Notre Dame Fencing had another strong weekend at the DeCicco Duals, their annual home meet at the Castellan Family Fencing Center.
Across the two days of competition, the men’s team went a perfect 11-0 and improved to 32-0 on the season while the women’s team put together an impressive 13-1 weekend and moved to 37-2 overall.
On Saturday, the men’s team faced Denison, Florida, Wayne State, Detroit Mercy, Lawrence and Cleveland State. They showed out in dominant fashion, going 6-0 with all but one match resulting in the Irish winning 20 bouts or more out of a possible 27.
In the épée, junior Sebastian Wozniak made his season debut, going 9-0 on the day with bouts against Denison, Cleveland St., and Florida. Senior Michael Siroky also had a strong performance, going 10-2 in what were likely his final bouts at home for Notre Dame.
Sophomore William Chen made his debut, compiling a 12-4 record for the foil squad this weekend. Similarly, sophomore Nicholas Dinu began his Notre Dame career this weekend with a very strong 16-1 record in the sabre.
The women’s team had a similarly great Saturday with wins against Denison, Florida, Wagner, Wayne State, Detroit Mercy, LIU, Lawrence and Cleveland State. Those wins included three 27-0 shutouts of Denison, Florida and Detroit Mercy. However, the team also suffered their second loss of the season at the hands of Northwestern (10-17).
The women’s épée squad put together a dominant day, going a combined 69-12, with freshman Erika Cucala leading the way at 20-1 over 7 matches on the day. The sabre also saw a dominant individual performance from senior Sienna Wilson, who went 14-1 at the final home meet of her career. In the foil, junior Zoe Barnette and sophomore Mayah Walker both stood out with 13-1 records as seven different Irish fencers participated in the Duals.
Sunday saw both the men’s and women’s teams go undefeated against club opposition from Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan and Case Western Reserve University. This included three perfect 27-0 matches against Indiana’s men’s and women’s teams and against CWRU’s women’s team.
The Irish face a quick turnaround as they make the short trip north to Evanston for the Northwestern Duals this upcoming Saturday. There, the women’s team will look to return the favor following a home loss to the Wildcats this weekend.
