss of Ohio State. On the other side, Weiss’ teammate, sophomore Marc-Antoine Blais, faced third-seeded junior Yevgeniy Karyuchenko in a match that took extra time to decide. Hoyle and Blais faced off in the final and Hoyle got the last four three touches to earn his second title in two years.

As a team, Columbia took the title, its second straight, with Ohio State trailing very close behind, despite sending significantly fewer fencers to the championship meet.

Brandeis was shut out of this meet for the second consecutive season, but they look to rebound next season with some new recruits and even tougher competitors. The fencers spent the day working the event and assisting with video review and logistical organization of the tournament. 

Editor's Note: A prior version of this article said the school hosted the NCAA Division III Fencing Championships. This article was update to reflect the fact that the NCAA Championships are across all three NCAA Divisions, not just Division III.