CF360 Weekly Fencing Awards Archive (2009-14)
Penn Men’s Epeeist Zsombor Garzo Named
CF360 National Fencer of the Week …
> Nine others among first 2016 group of Primetime Performers
> Columbia sabre newcomer Ilana Soloman tabbed Rookie of Week
RELEASE: Jan. 21, 2016
CONTACT: Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)
(1/21/16) – University of Pennsylvania sophomore men’s epeeist Zsombor Garzo (Budapest, Hungary) has been named the CF360 National Fencer of the Week for Jan. 11-17, 2016, as presented by CollegeFencing360.com (CF360). Garzo headlines a group of 10 CF360 Primetime Performers of the Week for college fencing (all listed below, plus detail info. on all 10 further down the page), for the middle week of January. Columbia sabre freshman Ilana Solomon (East Setauket, N.Y.) has been selected by CF360 as the first 2016 national rookie of the week.
As a reminder, CF360’s Primetime Performers Honor Roll takes into account more than simply the raw stats (i.e. won-loss record), also factoring in: quality of opposition; total-points indicator; importance to team result; fencing at opponent’s site, unique challenges overcome by the fencer/team; leadership and other intangibles. In short, fencers are evaluated based on their impact and the big-picture impact of their results.
GARZO (pictured at right) made up for absence of fellow Penn epee All-American Jake Raynis (who was competing at World Cup) by winning all but two of his 18 bouts and finishing +44 in total touches (83–39), as the Quakers men lived up to their #3 national ranking by going 5–1 at the Penn State Duals (17–10 vs. rival #5 PSU; 17–10 vs. #9 Duke; 20–7 vs. Yale; 22–5 vs. UNC; 21–6 vs. Haverford; team’s lone loss came vs. #1 Columbia, 9–18). His impressive sweep vs. Columbia (+8) included a 5–1 bout vs. 2015 NCAA champion Jake Hoyle, plus 5–3 vs. another established veteran in Justin Wan (a 2013 NCAA entrant) and 5–3 vs. sophomore Porter Hesselgrove.
In Garzo’s 3–0 sweep of Penn State, he beat two other NCAA Tournament veterans: 5–1 vs. Oskar Tang and 5–3 vs. All-American Conor Shepard (also 5–1 vs. newcomer Joshua Cole). His 2–1 record vs. Duke included splitting one-touch bouts, 4–3 vs. Dean Ischiropoulos (a 2015 NCAA entrant) and 5–2 vs. Dakota Nollner. Garzo’s only other loss came by one touch, 4–5 vs. UNC’s Jason Xu. He added sweeps vs. Yale (+6) and Haverford (+9).
Garzo could emerge as a contender for the 2016 NCAA men’e epee medal round (semifinals), after placing 10th at the 2015 NCAAs to earn All-America status.
SOLOMON (pictured at left), despite being a less-heralded recruit than several of her teammates, nonetheless has demonstrated her strong work ethic and attitude during this freshman season, most recently making the most of her chances while winning all but one of her 18 bouts vs. some of nation’s top teams in action at the Penn State Duals. She stepped into a larger role due to Danya Yu’s earlier season-ending injury and fellow sophomore Lena Johnson being slowed by a nagging injury. Solomon, who went 17–1 with a +50 in total touches, helped 2nd-ranked Columbia women go 7–0 over the day’s action, with three top-10 wins: 16–11 vs. host #8 PSU (the only team she did not face), 20–7 vs. #9 Penn and 15–12 vs. #10 Temple (also 17–10 vs. Duke; 21–6 vs. UNC; 18–9 vs. Yale and 22–5 vs. Haverford).
In her 3–0 sweep of Penn, Solomon posted 5–4 wins vs. Dana Kong and Catherine Hua, plus 5–0 vs. Kathryn Khaw. She split 5–0 bouts vs. Duke’s NCAA Tournament veterans, with a win vs. Jennifer Ling and loss to Haley Fisher . Solomon also swept her bouts vs. Temple’s veteran trio: 5-3 vs. Petra Khan and Victoria Suber, plus 5-2 vs. Gloria Aguilar. She bested 2015 NCAA entrant Ilana Kamber, 5–3, as part of her sweep vs. Yale (+9), also sweeping UNC (+8) and Haverford (+12).
Solomon is joined on this week’s Primetime Performers list by her former high school/club teammate Carly Weber-Leving, currently a freshman on the sabre squad at Stanford.
The 10 Primetime Performers include five sabre fencers (three women, two men), three epeeists (two men, one women) and two women’s foilists. Two are juniors, plus five sophomores and three freshmen. Nearly half of the honorees hail from the fencing-rich New York (2)/New Jersey (2) area, plus one each from Argentina, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Nevada and Texas.
Penn State sabre newcomer Karol Metryka (right)
is one of three freshmen among CF360’Ps current
Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll.
Also of note, Garzo and two of the other Primetime Performers (sabre veterans Pascual Di Tella of Duke and Ziad Elsissy/Wayne State) have parents who have competed in various sports on an international level – see their in-depth bio. capsules, along with the other Primetime honorees, later in this release, including action photos (headshots of all 10 in right sidebar).
College Fencing Primetime Performers of the Week #1
(Jan. 11-17, 2016 ... presented by CollegeFencing360.com)
PASCUAL Di TELLA (Duke … Men’s Sabre … So. … Vicente Lopez, Argentina)
ZIAD ELSISSY (Wayne State … Men’s Sabre … Jr./So. … Alexandria, Egypt)
*ZSOMBOR GARZO (Univ. of Pennsylvania … Men’s Epee … So. … Budapest, Hungary)
SOPHIA HOLMQVIST (UC San Diego … Women’s Foil … So. … Upper Saddle River, NJ)
ALEX KEFT (Temple … Women’s Epee … Jr. … Las Vegas, NV)
KAROL METRYKA (Penn State … Men’s Sabre … Fr. … Linden, NJ)
JULE SHIGIHARA (NJIT … Women’s Foil … So. … Bonn, Gemany)
ALEX SLESS (Incarnate Word … Men’s Epee … So. … San Antontio, TX)
*ILANA SOLOMON (Columbia … Women’s Sabre … Fr. … East Setauket, NY)
CARLY WEBER-LEVINE (Stanford … Women’s Sabre … Fr. … East Setauket, NY)
* – Garzo is the CF360 National Fencer of the Week and Solomon the Rookie of the Week.
All photos on this page courtesy of the respective schools.
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PASCUAL Di TELLA
(Duke … Men’s Sabre … So. … Vicente Lopez, Argentina)
• at the Penn State Duals (12–3; +23) – Fenced all 15 bouts (12–3) while helping 9th-ranked Blue Devils men open season with three wins that included knocking off #1 Columbia, 15–12 (also 16–11 vs. Yale and 21–6 vs. Haverford; plus 10–17 loss vs. #3 Penn and 9–18 vs. #5 PSU … finished +23 (69–46) over the course of his 15 bouts, with two of his three losses coming by one touch (4–5) … went 2–1 in big win over Columbia, including 5–2 victory over Chris Ahn (lost 1–5 vs. 2015 NCAA entrant Geoff Loss, Di Tella’s only bout in which he had fewer than four touches) … nearly swept Yale (a team rec. 13th-most votes in coaches poll). dropping 4–5 bout vs. veteran Reed Srere (who placed 14th at the NCAA Northeast Regional) … also nearly swept PSU, after splitting bouts vs. former NCAA champs (4–5 vs. Andrew Mackiewicz; 5–4 vs. Kaito Streets) and winning 5–3 vs. Gavin Turner … his sweep of Penn (+6) included 5–3 win over All-American Shaul Gordon (2013 NCAA runner-up; ’14 semifinalist).
• Career Notes – His All-America showing at the 2015 NCAAs included nearly reaching the medal round (semifinals), after going 16–7 to place fifth in the men’s sabre round-robin (2nd-best ever by a Duke men’s freshman, behind epeeists Matt Andresen’s 4th-place finish in 1989) … earlier secured his spot in the NCAA field by placing 7th at the 2015 NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional … member of Argentina senior national team, also fencing previously with the cadet-level national team (U-17) … on the 2013 South American Junior Championship (U-20) and the 2012 South American Cadet Championship … his younger sister Clara also has fenced for Argentina national teams, in epee, and placed third at the 2013 Junior World Championships (in Croatia) … fencing and high-level athletics definitely run in the Di Tella family, as Pascual and Clara’s father Rafael was a 1988 and ’92 Olympian with Argentina, while their mother Astrid Maria Steverlynck was an Olympic skier (also with Argentina) in 1990 and ’94.
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ZIAD ELSISSY
(Wayne State … Men’s Sabre … Jr./So. … Alexandria, Egypt)
• at ND Duals (14–1; +50) – Potential 2016 NCAA title contender and Olympic hopeful (with Egypt) who opened 2016 in impressive fashion, going 14–1 while racking up a +50 total-points indicator (74–24), with his lone loss coming by a single touch (4–5) vs. Notre Dame All-American Jonah Shainberg … posted 5–3 win over ND’s other sabre sophomore who fenced in the 2015 NCAAs (Jon. Fitzgerald), also winning 5–2 vs. Ian Jones … yielded only one touch in sweep vs. Sacred Heart and five during three wins over NJIT, adding other sweeps vs. Detroit and Lawrence.
• Career Notes – Joined recent epee standout Slava Zingermann (three-time NCAA champion) by posting one of the top NCAA Tournament finishes by a Wayne State fencer in recent years, after placing seventh at the 2015 NCAAs … clinched his spot in the 2015 NCAA field two weeks earlier, by winning the NCAA Midwest Regional (11–2) ahead of top sabre competitors from Notre Dame and Ohio State … did not fence for WSU in 2013–14 (has two years of eligibility remaining after 2015–16) … member of Egypt’s National Fencing Team since 2009 and has served as captain of that team … has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the world … won titles at the Egyptian Championships, African Championships (cadet/U-17, junior/U-20 and senior levels) and Arab Championships (cadet and junior) … graduated from New El Quds International School … his father Manal Elsissy played basketball on the Egyptian National Team.
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*ZSOMBOR GARZO
(Univ. of Pennsylvania … Men’s Epee
So. … Budapest, Hungary)
• at Penn State Duals (16–2; +44) – Made up for absence of fellow Penn epee All-American Jake Raynis (who was competing at World Cup) by winning all but two of his 18 bouts and finishing +44 in total touches (83–39), as the Quakers men lived up to their #3 national ranking by going 5–1 at PSU (17–10 vs. rival #5 PSU; 17–10 vs. #9 Duke; 20–7 vs. Yale; 22–5 vs. UNC; 21–6 vs. Haverford; team’s lone loss came vs. #1 Columbia, 9–18) … his impressive sweep vs. Columbia (+8) included 5–1 bout vs. 2015 NCAA champion Jake Hoyle, plus 5–3 vs. another established veteran Justin Wan (2013 NCAA entrant) and 5–3 vs. sophomore Porter Hesselgrove … also beat two other NCAA Tournament veterans as part of his sweep of PSU: 5–1 vs. Oskar Tang and 5–3 vs. All-American Conor Shepard (also 5–1 vs. newcomer Joshua Cole) … his 2–1 record vs. Duke included splitting one-touch bouts, 4–3 vs. Dean Ischiropoulos (2015 NCAA entrant) and 5–2 vs. Dakota Nollner … his only other loss came by one touch, 4–5 vs. UNC’s Jason Xu … added sweeps vs. Yale (+6) and Haverford (+9).
• Career Notes – Reached the 2015 NCAAs as a freshman, earning All-America honors with his 10th-place finish … earlier had impressively secured his spot in the NCAAs by taking 4th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional … his mother Krisztina Denes played basketball for the Hungarian National Team.
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SOPHIA HOLMQVIST
(UC San Diego … Women’s Foil
So. … Upper Saddle River, NJ)
• at Western Invit. (13–1; +46) – Led the way as the UCSD women beat all four of their West Region rivals (15–12 vs. Stanford; 22–5 vs. Air Force; 21–6 vs. Cal Tech and 23–4 vs. Incarnate Word), while adding 17–10 win over Vassar … team’s only loss in that home tournament came 10–17 vs. #5 Northwestern … racked up a 66–20 edge in total touches … surrendered only one total touch spanning her sweep of rival Stanford, while her 3–0 mark vs. AFA (+11) included 5–3 win over two-time NCAA entrant Mary McElwee … her 2–1 record vs. Northwestern included a 5–2 win over two-time NCAA entrant Jen Yamin … allowed only four touches in 3–0 showing vs. Vassar, adding pair of 5–0 wins vs. Cal Tech.
• Career Notes – Turned in a solid showing at the 2015 NCAA West Regional, capping her freshman season with a 5th-place finish (best among any UCSD women’s fencer at that event) … one of several notable college fencers in recent years who have hailed from Upper Saddle River, N.J. … product of the Fencer’s Club in New York City and Northern Highlands Regional High School.
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ALEX KEFT
(Temple … Women’s Epee
Jr. … Las Vegas, NV)
• at Penn State Duals (11–1; +24) – Key leader for 10th-ranked Owls team during impressive 4–1 weekend, highlighted by 18–9 win over #8 Penn State and 20–7 victory vs. North Carolina (also 21–6 vs. Yale and 22–5 vs. Haverford) while the only loss came by a narrow margin, 12–15 vs. #2 Columbia … her clutch sweep vs. PSU included 5–3 bout vs. All-American Jessie Radanovich, 5–1 vs. senior Jessica O’Neilll-Lyublinsky (2014 NCAA entrant) and 5–3 vs. top newcomer Anastasia Kolonji … likewise impressively swept Columbia, capped by 5–4 bout vs. All-American Mason Speta (also 5-2 vs. 2015 NCAA entrant Katie Angen, plus 5–0 shutout of Audrey Yun) … added sweep of Yale (+7) and won her lone bout vs. UNC, with her only loss of the day coming 1–5 vs. Haverford’s Julie Peterson (part of her 56–32 edge in total touches).
• Keft Career Notes – Returned from a shoulder injury to record a top–10 finish (9th) at the 2015 NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional but came up a bit short in bid to qualify for the NCAA Championship … also had placed 9th at the 2014 regional … product of Clark High School and the Fencing Academy of Nevada, where her coaches include Yves Auriol (who was an assistant and then head coach at Notre Dame, helping guide the Irish to multiple team and individual NCAA titles) … brings her dance experience/footwork to the epee strip, after serving as a soloist for the Nevada Ballet Youth Company and the Las Vegas Ballet Company from 2000–13.
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KAROL METRYKA
(Penn State … Men’s Sabre … Fr. … Linden, NJ)
• at Penn State Duals (10–2; +26) – Spirited newcomer who has combined with former NCAA champions Kaito Streets (’14) and Andrew Mackiewicz (’15) to give the #5 PSU men a potent sabre trio in 2016 … had impressive first home tournament, winning 10 of his 12 bouts during team’s 5–1 day that included big 16–11 win over top-ranked Columbia (also 18–9 vs. #9 Duke; 21–6 vs. Yale; 24–3 vs. North Carolina and 22–5 vs. Haverford; plus 10–17 loss vs. rival #3 Penn) … his 55–29 edge in total points included winning records vs. four of the five opponents he faced … paced the showdown win vs. Columbia (+8), including 5–4 win vs. 2015 NCAA entrant Geoff Loss (also 5–2 vs. Chris Ahnand 5–1 vs. Michael Costin … one of his losses vs. Penn came 2–5 vs. Shaul Gordon (2013 NCAA runner-up, while at PSU; ’14 semifinalist, at Penn) … won both his bouts vs. Duke (5–2 vs. Charles Copti; 5–1 vs. Peter Yang) … added sweep of UNC (+10) and 5–3 win in his only bout vs. Yale.
• Career Notes – Currently ranked No. 3 in the USFA national rankings for under–20 (junior-level) men’s sabre fencers … claimed bronze medal at the 2014 Cadel World Championships (under–17), in Bulgaria … product of the New York Athletic Club.
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JULE SHIGIHARA
(NJIT … Women’s Foil … So. … Bonn, Gemany)
• at ND Duals (14–1; +43) – Emerging standout for NJIT program looking to make more strides in 2016 … lost only one of her 15 bouts while racking up a 68–25 edge in total touches, with her only loss coming against Wayne State All-American Zuzanna Sobczak … swept her bouts vs. the top-ranked host team Notre Dame (5-2 vs. Nicole Gorman; 5-1 vs. Reagan Fitzgerald; 5-4 vs. Sarah Followhill) … her two wins over Wayne State included a 3–1 defensive battle vs. talented newcomer Kasia Lachman … yielded only two touches vs. both Lawrence and Detroit (3–0 sweeps), also going +7 in sweep of Sacred Heart.
• Career Notes – Qualified for the 2015 Mid-Atlantic/South Regional, placing 12th … has been a member of Germany youth national teams in foil, at both the cadet (U-17) and junior (U–20) levels … finished third on the U–17 European Cadet Circuit, in Austria … also placed 22nd at the European Cadet Championships.
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ALEX SLESS action photo not currently available (will add later)
(Incarnate Word … Men’s Epee … So. … San Antontio, TX)
• at Western Invit. (18–3; +28) – Won nearly all of his bouts, including several that came down to the final touch, during his impressive college fencing debut for first-year varsity program … his sweep of #10 Stanford included 5–4 win over NCAA Tournament veteran Ben Riviere (also won 5-4 vs. Harrison MacRae and 5-3 vs. Gabe Weininger) … won all three of his bouts vs. Air Force by 5–4 scores, including his top result of the day vs. James Salem (who placed 5th at 2015 NCAAs) … won four of his six total bouts vs. Vassar, with both losses coming vs. Ry Farley (one, 4–5, due to broken equipment) … went 6–0 vs. host UCSD (+11) and 3–0 vs. another West Region team, Cal Tech (+9).
• Career Notes – Attended the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) in 2014–15, before transferring to Incarnate Word … placed fifth at the 2014 USFA Summer Nationals … local San Antonio product who has trained at the Olympian Fencing Club.
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ILANA SOLOMON
(Columbia … Women’s Sabre … Fr. … East Setauket, NY)
• PSU Duals (17–1; +50) – Less-heralded recruit who has demonstrated her strong work ethic and attitude during freshman season, most recently making the most of her chances while winning all but one of her 18 bouts vs. some of nation’s top teams in action at Penn State … stepped into larger role due to Danya Yu’s earlier season-ending injury and fellow sophomore Lena Johnson being slowed by a nagging injury … helped 2nd-ranked Columbia women go 7–0 over the day’s action, with three top-10 wins: 16–11 vs. host #8 PSU (the only team she did not face), 20–7 vs. #9 Penn and 15–12 vs. #10 Temple (also 17–10 vs. Duke; 21–6 vs. UNC; 18–9 vs. Yale and 22–5 vs. Haverford) … totaled 50 more touches than touches allowed (87–37) … her sweep of Penn included 5–4 wins vs. Dana Kong and Catherine Hua, plus 5–0 vs. Kathryn Khaw … split 5–0 bouts vs. Duke’s NCAA Tournament veterans, with a win vs. Jennifer Ling and loss to Haley Fisher … swept her bouts vs. Temple’s veteran trio: 5-3 vs. Petra Khan and Victoria Suber, 5-2 vs. Gloria Aguilar … bested 2015 NCAA entrant Ilana Kamber, 5–3, as part of her sweep vs. Yale (+9) … also swept UNC (+8) and Haverford (+12).
• Notes – Prep and club teammate of Stanford sabre freshman Carly Weber-Levine, at Ward Melville High School and Mission Fencing Club … she and Weber-Levine served as co-captains for WMHS team that won third straight Long Island Championship title … her 36–2 record as a senior included winning county title.
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CARLY WEBER-LEVINE
(Stanford … Women’s Sabre … Fr. … East Setauket, NY)
• Western Invit. (14–2; +58) – Had impressive college fencing debut, losing only two of her 16 bouts while facing various West Region rivals, plus #5 Northwestern and Vassar … her dominant 77-19 edge in total touches included 5–2 win over Air Force All-American Alyssa Hofelina and 5–1 victory vs. Northwestern veteran Julia Abelsky (2013 NCAA entrant) … also beat Maddy Curzon, 5–1, for winning record vs. Northwestern (loss came 3–5 vs. All-American Alisha Gomez … her only other loss of the day came by a single touch, 4–5 vs. Leanne Singleton-Comfort of host UCSD (she had a 5–3 win over Taylor Walsh and 5–2 vs. Lillian Chu) … her sweep of AFA also included a 5–4 bout vs. Lauren Sides and 5–1 vs. Lydia Kim … also went 3–0 against Vassar: 5-4 vs. Annie Innes-Gold, 5-1 vs. Arianna Hawk and 5-0 vs. Lilia Hutchinson … did not allow a touch in three wins vs. Cal Tech (Incarnate Word did not field a sabre squad/forfeited bouts).
• Career Notes – Prep and club teammate of current Columbia sabre freshman Ilana Solomon, at Ward Melville High School and with the Mission Fencing Club … she and Solomon served as co-captains in 2015, for WMHS team that won its third straight Long Island Fencing Championship title … set school record by going 38–0 in one season … her top national and international results include placing 20th at the 2013 Cadet (under–17) World Cup in Poland and reaching the cadet final (top-8) at the 2013 North American Cup in Columbus, Ohio … her older brother Randall competed in crew, squash and hockey (club) at Colgate … her diverse talents include playing the violin and considering a major in engineering.