A blockbuster weekend of collegiate fencing in New York City concluded on Sunday afternoon at the NYU Duals, with two more narrow upsets (both 14-13) being posted: the #9 St. John's men over the #4 Columbia and the #3 Ohio State women over #2 Notre Dame. The weekend's combined action at the St. John's Invitational (Jan. 24) and NYU produced a total of three top-10 upsets in the men's matches and all of them were turned in by SJU, which also beat Columbia on Saturday (18-9) before edging #7 Harvard later that day (14-13).
There were four upsets in the women's NYC bouts this weekend, and #3 Ohio State was involved in all of them. The Buckeyes women lost twice to #4 Columbia-Barnard (10-17, 12-15), in addition to dropping a 15-12 match with #5 Harvard at SJU. OSU ended the trip by being on the other end of an upset, handing the Irish women their second 14-13 loss of the day (and adding another chapter to that growing Midwest rivalry).
One other match of note in the final round at NYU saw the co-#1 Notre Dame men post a 15-12 win over #3 Ohio State, representing the top matchup of the weekend in all of college fencing (Penn State, which is co-#1 in men's fencing and #1 in women's, was competing at the Princeton Duals). Foil proved to be the key weapon (6-3) in the Irish win, with Ohio State winning five of the nine epee bouts while ND had the same margin in sabre.
The St. John's men used a strong showing (7-2) from their sabre squad to post the narrow win over Columbia (which had a 7-2 edge in foil, with SJU winning epee 5-4). SJU freshman Daryl Homer, who turned in an impressive 11-1 day at the SJU Invitational, played a lead role in the win over Columbia by sweeping all of his bouts (capped by a 5-2 win over Jeff Spear, in the final sabre bout of the match). His sabre teammate Alejandro Rojas also went 3-0 versus the Lions, as Homer and Rojas combined for nearly half of the SJU wins.
Ohio State and Notre Dame have waged some memorable regular-season battles in recent years, with Sunday's outcome providing another 14-13 match in the rivalry. The Irish posted a 6-3 edge in epee, but that was countered by OSU's 6-3 foil margin (a 5-4 Buckeyes edge in sabre provided the one-point final score).
Epeeist Ewa Nelip was the only Notre Dame fencer to go 3-0 versus OSU while two Buckeyes – foilist Oksana Dmytruk and sabreist Felencia Miller – each swept their Irish opponents. OSU newcomer Miriam Baranov (5-3) and converted foil All-American Julia Tikhonova (5-2) turned in key wins over defending NCAA epee champion Kelley Hurley, who compiled a 98-5 record in regular-season bouts during her previous two years with the Irish. Dmytruk added a key 5-2 win over three-time All-American Adrienne Nott, while the key OSU sabre wins included Miller beating defending NCAA champ Sarah Borrmann (5-3).
In the ND-OSU men's showdown, the Irish received 3-0 efforts from foil newcomer Enzo Castellani and sophomore sabreist Avery Zuck. Castellani (5-4) and teammate Zach Schirtz (5-2) both posted key wins over two-time defending NCAA champion Andras Horanyi, essentially providing the winning margin (if Horanyi had won those bouts, OSU would have claimed a 14-13 win). Zuck's day included a big 5-2 win over Mike Momtselidze, the 2008 NCAA runner-up. In the epee bouting, the Buckeyes scored what could have been a pivotal epee victory when Jason Pryor bested fellow senior All-American Karol Kostka (5-3).
NYU Duals (final)
Men's Scores
#1 Notre Dame 15 (F6, E4, S5), #3 Ohio State 12 (F3, E5, S4)
#1 Notre Dame 15 (F7, E3, S5), #4 Columbia 12 (F2, E6, S4)
#1 Notre Dame 19 (F8, E5, S6), #9 St. John's 8 (F1, E4, S3)
#1 Notre Dame 18 (F3, E8, S8), Yale 8 (F6, E1, S1)
#1 Notre Dame 21 (F8, E5, S8), NYU 6 (F1, E4, S1)
#1 Notre Dame 22 (F8, E7, S7), Stevens Tech 5 (F1, E2, S2)
#3 Ohio State 17 (F7, E4, S6), #4 Columbia 10 (F2, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 17 (F7, E4, S6), #9 St. John's 10 (F2, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 23 (F8, E8, S7), Yale 4 (F1, E1, S2)
#3 Ohio State 23, NYU 4 (weapon details not available at this time)
#3 Ohio State 23 (F7, E8, S8), Stevens Tech 4 (F2, E1, S1)
#9 St. John's 14 (F2, E5, S7), #4 Columbia 13 (F7, E4, S2)
#4 Columbia 18 (F4, E8, S6), Stevens Tech 9 (F5, E1, S3)
#4 Columbia 18 (F6, E5, S7), Wayne State 9 (F3, E4, S2)
#9 St. John's 14 (F2, E4, S8), Wayne State 13 (F7, E5, S1)
#9 St. John's 16 (F2, E6, S8), NYU 11 (F7, E3, S1)
NYU 17, Wayne State 10 (weapon details not available at this time)
NYU 14, Yale 13 (weapon details not available at this time)
Wayne State 15 (F5, E6, S4), Stevens Tech 12 (F4, E3, S5)
Yale 16 (F6, E4, S6), Wayne State 11 (F3, E5, S3)
Yale 15 (F7, E5, S3), Stevens Tech 12 (F2, E4, S6)
Women's Scores
#3 Ohio State 14 (F6, E3, S5), #2 Notre Dame 13 (F3, E6, S4)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 14 (5F, 4E, 5S), #2 Notre Dame 13 (F4, 5E, 4S)
#2 Notre Dame 18 (F4, E7, S7), #6 Northwestern 9 (F5, E2, S2)
#2 Notre Dame 22 (F8, E8, S6), St. John's 5 (F1, E1, S3)
#2 Notre Dame 23 (F7, E8, S8), Yale 4 (F2, E1, S1)
#2 Notre Dame 25 (F9, E8, S8), NYU 2 (F0, E1, S1)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 15 (F3, E5, S7), #3 Ohio State 12 (F6, E4, S2)
#3 Ohio State 15 (F6, E1, S8), #6 Northwestern 12 (F3, E8, S1)
#3 Ohio State 18 (F8, E4, S6), St. John's 9 (F1, E5, S3)
#3 Ohio State 24 (F9, E7, S8), Yale 3 (F0, E2, S1)
#3 Ohio State 21, NYU 6 (weapon details not available at this time)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 16 (F5, E5, S6), #6 Northwestern 11 (F4, E4, S3)
St. John's 15 (F3, E5, S7), #4 Columbia-Barnard 12 (F6, E4, S2)
#4 Columbia-Barnard 26 (F9, E8, S9), Wayne State 1 (F0, E1, S0)
#6 Northwestern 18 (F5, E8, S5), Yale 9 (F4, E1, S4)
#6 Northwestern 19 (F5, E9, S5), NYU 8 (F4, E0, S4)
#6 Northwestern 26 (F9, E8, S9), Wayne State 1 (F0, E1, S0)
St. John's 21, NYU 6 (weapon details not available at this time)
St. John's 26 (F8, E9, S9), Wayne State 1 (F1, E0, S0)
NYU 20, Wayne State 7 (weapon details not available at this time)
Yale 19, NYU 8 (weapon details not available at this time)
Yale 25 (F9, E7, S9), Wayne State 2 (F0, E2, S0)