Here are some highlights from today's men's fencing action at Duke, featuring Notre Dame, UNC and Johns Hopkins (plus the host Blue Devils). See earlier blog post for all six team scores from this event.
• Duke foil newcomer Dan Cohen was the only fencer to go 9-0, while three others – Duke two-time sabre All-American Peter Truszkowski and the ND veteran duo of sabreist Bill Thanhouser and foilist Mark Kubik – each were 8-1. Duke epeeist Jonathan Parker and UNC sabreist Bobby Ziechmann also had strong days, each going 7-2.
• 10th-ranked Duke nearly handed co-#1 Notre Dame (20-0) its first loss of the season, in a thrilling match that came down to the final bout (ND won six epee bouts, plus four each in foil and sabre). The Irish – who will play host to the ND Duals starting early Saturday morning – opted to not send several top fencers to Duke, most notably Olympic foilist Gerek Meinhardt and sabre All-American Barron Nydam (also sabreist Avery Zuck and foilist Enzo Castellani).
In addition to 3-0 records from Truszkowski and Dan Cohen, Duke had three fencers (foilists Dorian Cohen, epeeist Samuel Schack and sabreist Laughlin Stewart) post 2-1 records vs. the Irish. All three Irish epeeists – Karol Kostka, Brent Kelly and Greg Schoolcraft – likewise went 2-1 in the ND-Duke match, as did Thanhouser and Mark Kubik.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 4-2 lead, but the home team then won a pair of key bouts between All-Americans – as Dorian Cohen edged Steve Kubik (5-4) and Truszkowski beat Thanhouser (5-2). The score remained tied at 5-5 before three ND wins, followed by three straight victories by the Blue Devils (including Dorian Cohen's 5-1 win over fellow All-American Schirtz).
The teams split the next four bouts to maintain the tie (10-10), with Duke posting another clutch win in that stretch (Dan Cohen's 5-1 win over Mark Kubik). The Blue Devils briefly surged ahead – when Schack beat Greg Schoolcraft (5-3) – but the Irish won the next three bouts (most notably, Mark Kubik beat Dorian Cohen 5-3) for a 13-11 lead.
Dan Cohen kept Duke's hopes alive with a 5-1 win over the younger Kubik brother (Steve) and Schack then edged Kelly, forging yet another tie in the overall score (13-13). Moments later, Parker was one touch away from completing his team's upset – but Schoolcraft scored the final two points for the 5-4 win.
• Duke topped its in-state rival and co-#10 North Carolina, 17-10, led by 3-0 sweeps by Dan Cohen and the epee duo of Parker and Tristan Jones. UNC brothers Bobby and Kevin Ziechmann (who both have competed in past NCAA Championships) each went 2-1 in their sabre bouts versus Duke, with Bobby posting a 5-2 win over the All-American Truszkowski.
• A pair of Johns Hopkins fencers – Max Wieder (5-4) and Michael Fellows (5-1) – both posted wins over UNC's Kevin Ziechmann ... UNC foilist Alex Grigoreaulio had a similar noteworthy win (4-3) over JHU's David Ferguson (who placed 13th at the '07 NCAAs, narrowly missing All-America honors) ... JHU's Ben Dorfman added a 5-1 upset over ND's Steve Kubik, while another Hopkins fencer, epeeist Harry Openheim, survived a 3-2 bout with the NCAA Tournament veteran Kelly ... UNC foilist Kevin Nadeau swept ND's pair of 2008 All-Americans, with a 5-3 win over Schirtz and a 5-2 victory over Steve Kubik ... Two other UNC fencers – Eric Hsieh and Jarrett Rodriguez – turned in 5-4 wins over ND two-time All-American Koskta (the reigning national fencer of the week, after going 15-1 at last week's Northwestern Duals) ... JHU foilist James Einsiedler registered a 5-3 win over Duke's All-American (Dorian Cohen).