“They kinda creamed them.”
These are the words of men’s sophomore epée Ryan Lee in reference to the women’s team’s victories this past weekend.
No. 2 ranked Princeton women’s fencing swept their competition at the annual Ivy League Fencing Round-Robins in Ithaca, N.Y. The women’s team went a perfect 6–0 in the tournament by winning an impressive 23 of 27 bouts against Brown, then securing the Ivy League Championship title with 20 of 27 bouts against the Columbia Lions.
The men’s team, also ranked No. 2 in the nation, ended the tournament in third place with a 2–2 record.
Fencing is divided into three different weapons: foil, saber, and epée. In a given match, there are 27 total bouts up for grabs.
Despite the sport being equally a team and an individual effort, there were many notable individual achievements this weekend for the Tigers, such as first-year epée Hadley Husisian securing a First Team Epée All-Ivy League honor by placing first place in her weapon (14–2).
“Each person’s performance on the strip was in the service of securing the team its overall victory,” Husisian said to the ‘Prince.’ “After spending the whole year training together, it was really special to be able to celebrate each win as a group of people who wholeheartedly supported one another.”
Along with Husisian’s performance, sophomore epée Jessica Lin placed third (11–5), sophomore foil Maia Weintraub secured first place (14–3), senior foil May Tieu followed Weintraub in second (14–4), and senior saber Chloe Fox-Gitomer finished in second (16–2).
Each Tiger earned their own All-Ivy League Honoree position in their weapons.
“I feel very happy about successfully defending our team title as well as my own individual title,” Weintraub wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “I’ve really come to love fencing and competing alongside my teammates, and I think it shows in our results.”
Lin won the dramatic final bout versus Columbia, which ended 20–7 and gave Princeton the Ivy League championship.
“Our team is incredibly close-knit, and I think we’re unlike most sports teams on campus,” Husisian said. “The men and women train together every day, which adds an extra layer of support … even before practices officially began, the upperclassmen [cultivated] a fun, hard-working, inclusive team atmosphere.”
“I’m incredibly proud of the women’s team for fighting their hearts out,” junior epée Tristan Szapary wrote to the Daily Princetonian. “It was one of the most dominant performances I’ve ever seen.”
On the men’s side, Szapary improved upon his 7–5 performance from last year to a 9–3 match record, earning his own first-place ranking and First Team Epée All-Ivy League Honoree status.
Lee (6–3) took All-Ivy First Team epée. Junior Jasper Levy (6–6) earned Second Team All-Ivy Honoree in foil. First-year Matthew Limb (6–4) took Second Team saber All-Ivy, and sophomore Ronald Anglade (6–6) also earned a Second Team saber All-Ivy Honoree.
With an eye toward the NCAA regionals on Mar. 11, the women’s and men’s teams hope to secure the national title for the first time since 2013.
“At the end of the day, the teams [are] the sharpest I’ve ever seen and I feel confident going into regionals and NCAAs,” Szapary said.
“This strong performance at Ivies for a second time in a row shows what we’re capable of doing,” Weintraub added. “I believe all that’s left for us to do is fence our hearts out at [the NCAA tournament] and show everyone exactly what kind of team we are. A winning team.”
Cole Keller is an associate editor for the Sports section at the ‘Prince.’
Ava Seigel is a contributor to the Sports section at the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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