Two long days of matches at the Notre Dame Duals (covering 123 total matches) yielded very few upsets, while both Irish teams went undefeated over the two-day event. The co-#1 Notre Dame men were 6-0 on Sunday (including a 15-12 win over #7 Stanford) and have ended the regular season undefeated (33-0) for the 21st time in the ND men's fencing program's history and first time since 2003 (24-0). The Irish defeated nine top-10 opponents – co-#1 Penn State, #3 Ohio State (2), #4 Ohio State (2), #7 Stanford, #9 St. John's (2) and #10 North Carolina – during their undefeated regular season.
It marks the most wins ever by a Notre Dame fencing team (men's or women's) during an undefeted season (the 1995 ND women were 32-0, while the '76 and '86 Irish men's teams both were 26-0). No previous Notre Dame fencing teams had even totaled more than 32 wins in a season, as the 1996 (29-3) and 2006 (29-1) ND men's teams each had 29 wins while the '95 Irish women's squad posted its 32-win total.
The #2 Notre Dame women's team (4-0 on Sunday) ended the regular season with a 32-2 record (both losses came at the NYU Duals, vs. #3 Ohio State and #4 Columbia), tying the '95 squad for most wins ever by an ND women's team.
Northwestern's #6-ranked women's team won all seven of its bouts on Sunday – highlighted by victories over West Region teams Stanford (19-8), UC San Diego (20-8) and Air Force (24-3) – for a season record of 34-7. The Wildcats women had a balanced effort in those three key wins, totaling 22 victories in foil, 21 in epee and 20 in sabre (vs. Stanford, UCSD and AFA).
In addition to the top-10 matchup with Stanford, the Notre Dame men posted key Sunday wins over UC San Diego (18-9) and Wayne State (19-8, including an 8-1 mark vs. WSU's talented elite squad).
Stanford (21-6; 6-3 in epee) and Air Force (18-9; 4-5) also posted wins over Wayne State.
Florida's non-varsity women's club team totaled five wins over varsity opponents during the two-day tournament (including an early win Sunday over Air Force, 17-10). The Michigan State men's and women's club teams each totaled four wins over varsity foes during the weekend, including Sunday wins over Cal Tech (20-7 for the women, 16-11 for the men).
The Northwestern men's club team also defeated a varsity team on Sunday, with a 17-10 win over Cleveland State (led by eight wins in sabre).
More details from the ND Duals will be posted on the blog, as they become available.
NOTRE DAME DUALS (final day-2 scores; Sunday, Feb. 8)
Women's Matches#2 Notre Dame 21 (F7, E6, S8), UC San Diego 6 (F2, E3, S1)
#2 Notre Dame 22 (F7, E7, S8), Wayne State 5 (F2, E2, S1)
#2 Notre Dame 25 (F9, E7, S9/forfeit), Lawrence 2 (F0, E2, S0)
#2 Notre Dame 26 (F8, E9, S9), Oberlin 1 (F1, E0, S0)
#6 Northwestern 19 (F7, E8, S4), Stanford 8 (F2, E1, S5)
#6 Northwestern 20 (F6, E7, S7), UC San Diego 7 (F3, E2, S2)
#6 Northwestern 24 (F9, E6, S9), Air Force 3 (F0, E3, S0)
#6 Northwestern 23 (F8, E9, S6), Cal Tech 4 (F1, E0, S3)
#6 Northwestern 25 (F9, E7, S0), Cleveland State 2 (F0, E2, S0)
#6 Northwestern 21 (F9, E5, S7), Florida 6 (F0, E4, S2)
#6 Northwestern 25 (F9, E7, S9), Oberlin (F0, E2, S0)
Stanford 23 (F6, E9, S8), Cleveland State 2 (F1, E0, S1)
Stanford 21 (F6, E9, S6), Detroit 6 (F3, E1, S3)
Stanford 24 (F6, E9, S9/forfeit), Lawrence 3 (F3, E0, S0)
Florida 17 (F4, E7, S6), Air Force 10 (F5, E2, S3)
Air Force 19 (F7, E6, S6), Wayne State 8 (F2, E3, S3)
Air Force 20 (F8, E5, S7), Cleveland State 7 (F1, E4, S2)
Air Force 19 (F4, E6, S9/forfeit), Lawrence 8 (F5, E3, S0)
UC San Diego 23 (F8, E8, S7), Detroit 4 (F1, E1, S2)
UC San Diego 24 (F8, E7, S9), Lawrence 3 (F1, E2, S0)
Wayne State 15 (F5, E8, S2), Cal Tech 12 (F4, E1, S7)
Wayne State 15 (F4, E6, S5), Michigan State 12 (F5, E3, S4)
Detroit 17 (F4, E6, S7), Cal Tech 10 (F5, E3, S2)
Detroit 16 (F3, E4, S9/forfeit), Lawrence 11 (F6, E5, S0)
Florida 11 (F3, E6, S2), Oberlin 10 (F6, E3, S1)
Michigan State 20 (F4, E9, S7), Cal Tech 7 (F5, E0, S2)
Michigan State 14 (F7, E6, S1), Florida 13 (F2, E2, S8)
Michigan State 23 (F6, E8, S9), Oberlin 4 (F3, E1, S0)
co-#1 Notre Dame 15 (F6, E4, S5), #7 Stanford 12 (F3, E5, S4)
co-#1 Notre Dame 18 (F7, E6, S5), UC San Diego 9 (F2, E3, S4)
co-#1 Notre Dame 19 (F6, E8, S5), Wayne State 8 (F3, E1, S4)
co-#1 Notre Dame 22 (F9, E6, S7), Cal Tech 5 (F0, E3, S2)
co-#1 Notre Dame 25 (F9, E9, S7), Lawrence 2 (F0, E0, S2)
co-#1 Notre Dame 25 (F9, E7, S9), Oberlin 2 (F0, E2, S0)
#7 Stanford 21 (F8, E6, S7), Wayne State 6 (F1, E3, S2)
#7 Stanford 24 (F6, E9, S9), Detroit 3 (F3, E0, S0)
#7 Stanford 24 (F7, E8, S9), Cleveland State 3 (F2, E1, S0)
Air Force 18 (F8, E4, S6), Wayne State 9 (F1, E5, S3)
Air Force 23 (F7, E8, S8), Cleveland State 4 (F2, E1, S1)
Air Force 18 (F9, E3, S6), Northwestern 9 (F0, E6, S3)
Air Force 20 (F9, E6, S5), Florida 7 (F0, E3, S4)
UC San Diego 22 (F5, E9, S8), Detroit 5 (F4, E0, S1)
UC San Diego 25 (F9, E8, S8), Lawrence 1 (F0, E1, S0)
UC San Diego 18 (F8, E4, S6), Northwestern 9 (F1, E5, S3)
Wayne State 17 (F7, E5, S5), Michigan State 10 (F2, E4, S4)
Detroit 15 (F9, E2, S4), Cal Tech 12 (F0, E7, S5)
Detroit 24 (F9, E8, S7), Lawrence 3 (F0, E1, S2)
Cal Tech 14 (F4, E2, S8), Cleveland State 13 (F5, E7, S1)
Northwestern 17 (F5, E4, S8), Cleveland State 10 (F4, E5, S1)
Northwestern 17 (F6, E6, S5), Florida 10 (F3, E3, S4)
Florida 20 (F6, E7, S7), Michigan State 7 (F3, E2, S2)
Florida 21 (F7, E5, S9), Oberlin 6 (F2, E4, S0)
Michigan State 16 (F7, E6, S3), Cal Tech 11 (F2, E3, S6)
Michigan State 22 (F9, E5, S8), Oberlin 5 (F0, E4, S1)