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 West Region has two automatic berths to the 2012 NCAA Championships in every weapon except men's epee (3). There is a maximum of two entries per school in each weapon. NCAA bids become official on March 13. In some cases, coaches have an option in selecting which fencers will comprise their entries in the NCAAs (if additional fencers meet the qualification standard). There also are 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).
Stanford junior men's epeeist Kian Ameli (right)
CLICK HERE for 2012 West Regional WOMEN'S recap (men's below)
Here's an overview of the NCAA West Regional fencing competition, held at Stanford. The format was a full round-robin (one pool, ranging from 9-13 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, probable NCAA qualifiers, key bouts, and brief analysis (more headshot and action photos may be added, as available).
More to follow for the West Regional women's competition and the other three 2012 Regionals (Midwest, Mid-Atlantic/South, and Northeast).
All photos on this page courtesy of the respective schools.
2012 NCAA Men'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 – 8 from Northeast Region ... 7 Mid-Atlantic/South ... 5 Midwest ... 2 West ... 2 at-large
Previous NCAA West Regional Results (courtesy CF360)
2011 | 2010 | 2009
2012 NCAA FENCING WEST REGIONAL – Men's Results
(March 10; at Stanford's Arrillaga Center ... courtesy CollegeFencing360.com)
Turner Caldwell (left)
MEN'S FOIL
1. Turner Caldwell (Stanford ... So. ... San Francisco, CA)
... 8-0/+26 ... #1 pre-Regional seed ... won 2011 West Regional (placed 7th at NCAAs)
Phillip Choy (Air Force)
2. Phillip Choy (Air Force ... Sr. ... Basking Ridge, NJ) .
.. 6-2/+10 ... #7 pre-Regional seed
... placed 5th at the West Regional in 2009, 6th in 2010,
3. Michael Fong (UC San Diego ... Sr. ... Santa Clara, CA)... 6-2/+6... #5 pre-Reg. seed
... Runner-up at West Regional in '09, won in '10, 5th in '11 (24th at '09 NCAAs, 19th in '10)
4. Alex Chiang (Air Force ... Fr. ... Atlanta, GA) ... 5-3/+9 ... #2 pre-Regional seed
5. Andrew Schuermann (Stanford ... Grad. ... Merrittt Island, FL)
... 4-4/-1 ... #9 pre-Regional seed
6. Joseph Schenkel (UC San Diego ... Jr. ... Los Angeles, CA)
... 3-5/-3 ... #6 pre-Regional seed ... placed 5th at 2010 West Regional, 8th in '11
7. Alexander Lavin (UC San Diego ... Jr. ... Woodland Hills, CA)
... 2-6/-7 ... #4 pre-Regional seed ... placed 9th at 2011 West Regional
8. Jonathan Lee (Stanford ... Fr. ... Montville, NJ) ... 2-6/-11 ... #3 pre-Regional seed
9. Jeffrey Chan (UC San Diego ... Fr. ... Freemont, CA) ... 0-8/-19 ... #8 pre-Regional seed
NCAA Bids – 2 automatic NCAA spots (Caldwell is lock; other spot: Choy, Fong or Chiang)
Key Bouts – Caldwell 5-2 vs. Choy, 5-1 vs. Fong, 5-2 vs. Chiang
... Choy 0-5 vs. Fong, 5-2 vs. Chiang, 5-3 vs. Lee, 5-2 vs. Lavin, 5-2 vs. Schenkel
... Fong 5-4 vs. Chiang, 5-3 vs. Lee, 5-3 vs. Lavin, 3-5 vs. Schuermann
Analysis – As #7 seed, Air Force's Phillip Choy was longshot to reach the NCAA Championship, but he may have done so with runner-up Regional finish that included key wins over #2, #3, #4 and #6 seeds ... Stanford's Turner Caldwell won all eight of his bouts, en route to repeating as West Regional champion (beat Air Force's Daniel Cohen in 2011 fence-off) ... if not for Choy's push, UCSD's Michael Fong may have completed his own surge into the NCAAs (#5 seed, placed 3rd, w/ key wins over #2, #3 and #4 seeds, but costly loss to #9 seed).
Chase Houser (left)
MEN'S EPEE
1. Chase Houser (Air Force ... So. ... Sunnyvale, CA)... 11-1/+30... #2 pre-Reg. seed
... placed 7th at 2011 West Regional
Kian Ameli (right)
2. Kian Ameli (Stanford ... Jr. ... Las Vegas, NV)
... 10-2/+27 ... #1 pre-Regional seed
... 3rd at West Regional in '10 & '11 (11th at '10 NCAAs)
3. Cole Connelly (Stanford ... Jr. ... San Jose, CA)
... 9-3/+23 ... #4 pre-Regional seed
... 7th at West Regional in 2010, 9th in 2011
4. Kevin Mo (Stanford ... Sr. ... Irvine, CA) ... 9-3/+23 ... #6 pre-Regional seed
... Runner-up at '08 & '10 West Reg., 4th in '11 (NCAAs: 8th in '10, 17th in '09 & '11)
5. Jake Harbour (Stanford ... So. ... Santa Fe, NM) ... 7-5/+8 ... #3 pre-Regional seed
... Won 2011 West Regional (placed 13th at NCAAs)
6. Nathan Sorenson (Air Force ... Jr. ... Houston, TX) ... 7-5/+7 ... #5 pre-Reg. seed
... placed 5th at 2010 West Regional
7. Adam Campbell (UC San Diego ... Fr. ... Boulder, CO) ... 6-6/+1 ... #8 pre-Regional seed
8. Luc Ginestet (UC San Diego) ... 5-7/-9 ... #7 pre-Regional seed
9. Mister Jackson (Air Force ... Sr. ... Phoenix, AZ) ... 4-8/-13 ... #9 pre-Regional seed
10. Stan Schor (Cal Tech ... So. ... Rochester, NY) ... 4-8/-14 ... #11 pre-Regional seed
... placed 12th at 2011 West Regional
11. Brooks Eggerth (UC San Diego ... Sr ... Lancaster, CA) ... 2-10/-19 ... #10 pre-Regional seed
12. Alex Mann (UC San Diego ... Jr. ... San Diego, CA) ... 2-10/-24 ... #12 pre-Regional seed
13. John Christian (Cal Tech ... Fr. ... Calabasas, CA) ... 0-12/-40 ... #13 pre-Regional seed
Cole Connely (right)
NCAA Bids –
3 auto. NCAA spots (Houser & Ameli are locks; other spot: Connelly, Mo or Harbour)
Key Bouts –
... Houser 5-4 vs. Ameli, 3-5 vs. Connelly, 0-0 vs. Mo (won on priority), 5-1 vs. Harbour
... Ameli 5-2 vs. Connelly, 3-4 vs. Mo, 5-1 vs. Harbour
... Connelly 3-5 vs. Mo, 5-4 vs. Harbour, 2-3 vs. Jackson
... Mo 5-3 vs. Harbour, 4-5 vs. Sorensen, 3-4 vs. Ginestet-Araki
... Harbour 3-5 vs. Campbell
Analysis – Not much drama for the top-two spots, as the #2 and #1 spots finished 1-2 ... a pair of Stanford veterans – three-time NCAA entrant Kevin Mo and 2011 West Region champion Jake Harbour – may come up short in their bids for return to the NCAAs (Mo was #6 seed, placed 4th; Harbour was #3 seed but placed 5th) ... their teammate Cole Connelly may slip into the Region's third NCAA allocated spot (#4 seed, placed 3rd, w/ key wins over Harbour and AFA's Houser).
Cameron Lindsay (left)
MEN'S SABRE
1. Cameron Lindsay (Stanford ... Fr. ... Malibu, CA)
... 8-2/+19 (won 5-4 fenceoff vs. Klepner) ... #3 pre-Regional seed
Jeremy Klepner (right)
2. Jeremy Klepner (Stanford ... So. ... Great Neck, NY) ... 8-2/+22 (lost 4-5 fenceoff vs. Lindsay
... #1 pre-Regional seed ... 8th at 2011 West Regional
3. Daniel McHugh (Stanford ... So. ... Belmont, MA)
... 7-3/+9 ... #8 pre-Regional seed
4. Emiliano Kaptain (Air Force...Fr...Baton Rouge, LA) ...6-4/+11...#2 pre-Reg. seed
5. Nich. Bartuzik (UC San Diego...So...San Diego, CA) ...6-4/+6...#4 pre-Reg. seed
... runner-up at 2011 West Regional (21st at NCAAs)
6. Peter Meckling (UCSD ... Fr. ... Centennial, CO) ... 6-4/-1 ... #7 pre-Regional seed
7. Scott Pippin (Air Force ... Jr. ... Palm Desert, CA) ... 5-5/+5 ... #6 pre-Reg. seed
... placed 11th at 2010 West Regional, won in 2011 (24th at NCAAs)
8. Bryson Abilay (UC San Diego ... So. ... Foster City, CA) ... 5-5/+4 ... #9 pre-Regional seed
... placed 6th at 2011 West Regional
9. Emerson Woerner (Air Force ... So. ... Carmel, IN) ... 2-8/-14 ... #5 pre-Regional seed
... placed 7th at 2011 West Regional
10. Jonathan Schor (Cal Tech ... So. ... Rochester, NY) ... 2-8/-24 ... #10 pre-Regional seed
11. Harrison Miller (Cal Tech ... Fr. ... Grand Prairie, TX) ... 0-10/-37 ... #11 pre-Regional seed
NCAA Bids – 2 automatic NCAA spots (Lindsey & Klepner are locks)
Key Bouts – Lindsay 3-5 vs. Klepner, 5-1 vs. McHugh, 5-3 vs. Kaptain, 1-5 vs. Pippin
... Klepner 5-2 vs. McHugh, 4-5 vs. Kaptain, 4-5 vs. Meckling
... McHugh 5-4 vs. Kaptain, 1-5 vs. Abilay, 5-3 vs. Woerner, 5-3 vs. Pippin, 5-1 vs. Meckling
... Kaptain 3-5 vs. Bartuzik, 3-5 vs. Meckling
Analysis – Stanford's Jeremy Klepner nearly matched his #1 seed, finishing 2nd to essentially clinch a spot in the NCAAs ... his teammate Cameron Lindsay (#3 seed) solidified his own NCAA chances by winning the Regional title ... Air Force's Emiliano Kaptain entered the Regional as the #2 seed but had lostly losses vs. Lindsay along with the #4, #7 and #8 seeds.