Ohio State two-time All-American Mike Momtselidze (the '08 NCAA runner-up) has won the Midwest Regional men's sabre title, after defeating teammate Max Stearns in the semifinals and Notre Dame sophomore Avery Zuck in the title bout. Stearns ended up in third place, thanks to a win over yet another OSU fencer, Dexter Wilde (who lost to Zuck in the semifinals).
The Midwest owns five allocated men's sabre spots for the NCAA Championships, with Momtselidze (#1 Regional seed) and Stearns (#3) fairly locked into two of those spots as bouting began earlier today (Stearns cemented his spot with his final win over Wilde, the #7 seed). Wayne State All-American Jakub Gibczynski (#7 seed) also figured to receive one of the NCAA bids, taking the spot after OSU and ND each take their maximum of two spots in men's sabre (Gibczynski's 7th-place finish seemingly has secured him a return to the NCAAs).
The intrigue in Sunday's bouts concerned how Notre Dame's talented trio of Zuck (#2 seed), senior All-American Bill Thanhousser (#4) and sophomore All-American Barron Nydam (#5) would fare at the Regional, primarily in relation to one another (ND had a similar dilemma yesterday in women's epee). Nydam placed fifth and Thanhouser sixth – doing little to help separate them – and things could come down to a decision by the ND coaches in terms of what two men's sabreists to send to the NCAAs (coaches are given that option when three or more fencers from their team finish within the allocation range, in the final formula that combines regular-season and Regional performance).
Technically, OSU also may have the choice of sending Stearns or Wilde, but the freshman Stearns would appear the more deserving due to being seeded four spots higher and winning the third-place bout vs.Wilde.
MEN'S SABRE FINAL RESULTS – MIDWEST REGIONAL
1. Mike Momtselidze (Ohio State; #1 initial seed)
2. Avery Zuck (Notre Dame; #2 initial seed0
3. Max Stearns (OSU; #3 initial seed)
4. Dexter Wilde (OSU; #7 initial seed)
5. Barron Nydam (ND; #5 initial seed)
Mike Momtselidze (left)
6. Bill Thanhouser (ND; #4 initial seed)
7. Jakub Gibczynski (Wayne State; #6 initial seed)
8. Keith Feldman (ND; #9 initial seed)
9. John Friend (OSU; 38 initial seed)
10. Doug Sollman (Detroit; #13 initial seed)
11. Tom Lorenzo (DET; 1#4 initial seed)
12. Jason Heiss (Cleveland State; #11 initial seed)
13. Alex Chee (Lawrence; #10 initial seed)
14. Mike Danelia (DET; #12 initial seed)