CLICK HERE for CF360 exclusive video interview with Northwestern All-America foilist Dayana Sarkisova (pict. below)
By Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)
Notes – Qualification for the 2012 NCAA Championships (March 22-25, at Ohio State) is based on a formula combination of Fencer Seed Factor/FSF (40%; from regular-season dual meets) and Regional finish (60%). The Midwest Region has five automatic berths to the 2012 NCAA Championships in every weapon except women's sabre (4). There is a maximum of two entries per school in each weapon. NCAA bids became official on March 13. In some cases, coaches had an option in selecting which fencers would comprise their entries in the NCAAs (if additional fencers meet the qualification standard). There also were two NCAA at-large spots in each weapon, open to fencers from any region (again, as long as team already has not qualified two in the particular weapon) ... Notre Dame earned two women's at-large spots, in epee and sabre, while Northwestern secured one of the women's foil at-large spots (details below).
CLICK HERE for 2012 West Regional WOMEN'S recap
CLICK HERE for 2012 West Regional MEN'S recap
Ohio State junior sabre All-American Allison Miller (left)
Here's an overview of the NCAA Midwest Regional women's fencing competition, held at Cleveland State. The format was a full round-robin (one pool, ranging from 14-20 fencers per weapon). Data below indicates Regional finish (W-L/total-points indicator), seed entering regional, basic bio. info. (class year and hometown), past finishes in Regional and NCAA Championship events, eventual NCAA qualifiers, key bouts, and brief analysis.
More to follow for the Midwest men's competition and the other 2012 Regionals (Mid-Atlantic/South, and Northeast).
2012 NCAA Women's Allocations (24 per weapon)
Foil – 8 from Northeast Region ... 7 Mid-Atlantic/South ... 5 Midwest ... 2 West ... 2 at-large
Epee – 8 from Northeast Region ... 6 Mid-Atlantic/South ... 5 Midwest ... 3 West ... 2 at-large
Sabre – 9 from Northeast Region ... 7 Mid-Atlantic/South ... 4 Midwest ... 2 West ... 2 at-large
2012 NCAA Midwest Regional full results (w/ pool scores): FOIL ... EPEE ... SABRE
Previous NCAA Midwest Regional Women's Results (courtesy CF360)
2011 | 2010 | 2009 (foil ... epee ... sabre)
Most photos on this page courtesy of the respective schools.
2012 NCAA FENCING MIDWEST REGIONAL – Women's Results
(March 10; at Cleveland State ... courtesy CollegeFencing360.com)
Mona Shaito (left)
WOMEN'S FOIL
1. Mona Shaito (Ohio State ... Fr. ... Garland, TX)
... 17-2/+59 ... #2 pre-Regional seed
Madison Zeiss (right)
2. Madi Zeiss (Notre Dame ... Fr. ... Los Angeles, CA) ... 16-3/+45 ... #1 pre-Regional seed
3. Grace Hartman (Notre Dame ... Jr. ... St. Paul, MN) ... 15-4/+40 ... #8 pre-Regional seed
... 9th at 2010 Midwest Regional, 8th in '11
4. Mai Shaito (Ohio State ... Fr. ... Garland, TX) ... 14-5/+36 ... #16 pre-Regional seed
Allison Henvick (left)
Grace Hartman (right)
5. Allison Henvick
(Ohio State ... Sr. ... San Francisco, CA)
... 14-5/+33 ... #13 pre-Regional seed
... two-time All-American (10th at '10 NCAAs, 9th in '11)
... 12th at '09 Midwest Regional, 4th in '10, 7th in '11
6. Adriana Camacho
(Notre Dame ... So. ... Puebla, Mexico)
... 14-5/+28 ... #12 pre-Regional seed
7. Radmila Sarkisova (Notre Dame ... Sr. ... Grand Rapids, MI) ... 12-7/+16 ... #9 pre-Regional seed
... previous Midwest Regional finishers: 6th in 2009, 11th in '10, 6th in '11
Dayana Sarkisova (left)
8. Dayana Sarkisova (Northwestern ... Jr. ... Grand Rapids, MI)
... 12-7/+14 ... #3 pre-Regional seed
... two-time All-American who reached 2010 NCAA semifinals, 10th in '11
... placed 5th at 2010 Midwest Regional, 4th in '11
9. Rachel Beck (Notre Dame ... So. ... Tucson, AZ)
... 11-8/+16 ... #5 pre-Regional seed
... placed17th at 2011 NCAAs (team champions), after winning Midwest Regional
10. Nina Stackhouse (Ohio St. ... Fr... Bothell, WA) ... 11-8/+13 ... #6 pre-Reg. seed
11. Olivia Dobbs (Wayne State ... Jr. ... Rochester, MI) ... 9-10/+12 ... #10 pre-Regional seed
... earned 2010 All-American honors (8th at NCAAs) ... 7th at 2010 Midwest Regional, 11th in '11
Devynn Patterson (right)
12. Devynn Patterson (Northwestern ... Sr. ... Seattle, WA)
... 9-10/-1 ... #7 pre-Regional seed
... four-time NCAA entrant (13th in '09, 21st in '10, 20th in '11)
... 2nd at 2010 Midwest Regional (9th in '09 & '11)
13. Camille Provencal-Dayle (Northwestern ... Sr. ... St. Paul, MN)
... 9-10/-2 ... #11 pre-Regional seed
... placed 11th at 2009 Midwest Regional (9th in '10, 13th in '11)
14. Marie Deschuytter (Wayne State ... Fr. ... Kuringen, Belgium)
... 8-11/-4 ... #15 pre-Regional seed
15. Tiaja Sabrie (Wayne State ... Jr. ... Midland, MI) ... 7-12/-14
... #13 pre-Regional seed ... 17th at 2010 Midwest Regional, 10th in '11
16. Rebecca Grohman (Northwestern ... Sr. ... South Orange, NJ) ... 5-14/-36 ... #19 pre-Regional seed
17. Stephanie Lee (Cleveland State ... Sr. ... North Royalton OH) ... 3-16/-45 ... #17 pre-Regional seed
18. Sarah Armitage (Detroit ... So. ... Canton, MI) ... 3-16/-57 ... #21 pre-Regional seed
19. Caitlee Hoglund (Lawrence ... Jr. ... Gurnee, IL) ... 1-18/-74 ... #22 pre-Regional seed
20. Shannon Canavan (Detroit ... So. ... Lake Orion, MI) ... 0-19/-79 ... #24 pre-Regional seed
NCAA Bids – The Region's five automatic NCAA spots went to OSU's Mona Shaito & Henvick, ND's Zeiss & Hartman, and NW's Sarkisova (her teammate Patterson received an at-large berth)
Madison Zeiss (right)
Key Bouts –
• Mona Shaito lone losses vs. OSU teammates (4-5 vs. Henvick,
0-5 vs. Stackhouse); top wins vs. Zeiss (5-2), Hartman (5-3), sister Mai Shaito (5-2), Dayana Sarkisova (5-1), Beck (5-0) & Patterson (5-1)
• Zeiss other losses vs. Mai Shaito & Dayana Sarkisova (both 2-5);
... top wins vs. Hartman (5-2), Henvick (5-2), Stackhouse (5-1), Beck (5-2) & Patterson (5-1)
• Hartman other losses vs. Mai Shaito & Radmila Sarkisova (both 1-5);
... top wins vs. Henvick (5-3), Stackhouse (5-0), Dayana Sarkisova (5-2), Beck (5-3) & Patterson (5-1)
• Mai Shaito other losses vs. Camacho (2-5), Henvick (2-5), Radmila Sarkisova (3-5) & Stackhouse (3-5);
... other top wins vs. Beck (5-4), Dayana Sarkisova (5-3) & Patterson (5-2)
• Dayana Sarkisova other losses vs. Dobbs (3-5), Camacho (4-5), Henvick (2-5) & Provencal-Dayle (2-5);
... other top wins vs. Stackhouse (3-5), Beck (2-5) & Patterson (4-5)
• Henvick other losses vs. Deschuytter (3-5), Camacho (4-5) & Radmila Sarkisova (1-5);
... other top wins vs. Stackhouse (3-5), Beck (3-5) & Patterson (4-5)
• Stackhouse other losses vs. Patterson (2-5), Sabrie (3-5), Camacho (1-5) & Radmila Sarkisova (2-5);
... other top win vs. Beck (1-5)
• Beck other loss vs. Camacho (3-5); top win vs. Patterson (5-2)
Analysis – With a 17-fencer field that included five former NCAA participants and several top-ranked newcomers, this competition was fairly wide open – as several NCAA spots were finalized by narrow margins ... the #1 and #2 seeds (ND'a Madi Zeiss and OSU's Mona Shaito) combined to go 33-5 in their pool bouts, with Shaito finishing in the top spot ... the next few finishers diverged significantly from the pre-Regional seeds, as the 3rd- through 6th-place finishers were the #8, #16, #13 and #12 seeds (ND's Grace Hartman, OSU's Mai Shaito & Allison Henvick, and ND's Adrianna Camacho) ... Hartman's strong finish essentially helped her secure ND's second spot in the NCAAs, ahead of 2011 NCAA entrant Rachel Beck (#5 seed this year, but placed 9th) ... Hartman registered a key win over Beck (5-3), also coming up with clutch bouts vs. Dayana Sarkisova (5-2) and Henvick (5-3) ... the Shaito sisters could have earned the two OSU spots, but Mai's low #16 seed was trumped a bit by Henvick (who will be making her third trip to the NCAAs) ... there actually were four OSU fencers in the mix, as yet another newcomer (Nina Stackhouse) entered as the #6 seed but placed 10th ... Henvick's pivotal bouts included a sweep of the Shaito sisters (5-4 vs. Mona, 5-2 Mai), plus 5-3 vs. Stackouse ... despite her 8th-place finish, Dayana Sarkisova earned her own third career NCAA bid thanks to a #3 seeding ... her Northwestern teammate Devynn Patterson ultimately received her fourth career trip to the NCAAs, ostensibly edging another NCAA veteran (WSU's Olivia Dobbs) for an NCAA spot (Patterson was #7 seed, placed 12th; Dobbs was #10 seed, placed 11th).
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Courtney Dumas (left)
WOMEN'S EPEE
1. Courtney Dumas (Northwestern ... Fr. ... Cleveland, OH)
... 11-2/+30 ... #6 pre-Regional seed
Kate Cavanaugh (right)
2. Kate Cavanaugh (Northwestern..Jr..Milwaukee, WI) ... 10-3/+21 ... #4 pre-Regional seed
... placed 6th at 2010 Midwest Regional, 5th in '11
3. Ashley Severson (Notre Dame ... Fr. ...
Franklin Lakes, NJ) ... 10-3/+20 ... #2 pre-Regional seed
4. Caroline Piasecka (Ohio St. ..So..Oslo, Norway) ... 10-3/+19 ... #3 pre-Reg. seed
... placed 15th at '11 NCAAs, after securing spot with 4th-place Midwest Regional finish
Ashley Severson (left)
5. Nicole Ameli (Notre Dame ... Fr. ... Las Vegas, NV)
... 10-3/+18 ... #5 pre-Regional seed
Caroline Piasecka (right)
Nicole Ameli (left)
6. Katarzyna Dabrowa (Ohio St..So..Wroclaw, Poland) ... 8-5/+14 ... #1 pre-Regional seed
... reached '11 NCAA semifinals, after winning MW Reg.
7. Dina Bazarbayeva (Northwestern..So..Houston, TX) ... 8-5/+12 ... #7 pre-Regional seed
... placed 6th at 2011 Midwest Regional
Katarzyna Dabrowa (right)
8. Kendrick Mooney (Northwestern...Jr...Arcadia, CA) ... 7-6/+6 ... #9 pre-Reg. seed
9. Channing Foster (Notre Dame...Fr...Washington, DC)...6-7/-3...#11 pre-Reg. seed
10. Alexandra Dickinson(Cleveland St...So...Medina, OH)...4-9/-16...#14 pre-Reg. seed
11. Alyssa Rosenbaum (Lawrence...Jr...Northbrook, IL)...3-10/-31...#16 pre-Reg. seed
12. Rachel Davis (Wayne St...So./Fr...Oak Park, MI) ... 2-11/-22 ... #15 pre-Reg. seed
13. Charlotte Reed (Wayne St...Sr.. Wynadotte, MI) ... 1-12/-31 ... #13 pre-Reg. seed
... previous Midwest Regional finishes: 17th in 2009, 16th in '10, 13th in '11
14. Paige Zmudczynski (Detroit ... So. ... Fraser, MI) ... 1-12/-37 ... #18 pre-Regional seed
Courtney Dumas (right)
NCAA Bids – The Region's five automatic NCAA spots went to OSU's Dabrowa & Piasecka, ND's Severson, NW's Cavanaugh & Dumas (ND's Ameli received at-large berth)
Key Bouts – • Dumas only loss vs. teammate Cavanaugh (2-5) & Severson (3-5);
... top wins vs. Piasecka (5-3), Ameli (5-3) & Dabrowa (5-4)
• Cavanaugh losses: Ameli (2-5), Severson (3-4), Piasecka (2-4)...5-3 win vs. Dabrowa
• Severson losses: Ameli (3-5), Piasecka (4-5), Bazarbayeva (2-5) ... 5-3 win vs. Dabrowa
• Piasecka other losses vs. Dabrowa (1-5) & Ameli (3-5)
• Ameli other losses vs. Mooney (4-5) & Dabrowa
• Dabrowa other losses vs. Mooney (3-5) & Zmudczynski (4-5)
Analysis – This competition was missing the 2011 NCAA champion, as ND senior Courtney Hurley is taking the year off from college fencing in her attempt to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Oympic Team (Hurley, an NCAA semifinalist her first two seasons, bested OSU's Katarzyna Dabrowa in the 2011 semi's) ... Northwestern newcomer Courtney Dumas entered as the #6 seed, needing a solid finish to reach the NCAAs – and she did just that, registering key wins over her teammate Kate Cavanaugh (5-2) and ND's Ashley Severson en route to winning the Regional titles ... runner-up Cavanaugh improved a bit on her own seed (#4) while Severson's combination of #2 seed and 3rd-place finish locked up her spot in the NCAAs (similar formula for OSU's Caoline Piasecka, #3 seed & placed 4th) ... Dabrowa was the #1 seed but went only 8-5, placing 6th ... ND's Nicole Ameli matched her #5 seed and ultimately earned an at-large berth into the NCAAs ... Dumas went 11-2 to finish ahead of four others that went 10-3 (Cavanaugh, Severson, Piasecka & Ameli), with three of those fencers, all but Piasecka, scoring top wins over Dabrowa.
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Margarita Tschomakova (left)
WOMEN'S SABRE
note: Tschomakova beat Osier in fence-off for Midwest Regional title (5-3)
1. Margarita Tschomakova (Ohio State ... Sr. ... Bonn, Germany)
... 14-1/+43 ... #4 pre-Regional seed
... 3-time All-American (NCAA semifinalist in 2010, 9th at '09 NCAAs, 5th in '11)
... previous Midwest Reginal finishes: 3rd in 2009, 4th in '10, 5th in '11
Lian Osier (right)
2. Lian Osier (Notre Dame..Jr. ... Battle Ground, WA) ... 14-1/+55 ... #2 pre-Regional seed
... 2011 All-American (9th at NCAAs; team champions) ... placed 4th at 2011 Midwest Regional
3. Allison Miller (Ohio State ... Jr. ... Chicago, IL) ... 12-3/+34 ... #1 pre-Regional seed
... 2-time NCAA entrant (16th in '10 and '11) ... 3rd at Midwest Regional in '10 and '11
Allison Miller (left)
4. Celina Merza (Ohio State ... Fr. ... Wayne, NJ) ... 12-3/+29 ... #5 pre-Regional seed
5. Chloe Grainger (Northwestern ... Jr. ... Decatur, GA)
... 11-4/+27 ... #7 pre-Regional seed
... 2011 NCAA entrant (placed 21st) ... placed 8th at 2011 Midwest Regional
Chloe Grainger (right)
6. Emily Cheng (Ohio State ... Sr. ... Sacramento, CA) ... 11-4/+25 ... #12 pre-Regional seed
... 6th at 2009 Midwest Regional, 8th in '10, 10th in '11
7. Abigail Nichols (Notre Dame ... Jr. ... Concord, MA)
... 9-6/+18 ... #3 pre-Regional seed
... placed 9th at 2010 Midwest Regional (2nd in '11)
Abigail Nichols (left)
8. Kathryn Palazzoto (Notre Dame... Jr... Nutley, NJ) ... 8-7/+6 ... #6 pre-Regional seed
9. Kaja Klodowska (Wayne St...So...Lodz, Poland)
... 7-8/+4 ... #9 pre-Regional seed ... placed 9th at Midwest Regional
Kaja Klodowska (right)
10. Beatriz Almeida (Notre Dame..Sr..Chappagua, NY)
... 7-8/-4 ... #11 pre-Regional seed
... placed 4th at 2009 Midwest Regional, 11th in '10
11. Katie Bryce (Wayne State ... Sr. ... Rochester, MI)
... 4-11/-33 ... #14 pre-Regional seed
... placed 14th at 2010 Midwest Reg., 15th in '11
12. Claire Carson (Northwestern...Fr...Durham, NC) ... 3-10/-31 ... #15 pre-Reg. seed
13. Katie Lang (Detroit ... Fr. ... Rochester Hills, MI) ... 3-12/-35 ... #20 pre-Reg. seed
14. Eva Berndt (Detroit ... So. ... Fremont, MI) ... 3-12/-46 ... #19 pre-Regional seed
15. Ariel Skellett (Detroit ... So. ... Flint, MI) ... 1-14/-45 ... #17 pre-Regional seed
16. Madeline Cooper (Lawrence ... Sr. ... Seattle, WA) ... 1-14/-47 ... #16 pre-Regional seed
(Note: two Northwestern fencers, #8 seed Alicia Gurrieri and #10 Annelise Eeman, did not compete ... Gurrieri, a junior form Medford, NJ, placed 7th at the 2010 Midwest Regional and 22nd at the '10 NCAAs)
NCAA Bids – The Region's five automatic NCAA spots went to OSU's Tschomakova & Miller, ND's Osier, WSU's Klodowska & NW's Grainger (ND's Nichols at-large bid)
Margarita Tschomakova (right)
Key Bouts –
• Tschomakova lone loss 2-5 v. Osier; top Ws: Miller (5-4), Merza (5-0), Grainger (5-2), Nichols (5-3) & Klodowska (5-2)
• Osier lone loss 4-5 vs. Merza; other top Ws vs. Miller (5-3), Grainger (5-1), Nichols (5-0) & Klodowska (5-1)
• Miller's other loss 3-5 vs. Grainger; top Ws vs. Merza (5-2), Nichols (5-3) & Klodowska (5-3)
• Merza's other loss vs. Nichols (1-5); other top win
vs. Klodowska (5-4)
• Grainger's other loss vs. Cheng (2-5); other top win
vs. Nichols (5-3)
• Nichols def. Klodowska (5-2)
Lian Osier (left)
Analysis – The Midwest's automatic NCAA allotment in women's sabre dropped from five to four this season, making for a game of musical chairs between ND, OSU and Northwestern ... Gurrieri's absence provided some breathing room – but ND's Abby Nichols had to wait for an at-large berth into the NCAAs ... Nichols was the #3 seed but slipped to a 7th-place finish, with OSU's Margarita Tschomakova (#4 seed; won Regional title) and Northwestern's Chloe Grainger (#7 seed, placed 5th) passing her to take automatic NCAA spots ... Grainger had a huge 5-3 win over Nichols and also picked up key 5-3 win vs. OSU's Allison Miller (#1 seed, placed 3rd).