MEN'S SABRE
NORTH CAROLINA
SENIOR
Four-Time NCAA Participant (21st in 2006 ... 16th in 2007 ... 18th in 2008)
Qualified for 2009 NCAAs after 7th-place finish at Mid-Atlantic/South Regional
Entered the 2009 M-A/S Regional as the region's #5 seed
College Coaches: Ron Miller (head coach) and Wes Newkirk (sabre coach)
Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
Current Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
High School: Providence H.S. (Matthews, N.C.)
Fencing Club: Knights of Siena Fencing Academy (Matthews, N.C.)
Club Coach: Alan Blakeborough
Fences: Lefthanded
Height: 6-0
Preseason Biography (from tarheelblue.com)
UNC Friday Fencing Feature (from tarheelblue.com)
GETTING TO KNOW BOBBY Z. ...
High School’s Nickname (colors): "Providence Panthers (black and gold)"
College Major: "Exercise and Sport Science, German (double major)"
Favorite College Class: "Old Norse, for the mix of graduate and undergraduate students, depth of the topic, and the way the stories were told."
UNC sabreist Bobby Zeichmann (left) is one of 13 fencers (out of 145) in the 2009 NCAA field who are four-time NCAA entrants.
Why did you choose UNC?: "I knew that UNC had fencing and found it to be a great bargain for a great education. I also like being at a nationally-recognized school for academics and athletics."
What do you like most about being a student-athlete at your school?: "I like Carolina’s programs for student-athletes, including the leadership academy, the academic support, and strength and conditioning. I also like Carolina’s athletic traditions."
What would be your dream job?: "I would like to be a strength and conditioning coach at the collegiate level, especially for 'Olympic' sports. I would prefer to be somewhere that I could continue to train and fence while I help others do so."
How did you get started fencing?: "In sophomore year of high school, a friend asked if I wanted to come
with him to try fencing. I didn’t think I’d like to fence. He’s
long since stopped fencing and I’ve found that I love the sport.
Do you have any family members/ancestors who have been fencers?: "My brother Kevin [pictured below] picked up fencing a few weeks after I did and we’ve been competitive with each other since, each of us pushing the other to improve. I’d say that his top achievements to date have been making NCAAs last year, making a top-8 at JOs, and holding cadet points in saber and epee – I’m not sure if I know of anyone having done all that before."
Kevin Zeichmann (left) – who qualified for the '08 NCAAs as a UNC freshman – is a couple inches taller than his brother Bobby and fences righthanded (Bobby is a lefty). Kevin is the Mid-Atlantic/South Region's top alternate for the 2009 NCAAs.
(Bobby Z. Q&A, cont.)
Do you have any relatives who have competed in college or pro sports, other than fencing?: "My dad ran track and played football as quarterback for Case Western."
Who are your current coaches?: "At school, my coaches are mainly Ron Miller and Wes Newkirk. At my club, it’s Alan Blakeborough."
Who have been key influences on your fencing career?: "Apart from my coaches and my brother, one of the biggest impacts on my fencing came from getting to fence with Jason Rogers and Adam Crompton when I was at an OSU fencing camp. Getting to just fence them was inspiring."
Areas where you feel you have improved the most this season: "I didn’t have a good, long attack before. Now I do."
How would you describe this college season (for you and the UNC team)?: "We had a great season. We were consistent. We were ranked in the top-10 for a while. For the first time, we didn’t have any upsets against us. We won our conference and my squad won the Duke tournament sabre cup, which we were happy about. Still, as a team, we didn’t beat any squads ranked ahead of us."
From the fencers in the '09 NCAAs, are there any you have fenced a high number of times?: "Peter Truszkowski of Duke and I are two that have probably fenced one another the most. There’s a Carolina-Duke rivalry there, but Peter and I also traveled, along with my UNC teammate Will Randolph, as a 'team' [on the same strip] in our freshman year NCAAs. We’ve also competed for spots in the region almost every year, usually fencing more than once there. I’d say in terms of bouts, we’re about even. Peter is probably ahead by a couple of bouts."
Who is your favorite international/national-team fencer?: "Adam Crompton" [recent three-time men's sabre All-American, at Ohio State].
Have you fenced other weapons on a competitive level?: "My club trains in all three weapons. I won divisionals in epee, but that’s about it."
What do you like most about college fencing?: "I like the level of competition."
What would you change about college fencing?: "I would only like for there to be more [varsity] programs – one more program in the ACC and there can be an ACC championship."
If you were to play another sport on the collegiate level, what would it be?: "I would probably like to do a track-and-field event."
How long would you like to continue fencing on a competitive level?: "As long as I can, I will."
What is your favorite college fencing roadtrip?: "Fencing in Evanston for the Northwestern meet (even though it’s an 18-hour bus ride for us), because I love the food there."
Favorite/most memorable fencing moment: "I’ll always remember going 3-0 against Penn my freshman year and helping my team become the first in Carolina’s history to beat Penn, 14-13. Penn was one of the few schools we’d never beaten."
Oct. 26, 2008 .... MACFA home meet, vs. John's Hopkins and Haverford
Nov. 1-2, 2008 ... placed 14th at Penn State Garret Open
Placed behind (1-13): Daniel Bak (PSU; '08 NCAA runner-up), Barron Nydam (ND), Aleksander Ochocki (PSU), Keith Feldman (ND), Avery Zuck (ND; also '08 NCAA entrant), Bill Thanhouser (ND; '07 and '08 NCAA entrant), Bobby Thompson (PSU), Jakub Gibezynaski (Wayne State; also '08 NCAA entrant), Valentin Staller (Harvard), Christopher Cheney (PSU), Thomas Abend (Princeton), Z. Brown (Rutgers/club) and Craig Limoli (Princeton) ... finished ahead of eventual 2009 (and '08) NCAA qualifier John Stogin of Princeton (15th).
Nov. 9 ... Haverford Open (vs. Yeshiva and Steven's Tech)
Nov. 16 ... placed 7th at Temple Open
Jan. 11, 2009 ... Penn Meet (vs. Sacred Heart, Hopkins, NJIT, Penn, Duke)
Jan. 24 ... MACFA Dual Meets (at JHU; vs.Drew, Hunter and Lafayette)
Jan. 25 ... Princeton Duals (3-3 record)
W ..... 5-0 ... vs. Oliver Elbert (Haverford)
W ..... 5-2 ... vs. Jared Forbus (Haverford)
L ...... 2-5 ... vs. Aaron Ruby (Haverford)
L ...... 3-5 ... vs. Thomas Abend (Princeton)
W ..... 5-2 ... vs. Craig Limoli (Princeton)
L ...... 2-5 ... vs. John Stogin (Princeton)
Jan. 31 ... Northwestern Duals
L ...... 5-0 ... vs. Michael Fellows (Johns Hopkins)
W ..... 5-2 ... vs. David Hill (Johns Hopkins)
L ...... 2-5 ... vs. Max Wieder (Johns Hopkins)
L ...... 1-5 ... vs. Max Stearns (Ohio State), 2009 NCAA qualifier
W ..... 5-0 ... vs. John Friend (Ohio State)
W ..... 5-2 ... vs. Dexter Wilde (Ohio State)
W ..... 5-1 ... vs. Tom Lorenzo (Detroit)
W ..... 5-0 ... vs. Mike Danelia (Detroit)
W ..... 5-1 ... vs. Doug Sollmann (Detroit)
W ..... 5-0 ... vs. Brian Twitchell (Cleveland State)
W ..... 2-5 ... vs. Jason Heiss (Cleveland State)
W ..... 5-1 ... vs. Peter Kilkuskie (Lawrence)
L ...... 4-5 ... vs. Aleksander Ochocki (Penn State), 2009 NCAA qualifier
W ..... 5-2 ... vs. Bobby Thompson (Penn State)
W ..... 5-2 ... vs. Wolf Rafert (Penn State)
L ...... 2-5 ... vs. Avery Zuck (Notre Dame), 2009 NCAA qualifier (also '08)
W ..... 5-3 ... vs. Keith Feldman (Notre Dame)
L ...... 4-5 ... vs. Bill Thanhouser (Notre Dame), NCAA qualifier in '07 and '08
Feb. 6 ... Duke Duals (UNC won men's sabre cup)
W ..... 5-0 ... vs. Tom Horton (Notre Dame)
W ..... 5-3 ... vs. Keith Feldman (Notre Dame)
L ...... 1-5 ... vs. Bill Thanhouser (Notre Dame), NCAA qualifier in '07 and '08
W ..... 5-0 ... vs. Michael Fellows (Johns Hopkins)
W ..... 5-0 ... vs. David Hill (Johns Hopkins)
W ..... 5-1 ... vs. Max Wieder (Johns Hopkins)
W ..... 5-1 ... vs. David Eitel (Duke)
L ...... 4-5 ... vs. Laughlin Stewart (Duke)
W ..... 5-2 ... vs. Peter Truszkowski (Duke), 2009 NCAA qualifier (also '08)
Feb. 21 ... runner-up, Mid-Atlantic Coll. Fencing Assoc. (MACFA); Easton, PA
Placed behind (1-6): Jonathan Berkowsky (Penn), Daniel Bak (Penn State), Robert Thomas (PSU), John Stogin (Princeton), Aleksander Ochocki (PSU) and Andrew Bielen (Penn) ... other top-10 finishers were (8-10): Peter Truszkowski (Duke), Anders Eiremo (Penn) and Thomas Abend (PRIN).
March 7 ... 7th-place at Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals (held at Drew)