Fencing: Decorated veterans hope to repeat recent success

This year’s men’s and women’s fencing teams have a lot to live up to, with last year’s teams winning Ivy League championships and finishing second at the NCAA National Championships. But with most of its strongest members returning, Princeton is very deep this year and poised to repeat last year’s success.

The men’s side hopes to continue its dominance of the last few years. Although four-time All-America foilist Alexander Mills ’12 graduated, most of last year’s strongest fencers are returning, including senior epeeist Jonathan Yergler, who won the individual men’s epee national championship last year.

The men’s sabre team looks to improve on last year’s success and will be led by junior Phil Dershwitz, who tied for third at the NCAA Championships last year. Also returning is junior Robert Stone, who finished 22nd at nationals.

The men’s foil squad will need to continue without Mills, who tied for third at nationals last year, and Marcus Howard ’12, who placed 20th. This year’s squad will need to build on its youth, as Mills and Howard are replaced by two freshmen from Texas, Rodney Chen and Michael Dudey, while sophomore Robert Daniluk and senior Robert Malcolm will lend their experience to the foilists.

The men’s epee squad is the deepest, with six members. Yergler and senior Ed Kelley, who finished eighth at nationals, will lead the epeeists in what will probably be the Tigers’ strongest squad.

The women’s team also has many fencers returning, most notably senior sabrist Eliza Stone, who tied for third at the NCAA Championships last year and finished second the year before, and sophomore epeeist Katharine Holmes, who also finished third at nationals.

The women’s sabre squad will be led by Stone and junior Diamond Wheeler, who finished 13th at nationals. New to the sabre squad is freshman Gracie Stone, Eliza and Robert's younger sister. “It's so much fun, finally being on the same team with my brother and sister, all representing Princeton," Gracie said.

Returning to the women’s foil squad are sophomore Ambika Singh, who finished 10th at nationals, and junior Eve Levin, who was 12th.

The women’s epee squad is also headed by a strong duo, Holmes and senior Hannah Safford, who placed seventh at nationals.

The Tigers hope to continue their Ivy League success of the past several years. The past three seasons the women’s team has won the Ivy League Championship without a single league loss, while the men’s team won the Ancient Eight title with undefeated league seasons in 2010 and 2012. Last year’s men’s team finished with an overall record of 23-2 and the women’s was 23-3.

Princeton is off to a great start, showcasing its talent in the Penn State Open at the beginning of November. On the women’s side, Gracie Stone finished second in the sabre and Eliza Stone third, while Levin finished third in foil. For the men, Yergler finished fourth in epee, with freshman Jack Hudson right behind him in fifth. Stone finished 10th in the sabre and sophomore Andrew Meyers finished 11th in foil.

Princeton’s next meet is the Vassar Duals on Dec. 1. Overall, this year’s Tigers, with many of last year’s best fencers returning and bolstered by new talent, look to rival last year’s success and make a deep run in the NCAA Championships, individually and as a team.

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“We are all so excited to represent Princeton. The team has worked hard up until now, but we know we have a long way to go together before the Ivy League and the NCAA Championships,” Gracie Stone said.