Men’s Fencing Competes at U.S. Squad Championships

PHILADELPHIA - On Sunday, the Quakers will take part in the inaugural United States Collegiate Squad Fencing Championships hosted by New York University.

These Championships include some of the nation's top talent and provide a new format for the fencers to test their skill. This format features a relay-scoring structure to 45, rather than the typical protocol of regular NCAA fencing competitions. The scoring accumulates over nine rounds, and the team with the most touches or 45 total touches, whichever happens first after the nine rounds, wins.

Top-ranked Notre Dame will send only its foil team, as will No. 4 Penn State.  Ohio State, ranked fifth, will boast its epee squad, and Johns Hopkins will enter in sabre. NYU, Yeshiva, Brown, Haverford, Hunter, North Carolina, Yale, and Columbia make up the rest of the competition for the Red and Blue, and will send all three weapons to fence.

The Quakers boast impressive records across all three weapons this year, led by sabre's 20-2 overall mark. The team has been led this season by sophomore Evan Prochniak and freshmen Josh Hammond and Michael Mills. Prochniak is 40-11 on the year while Hammond (37-15) and Mills (31-13) both have winning percentages over .700

Foil and epee are both 17-5 this season as three fencers have 30 victories this year. Junior Zane Grodman is the lone foilist to achieve that mark, with his 31-16 record, while freshman Clifford Fishler and Jacob Wischnia both have 30 wins. Fishler is 37-17 while Wischnia is 30-18 overall.