Fencing remains undefeated after going 8-0 at Penn State Duals

Upper West Side NY

22 January, 2022

1:35 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY ROBERT GAO • JANUARY 19, 2022, 10:19 PM In the first meet of the calendar year, Columbia fencing defeated its toughest competition yet. Both the men's and women's teams remain unbeaten this season, improving to a combined 29-0 after sweeping eight matches at the Penn State Duals on Jan. 16. The women's team entered the meet with a record of 11-0, looking to keep its pristine record unblemished. However, its winning streak was immediately put to the test in the opener against host Pennsylvania State University. Senior Sylvie Binder took three foil bouts and Vera Kong claimed three sabre bouts to give Columbia a 6-3 sabre advantage and a 5-4 foil advantage, but the match ultimately came down to sophomore Mina Yamanaka's final épée bout. There, the Lions faced a 2-6 deficit, after Yamanaka lost her first two bouts. However, the Queens native brushed off her slow start and won her final bout against the Nittany Lions' Nirali Igoe, securing a 14-13 victory. Head coach Michael Aufrichtig had stressed resilience as one of the team's main goals going into the meet. "I pulled out a tennis ball and reminded people that 'You're going to lose a point, you're going to lose a match, but you [have] got to bounce back and win the next one,' and so collectively as a team, we won what we needed," Aufrichtig said. He praised the team for a gritty win against a strong program. The men's team, undefeated at 10-0 before the meet, battled with similar determination through its first match against Penn State. Led by sophomore sabrist Robert Vidovszky, senior foilist James Bourtis, and junior foilist Andrew Zheng, who recorded three victorious bouts each, the Light Blue emerged with a 16-11 win, its second-narrowest margin of victory this season. Both teams earned decisive wins in the following round. The women defeated Temple University by a score of 19-8, while the men prevailed over Haverford College 25-2 without dropping a single foil bout. Both squads continued their perfect day against Duke University, with the women winning 18-9 and the men winning 17-10. For the women, Binder again went 3-0 in foil, senior Valentina Bos and junior Ariana Mangano claimed three épée bouts each, and junior Nora Burke took three sabre bouts. The men's team was led by Bourtis and first-year Zachary Zusin, who repeated their 3-0 foil performances against Penn State and Haverford respectively. Sophomore Howard Zhao also won all three of his épée bouts. In its final match of the day, Columbia faced University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a rematch of the Air Force Western Invitational on Nov. 13, where the women's team won resoundingly at 25-2 while the men eked out a 15-12 win. This time, however, both teams swept all three weapons, rolling past the Tar Heels by a score of 19-8 for the women and 21-6 for the men. After their dominant showings, the Columbia men and women are ranked second and third in the nation respectively. The Light Blue will look to carry its positive momentum into the St. John's Super Cup, one of the toughest competitions of the year, on Jan. 22. The six teams that will be in attendance–Columbia, University of Notre Dame, Harvard, Penn State, Ohio State University, and St. John's University—have won 29 of the last 30 NCAA championships. After Yale withdrew from the Penn State Duals due to a COVID-19 outbreak and Penn left early due to inclement weather, the Lions have yet to face off against an Ivy League opponent. They will look to notch their first conference win when they face off against the Crimson next week. Aufrichtig is also looking forward to the Lions' match against No. 1 Notre Dame, the reigning champion of the 2020-2021 season, in which Columbia did not participate due to the Ivy League's cancellation of spring sports. "Notre Dame and Columbia [have] been having a very healthy rivalry over the past five or six years. We won three, they won three now. And, so we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we send out our best prepared squad," Aufrichtig said. And even though Columbia has an opportunity to overtake Notre Dame for the top spot in the coaches' poll with a strong performance at St. John's, Aufrichtig has his eyes on a bigger prize. "Where we're ranked is where we're ranked. And that's fine. But what matters to us is where we are at the end of the two days of the Ivy championships and the end of the four days of the NCAA championships. That's really the big picture." Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.