Ohio State maintained its grip on Midwest Fencing Conference supremacy over the weekend, as the Buckeyes won the MFC combined men's/women's title for the seventh straight year. The MFC team event essentially has evolved into a major showcase for the Ohio State-Notre Dame rivalry, with Northwestern annually making strong showings in the women's weapons (the Wildcats men are a non-varsity/club program) while Wayne State typically is competitive in men's and women's epee.
The Buckeyes (#3 in the USFCA men's and women's national polls) and the Irish (#1 in both polls) met in the final match five times on Sunday, with OSU winning two men's titles (foil and epee) and two more in women's events (foil and sabre), while ND claimed the men's sabre championship. Northwestern defeated Ohio State in the women's epee semifinals, with Notre Dame then topping the Wildcats in the title matchup (leaving OSU with the narrow edge over ND in the combined standings, 1,310-1,290).
(Note: CF360 is working an upcoming blog post on the OSU-ND rivalry, plus a look at the Northwestern women and a detailed recap of the final two MFC team events – women's epee and foil.)
Ohio State could be lying in the weeds a bit – but the Buckeyes have to be considered a strong candidate to repeat as the NCAA combined men's/women's champion. OSU's bid to repeat seemingly is hampered by the departure of five All-Americans – women's sabreists Siobhan Byrne and Eileen Grench, women's epeeist Alexandra Obrazcova and Kaela Brendler, and men's sabreist Sergey Smirnov – that comprised nearly half of their 2008 contingent that fenced at the 2008 NCAAs. But several new faces have emerged for the Buckeyes, helping them win another MFC title and now focus on a run at the NCAAs.
During the regular season, freshman Max Stearns and junior Dexter Wilde fenced alongside All-American Mike Momtselidze ('08 NCAA runner-up) in most of the dual meets – but sophomore John Friend was the surprise winner of the 2009 MFC men's sabre title. In women's sabre, the trio of sophomore Falencia Miller, freshmen Emily Cheng and fellow newcomer Margarita Tschomakova had some noteworthy MFC results against Notre Dame and they could be surging as the NCAAs grow near.
OSU veteran men's foilist Andras Horanyi (two-time NCAA champion) has been dominant all season while fellow All-American Ben Parkins also is capable of racking up plenty of wins at the NCAAs (Parkins had a relatively low finish at the MFCs, 14th, but he entered the weekend as the #2 initial seed – based on a strong regular season). The OSU women's foilists also feature an All-American duo, in sophomore Oksana Dmytruk (the '08 NCAA runner-up) and junior Lindsay Knauer.
In addition to the open sabre spots referenced above, epee could prove to be the "wild card" or "x-factor" for Ohio State's chances at repeating as NCAA champion. Junior Julia Tikhonova – a converted foil fencer who placed fifth in the '07 NCAA women's foil competition – tied for third in the 2009 MFC women's epee bouting, but the Buckeyes otherwise appear to be the most thin at this weapon.
The OSU men's epee team does feature a battle-tested NCAA Tournament veteran, in the form of senior All-American Jason Pryor, but fellow 2008 NCAA Tournament qualifier Sean Harder (a junior) turned in some inconsistent results during the regular season and in the MFC individual competition (where he finished outside the top-30 ... but he did post some key wins vs. ND in the team event). Freshman Igor Tolkachev – brother of former OSU standout Denis Tolkachev – finished second at the MFCs and could be on track for an NCAA Tournament bid.
If will be interesting to see how the various Ohio State fencers fare at the upcoming Midwest Regional – as the Buckeyes piece together the lineup that will be doing battle for a second straight NCAA title.