• Women's Foil
• Women's Epee
• Women's Sabre
• Men's Foil
• Men's Epee
• Men's Sabre
* Adding more for 2013, with photos
PETER COHEN
YALE ... Epee ... So. ... Irvington, NY
... 2011 All-American (NCAA semifinalist)
... #4 seed entering 2012 NCAA Northeast Regional (placed 12th)
... placed 10th at 2011 NCAA Northeast Regional
Birthplace – New York City
High School – Hackley (Tarrytown, NY)
College major – Environmental Engineering
FENCING BACKGROUND ...
How did you get started – My sister came home for a break from Yale when I was in 8th grade and I met her friend Michael Pearce who was on the Yale fencing team. He told me about the sport and I found a club nearby (FAW) and started with Alexy Cheremsky. I then fenced with Mike at the Maccabiah Games in Israel and lost to him 15-13 in the individual competition but beat him when he came for the alumni tournament last year when I was a freshman.
Relatives in other sports – Sister Abby was recruited to play squash at UPenn but was injured and never competed.
Current Coaches – Henry Harutunian (Yale), Alexy Cheremsky (Empire United)
Key Influences – Michael Pearce, he introduced me to the sport and I have had a lot of interaction with him since then.
ATHLETIC CAREER ...
Former Teammates – Marat Israelian (EUF) and Nick Vomero (EUF) from St. John's, PSU's Anthony Green (EUF/FAW), ND's Mike Rossi (EUF/FAW) and Columbia's Alen Hadzic (EUF)
Favorite Fencer – Fabrice Jeannet, he is amazing to watch and an inspiration for using the french grip.
FAVORITES ...
My most memorable fencing moment was fencing at the 18th Maccabiah Games in Israel. It was great to represent my country and my religion and be surrounded by Jewish athletes from around the world.
Favorite pro sports teams – NY Knicks
Favorite food – Chinese food
Favorite TV show – Entourage
Favorite movie – Gladiator
______________________________
Name (school): Dylan Nollner (Duke)
Do you have any nicknames?: DNollz
What would be the title of your autobiography?:
Official Height: 6'1" (for list of tallest/shortest fencers in 2013 NCAAs)
Birthplace (city, state, country): San Mateo, California
Current Hometown: Ogden, Utah
Is there anything notable or unusual about your hometown? (describe):
Other noteworthy places where you/your family have lived?: It's not a traditional fencing city...
High School (city, state): Bonneville High School, Washington Terrace, Utah
High School's Nickname and Colors: Lakers -- Blue and Gold
If you were home-schooled, what were the basic plusses and minuses of that?:
College Major: Psychology
Favorite College Class (why?): Anthropology of Sports -- Super interesting to look at modern sports from a analytical perspective. Why does everyone spend so much of their time watching other people run around playing a simple game?
Why did you choose your college?: Best combination of academics, athletics, and social scene imaginable.
What do you most like about being a student-athlete at your school? Student-athletes at Duke are treated incredibly well. Access to some of the best facilities and staff in the world.
What would be your dream job?: Professional fencer...
Where do you want to be/what do you want to be doing in 10 years? Either working in advertising or being a personal trainer.
FENCING BACKGROUND
How did you get started in fencing?: Saw it in a movie, looked up a local club in the phone book, and was hooked from day one.
Do you have current family members/ancestors who have been fencers? (for each, list their names, relation to you, weapon, and key fencing achievements): My step-dad is my coach and my brother also fences epee. My brother Dakota and I were both on the 2012 Junior Olympic podium when I qualified for Junior World Championships -- very cool moment for both of us.
Do you have any family ancestry from a traditional fencing country? (provide specifics):
Relatives who have competed in college or pro sports, other than fencing? (include details):
Who are you current coaches (college and club)?: Kenny Nopens (Schoolhouse Fencing) and Alex Beguinet (Duke)
Who are your former coaches (list names, sites of training and time frames):
Who have been the key influences on your fencing career (and why)?: Kenny has been absolutely instrumental to my success in fencing. Always willing to work with me seven days a week, always willing to push me, and he allowed a reciprocally critical relationship between us that spurred us both to become exponentially better. By constantly analyzing ourselves and the training methods we were using, every practice we tweaked what worked and what didn't.
What are three words that best describe your college head coach and/ or weapon coach?: Dedicated, genuine, organized.
YOUR ATHLETIC CAREER
Do you have any pre-bout rituals or superstitions?: As long as Kanye is blasting, I'm good to go.
Areas where you feel you have improved most this season: I went home over the summer and fine-tuned my distance and footwork. It still has a long way to go, but that was always a huge weakness of mine and I turned it into one of my biggest strengths.
What are key areas of improvement remain for you?: Overall strength and speed. There's a stigma around lifting weights or getting big in fencing, but I went to my first SWC this year and being amazed at how strong and quick the top fencers were.
How would you describe this college season (for you and your team)? A lot of ups and downs. I've made a lot of changes to my fencing after aging out of Juniors and seeing what it takes to compete in Seniors so a lot of tweaking and adjustments from me. For my team... it was a rough regionals for us but everyone is willing to put in a lot of work over the offseason so I'm looking forward to that.
List your present/former teammates (HS/club/national teams) who will be fencing in the 2012 NCAAs for other teams (include name, plus where and when you fenced together):
Of the fencers listed above, who are you closest to?:
From the fencers in the 2013 NCAAs, are there any you have fenced a high number of times? (include names and brief details about your bout history vs. them):
Who is your favorite international/national-team fencer (and why)?: The Swiss duo of Heinzer and Kauter are absolutely tearing up the senior circuit right now and it's incredible.
Have you ever fenced other weapons on a competitive level (include brief details): I actually started with foil and got top-8 in Div2 at the 2008 Nationals.
What do you like most about college fencing?: The atmosphere and camaraderie at meets (especially the Duke home meet) is second to none. Nothing better than having all your closest friends screaming and supporting you.
What would you change about college fencing?: I really don't like the 5 touch bout format. Especially for epee, it hardly allows and adjustments for the fencers and makes epee even more random than it already is. Also, apart from NCAA championships and Ivy Champs, the entire team aspect of it plays literally zero roles apart from letting the school feel good about itself. Introduce a standard 45-touch team format or stop trying to place such importance on a "win".
Did you play other sports at a high level (during high school)?:
If you were to play another sport on the collegiate level, what would it be?:Tennis
How long would you like to continue fencing on a competitive level?: As long as it takes.
FAVORITES
What is your favorite college fencing roadtrip and why?: NCAAs because we actually get to fly instead of bus...
Favorite cities where you have fenced at an event (and why)?: San Jose nationals was so warm.
Favorite/most memorable fencing moment (and why)?: 10th at Junior Worlds was incredible.
Most embarrassing moment on the fencing strip: It never gets much worse than trying to figure out why your weapon isn't working and then realizing that you never actually plugged into the reel.
Strangest/rarest thing ever seen in a fencing match your college team was competing in:
Favorite pro sports teams/athletes (why?): Utah Jazz baby... it's all we've got out there.
Favorite Food: Mexican food
Favorite TV Show and/or Movie; Actor and/or Actress: Game of Thrones