Fencing finishes strong, tying season win record

By: Mike Porambo

Posted: 2/14/08

Both the men's and women's fencing teams finished their regular seasons off strong, with the men's team tying their single-season wins record with 26, and the women's team finishing 4-2 at the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference Championships team event.

The men's team is now 26-11 as they get ready for the Middle Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association Championships on Feb. 24 in West Point, NY. Hopkins traveled down to Durham, N.C. last Friday for the Duke Invitational, and traveled up to the New Jersey Institute of Technology for five dual meets on Sunday. The Jays dueled well at Duke, defeating MIT (17-10) and ninth-ranked Brandeis, but losing to Duke (18-9), North Carolina (15-12) and the Air Force Academy (16-11). The win over Brandeis was huge; it marks the first time the Jays have defeated the Judges since 2000-2001 and only the third time ever. Determined to avenge their three losses at Duke, the men's traveled up to NJIT prepared, slaughtering the competition, winning all five meets, beating Cornell (21-6), Army (22-5), Drew (16-11), Lafayette (26-1) and Haverford (17-10).

Of the foil, sabre and epee teams, the foil team completed the weekend with the best record, finishing 62-28. Junior Jimmy Einsiedler was the top performer, finishing 23-6. Juniors David Ferguson and Ben Dorfman contributed double-digit wins as well, winning 16 and 15, respectively. Dorfman leads the foil team overall for the season with a record of 62-28.

The sabre team fought well also, finishing 60-30 for the weekend. The team's two top performances belonged to freshman Max Wieder and senior Aaron Fernandes. Wieder won 22 of his 29 bouts, leading the team with a 78-29 record overall, the most wins in the sabre position since 1997-1998. Fernandes only lost three, winning 24 of 27, increasing his total win count to 67.

The epee team finished with a winning record overall as well, finishing 47-43. The team was led by freshman Nick Krywopusk and sophomore James Pearse. Krywopusk finished the weekend 12-12, improving his overall record to 53-30. Pearse only lost one bout en route to a ten-win weekend, finishing the regular season 30-8.

Hopkins travels up to West Point, NY, on Feb. 24 for the 2008 MACFA Championships. Look for them to do very well. The team has won more overall titles than any other school in MACFA history with 24, winning their last MACFA title in 2005.