When Penn State won the 2009 NCAA title with 195 points (the 12 fencers went a combined 195-82 in their round-robin bouts), the questions arose: How does this team stack up against other elite teams in the NCAA's six-weapon era? (since 2000) Add in the fact that PSU's 2009 team became the first ever to produce four individual champions, and the '09 Nittany Lions certainly would be on the short list of top college fencing teams in the current decade.
CollegeFencing360.com has embarked on the challenge of evaluating the "dream teams" of the decade. We have focused in on 11 different teams – five that posted 190-plus points, five others that had 180-plus and Notre Dame's 2005 team, which totaled only 173 points but won the title with only 11 fencers (led by arguably the top six-fencer women's unit in the history of the NCAAs).
The criteria used for rating these dream teams includes the following:
• Team victory total/points in the round-robin
• Team win pct. in the round-robin (some years had bouts vacated)
• Team indicator total in the round-robin
• Number of All-Americans (top-12)
• Number of medal-round fencers (top-4)
• Individual champions and runners-up
• #1 finishers/seeds from round-robin
• Balanced contributions between men's and women's entrants
• Balanced contributions from all six weapon groups
• Dominant weapon groups
• Quality of opposition
• Victory margin
• Intangibles (led every day, big comeback, past history, team rivalries, etc.)
• Career accomplishments of individuals (NCAA appearances, All-America, medal-round, champion, Olympian, etc.)
• Input from coaches and other college-fencing experts
CF360 will be presenting/highlighting these 11 teams over the next few days, in reverse order of their ranking (11 thru 1):
ST. JOHN'S 2001 (champion)
MF Joseph Fisher (2nd/4th) and Jonathan Tiomkin (6th) ... ME Alex Roytblat (1st/4th) and Doron Levit (11th) ... MS Keeth Smart (1st/2nd) and Ivan Lee (2nd/1st) ... WF Elizabeth Thottam (10th) and Jean Hergenhan (19th) ... WE Emese Takacs (3rd/1st) and Arlene Stevens (4th/2nd) ... WS Marisa Mustilli (3rd/2nd) and Lauren Collett (19th).
PENN STATE 2002 (champion)
MF Non Panchan (1st/1st) and Ian Schlaepfer (8th) .... ME Adam Wiercioch (4th/4th) and Daniel Landgran (12th) ... MS Alex Weber (2nd/4th) and Amir Rahimi (6th) ... WF Marta Grochel (9th) and Meredith Chin (12th) ... WE Stephanie Eim (1st/2nd) and Jessie Burke (5th) ... WS Heather Brosnan (6th) and Stephanie Tam (9th).
ST. JOHN'S 2002 (runner-up)
MF Jonathan Tiomkin (3rd/2nd) ... ME Arpad Horvath (2nd/1st) and Anton Gurevich (6th) ... MS Ivan Lee (1st/1st) and Darrin Whitmer (6th) ... WF Irina Khouade (3rd/4th) and Elizabeth Thottam (11th) ... WE Emese Takacs (2nd/4th) and Arlene Stevens (7th) ... WS Julia Gelman (3rd/3rd) and Christina Crane (5th).
NOTRE DAME 2002 (3rd-place)
MF Ozren Debic (2nd/4th) and Derek Snyder (7th) ... ME Jan Viviani (5th) and Michal Sobieraj (10th) ... MS Andre Crompton (5th) and Matt Fabricant (14th) ... WF Alicja Kryczalo (1st/1st) and Andrea Ament (2nd/2nd) ... WE Kerry Walton (3rd/1st) and Anna Carnick (10th) ... WS Carianne McCullough (12th) and Destanie Milo (18th).
NOTRE DAME 2003 (champion)
MF Ozren Debic (4th/4th) and Derek Snyder (5th) ... ME Michal Sobieraj (1st/2nd) and Jan Viviani (10th) ... MS Matt Fabricant (6th) and Gabor Szelle (11th) ... WF Alicja Kryczalo (4th/1st) and Andrea Ament (3rd/3rd) ... WE Kerry Walton (5th) and Meagan Call (10th) ... WS Destanie Milo (6th) and Maggie Jordan (21st).
OHIO STATE 2004 (champion)
MF Boaz Ellis (2nd/1st) and Nathan Weir (11th) ... ME Denis Tolkachev (4th/4th) and William Jones (10th) ... MS Adam Crompton (1st/1st) and Jason Paul (9th) ... WF Hanna Thompson (2nd/3rd) and Metta Thompson (5th) ... WE Kaela Brendler (7th) and Alexander Shklar (8th) ... WS Louise Bond-Williams (2nd/3rd) and Marguerite Plekhanov (10th).
NOTRE DAME 2005 (champion)
MF Jakub Jedrkowiak (7th) ... ME Michal Sobieraj (2nd/1st) and Aaron Adjemian (24th) ... MS Patrick Ghattas (4th/2nd) and Matt Stearns (10th) ... WF Alicja Kryczalo (1st/2nd) and Andrea Ament (7th) ... WE Amy Orlando (4th/2nd) and Kerry Walton (14th) ... WS Mariel Zagunis (1st/2nd) and Valerie Providenza (2nd/4th).
PENN STATE 2007 (champion)
MF Nick Chinman (5th) and Jeff Chang (8th) ... ME Stefan Launer (5th) and Arthur Urman (6th) ... MS Franz Boghicev (8th) and Ian Farr (9th) ... WF Doris Willette (1st/1st) and Tam Najm (4th/4th) ... WE Anastasia Ferdman (4th/4th and) Case Szarwark (7th) ... WS Caity Thompson (1st/2nd) and Sophia Hiss (8th).
OHIO STATE 2008 (champion)
MF Andras Horanyi (2nd/1st) and Ben Parkins (9th) ... ME Jason Pryor (10th) and Sean Harder (19th) ... WF Oksana Dmytruk (1st/2nd) and Lindsay Knauer (6th) ... WE Alexandra Obrazvcova (1st/4th) and Kaela Brendler (18th) ... WS Siobhan Byrne (1st/2nd) and Eileen Grench (7th).
PENN STATE 2009 (champion)
MF Miles Chamley-Watson (1st/3rd) and Nick Chinman (4th/1st) ... ME Jimmy Moody (6th) and Maxwell Dettlinger (15th) ... MS Aleksander Ochocki (2nd/1st) and Daniel Bak (3rd/4th) ... WF Doris Willette (3rd/1st) and Allison Glasser (7th) ... WE Anastasia Ferdman (3rd/1st) and Nina Westman (13th) ... WS Monica Aksamit (5th) and Caity Thompson (11th).
NOTRE DAME 2009 (runner-up)
MF Gerek Meinhardt (2nd/2nd) and Enzo Castellani (8th) ... ME Karol Kostka (10th) and Greg Schoolcraft (18th) ... MS Avery Zuck (5th) and Barron Nydam (10th) ... WF Hayley Reese (4th/2nd) and Adi Nott (9th) ... WE Courtney Hurley (2nd/3rd) and Ewa Nelip (4th/4th) ... WS Eileen Hassett (6th) and Sarah Borrmann (13th).
