The Notre Dame fencing program won its sixth championship in eight years this past weekend at the NCAA Championships in University Park, Pennsylvania. The momentous victory is further vindication that the program is one of the greatest dynasties in intercollegiate athletics history.
The Championship tournament took place from Thursday through Sunday, with the men competing on Thursday and Friday and the women competing over the weekend.
Chase Emmer kicked off the Irish’s triumphant weekend with an individual title in foil. Emmer went 17-6 in the round-robin round on Thursday, earning him the second seed in the knockout round on Friday. The sophomore from Morristown, New Jersey, soared past teammate James Chen in the semifinals by a score of 15-11 before taking down Andrew Chen of Harvard in the final in a tightly contested 15-10 battle. Once the match hit 7-7, Emmer’s stamina propelled him to an 8-3 run. Emmer’s victory was met with a roar from the rest of his Notre Dame teammates cheering him on in the stands. The Fighting Irish’s energy did not waver throughout the tournament, with teammates cheering relentlessly from the stands and waving Notre Dame-themed flags all weekend long.
Emmer’s victory was complemented by the success of saber duo freshman Ahmed Hesham and sophomore Radu Nitu. The pair went 18-4 and 16-6 in the round-robin stage en route to earning the No. 1 seed and No. 3 seed for knockouts, respectively. Hesham fell to St. John’s Darri Lukashenko in the semifinals 15-11, while Nitu also lost to Lukashenko in the semifinals 15-7. Complemented by the 11th-place finish of junior Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle and 20th-place finish of junior Maruan Osman-Touson in epee, Notre Dame found itself in first place in team standings by the end of Friday with 87 points. Columbia University, the 2019 national champion, was in second place with 77 points.
The women’s team expanded upon the men’s rampant success over the weekend. Junior epee specialist Eszter Muhari and freshman saber specialist Magda Skarbonkiewicz both won individual titles. Skarbonkiewicz was joined on the podium alongside classmate Siobhan Sullivan.
Muhari’s performance ranks among the greatest individual feats in NCAA fencing history. The 2023 individual national champion was forced to miss last season due to training for the Olympics — in which she won a bronze medal. Muhari went a perfect 23-0 in the round-robin on Saturday with a +68 indicator (difference between hits scored and received). She then confidently breezed by the semifinals on Saturday, taking down Leehi Machulsky 15-2.
Muhari then defeated Columbia’s Tierna Oxenreider in the finals, 15-13. The match took a while to heat up, with the first 3-minute bout only resulting in a 2-1 lead for Oxenreider. Although down, Muhari did not fret. Her methodical defensive approach slowly wore down Oxenreider’s attack. Towards the end, Muhari was able to dodge Oxenreider’s attacks with ease en route to her second national title and the first-ever perfect record for a women’s epee competitor in NCAA Championships history. Penn State’s Stephanie Eim came close in 2002 but lost in the final, falling just short of the perfect record.
Similarly to Emmer, Muhari received thunderous support from her teammates, who watched on with immense Irish pride. Senior Kaylin Sin Yan Hsieh also represented the Irish, finishing fifth in the event.
To cap off the day, Skarbonkiewicz and Sullivan battled in the saber championship. The moment was bittersweet for the freshman duo as they both hail from the same fencing club in Oregon and have been teammates since they were seven years old.
Skarbonkiewicz got out to an early lead on Sullivan thanks to her high-tempo attacking style. Although Sullivan was able to chip her way back into the bout, Skarbonkiewicz saw out a 15-8 win over her longtime teammate. The duo embraced after the bout concluded. Skarbonkiewicz told ESPN in a post-match interview, “She’s the most supportive person.”
Having already competed for Team USA at the Olympics and won an ACC Championship, the national championship is yet another milestone in Skarbonkiewicz’s young yet illustrious career.
Foil specialists junior Ariadna Tucker and senior Rebeca Candescu rounded out the women’s results, placing 13th and 16th, respectively.
These combined results gave Notre Dame 183 points, 11 ahead of runners-up Columbia. The title is the Irish’s 14th in program history, tying Penn State for second all-time and closing in on Columbia’s record 16 championships. Head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia has been the leader of the pack for six of those 14 titles. As a whole, Fighting Irish athletic programs have won a combined total of 36 consensus national titles, meaning the fencing program has accounted for nearly 40% of Notre Dame’s collective national glory.
With Emmer, Muhari and Skarbonkiewicz all returning next year amongst many other talented fencers within the Irish’s program, Notre Dame firmly sets itself up to be the team to beat in 2026. For now, the team will make it way back to South Bend and enjoy celebrating its national crown.
