The Princeton men’s fencing team, ranked 3rd in the country, continued their dominant performance in the Ivy League, capturing their second consecutive conference title with a thrilling 14–13 victory over No. 2 Columbia at The Palestra in Philadelphia on Sunday. This win was the Tigers’ first outright Ivy League championship since 2012.
Heading into Sunday’s final rounds, both the men’s and women’s teams remained undefeated. With the men sitting in first at 3–0 and Columbia right behind them at 2–0, the stage was set for a thrilling showdown.
Saturday’s strong performances across all weapons helped the Tigers battle through tough matches, including a narrow 14–13 victory over Penn and a decisive 15–12 win against Harvard. Sophomore epeeist Alec Brooke led the épée squad with an outstanding 8–1 record on the first day.
The Tigers, securing hard-fought victories over No. 7 Yale, No. 4 Penn, and No. 13 Harvard, looked to defend their Ivy League title with their final match against Columbia. The match didn’t disappoint.
With the Ivy League Championship on the line, the Tigers were up 13–12 and needed a win from Brooke in order to secure the Ivy League Championship.
“There was one épée and one foil match left, and Alec’s match was the first one up. We knew if he won, we would win the whole thing,” sophomore épéeist Alexander Liu told The Daily Princetonian.
As the pressure mounted, the weight of the situation became clear to Brooke.
“At the start of the day, I was feeling confident as I had fenced well the day before and felt ready for the final match-up.” Brooke told the ‘Prince.’ “I knew I was the last match, and as other weapons were finishing, I knew that if I won, we would win the championship, but if I lost, we would lose it.”
With the entire stadium watching, Brooke stepped up and delivered the final touch, lifting the Tigers to victory and clinching the Ivy League title in dramatic fashion.
“It was sudden death. I tried to spend extra time to compose myself, and it worked … I scored that last touch, and we won.” Brooke said. “It was one of the hardest mental moments I’ve ever had in my career … At the end of the match, I just remembered being so relieved.”
The score was finally settled, and the Tigers clinched the championship, winning 14–13.
“After I took my mask off and saw the whole team running at me cheering, the moment fully started to sink in that we had won the championship,” Brooke said to the ‘Prince.’
Throughout this tournament, Princeton’s success was driven by standout individual performances, particularly in épée, where the Tigers dominated this competition. Brooke (10–2) and Senior épéeist Nicholas Lawson (9–2) earned First Team All-Ivy League honors.
“I feel so proud to be first team all-Ivy as it tells me that I was doing well to help the team as much as I could,” Brooke told the ‘Prince.’ “Last year, in my first year, I also ended up 2nd individually, and even though I’ve been close to first place both years, I’m happy that I’ve been fencing consistently.”
First-year foilist Allen Chen (8–4) led the foil team and also secured a First Team All-Ivy selection, while junior saberists Matthew Limb (7–5) and Adam Lai (6–5) earned Second Team saber honors.
“I’m super proud of Allen. Being a first-year in this intense environment is not easy, and he fenced so well. It was super impressive, and he beat a lot of strong opponents. We’re all super proud of him,” Liu said to the ‘Prince.’
Princeton’s épée squad dominated this tournament. Against Yale, they swept their bouts 9–0, with Brooke, Lawson, and Liu leading the charge. The épée dominance continued against Penn (8–1) and Harvard (5–4).
“We have a really talented group of fencers. At the beginning of the season, we weren’t fencing as well, but over the last few weeks, we’ve really turned it up a notch,” Liu said to the ‘Prince.’
With Ivy League play behind them, the Tigers will look to continue to build off their momentum as they shift their focus to the upcoming NCAA regionals on March 11.
“Regionals is a different atmosphere. We will be training super hard every day and look to beat the best,” Liu said.
Matthew Yi is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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