Jan. 29, 2005

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The second-ranked Notre Dame women's fencing team rebounded from a 2-2 start at the season-opening NYU Duals by scorching the competition in Saturday's first rounds of competition at the Notre Dame Duals, held in the Joyce Center Fieldhouse. The Irish women combined to win 84-percent of their bouts while posting a 6-0 record in the first stage of the two-day event - highlighted by wins over No. 3 Penn State (16-11) and 6th-ranked Northwestern (20-7). The Notre Dame men (now 7-2) went 4-1 in their dual matches, with the lone loss coming vs. 2nd-ranked Penn State (12-15).

Both Notre Dame teams also posted wins over Wisconsin (both 27-0), Cal State Fullerton (both 25-2), Michigan State (both 24-3) and Michigan (men 24-3, women 25-2).

The two-day event concludes on Sunday (8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.), with the marquee matchup featuring Notre Dame vs. defending NCAA champion Ohio State at 9:30. Prior to facing Notre Dame on Saturday, Penn State had split with the top-ranked Buckeyes, with the PSU men besting OSU 15-12 while the OSU women edged PSU 14-13.

(Note: full 13-team results and bout-by-bout sequences for the ND-PSU matches are included at the end of this release).

The Notre Dame men's epee team - led by the top trio of senior Michal Sobieraj (13-0), sophomore Aaron Adjemian (7-1) and freshman Greg Howard (7-2) - continued its impressive start to the season by winning nearly all of its bouts (42-3), just one week removed from a 30-6 showing at the NYU Duals. The women's sabre squad (49-5) also turned in a strong day in the Fieldhouse, followed by the women's foil (46-8) and men's sabre (38-7) squads.

The Notre Dame women knocked off Penn State thanks to a dominant 8-1 effort in sabre, plus 6-3 in foil. The Irish men's epee team also went 6-3 vs. the Nittany Lions but PSU surged to the win with a 7-2 mark in the foil bouts.

Sophomore Matt Stearns turned in an emotional sweep of his Penn State counterparts en route to a 12-0 first day at the ND Duals.

Four Notre Dame women's fencers - senior foilists Andrea Ament and Alicja Kryczalo, sophomore sabre Valerie Providenza and freshman sabre Mariel Zagunis - went 3-0 vs. the program's longtime rival Penn State, with Sobieraj and sophomore sabre Matt Stearns also posting 3-0 marks vs. Penn State (freshman foilist Jakub Jedrkowiak was 2-1 vs. the Lions, as was senior women's epeeist Kerry Walton).

Four of the above fencers - Ament (16-0), Zagunis (13-0), Sobieraj (13-0) and Stearns (12-0) - also each ended the day with double-digit wins and no losses. Sophomore sabre Angela Vincent (15-1), Jedrowiak (12-1) and Kryczalo (11-1) all suffered just one loss while Providenza (12-2) and Walton (10-2) also enjoyed solid days.

Freshman sabre Mariel Zagunis won all 13 of her bouts on Saturday and now off to a 24-1 start in her college fencing career.

Fiery freshman Melanie Bautista swept the talented Northwestern foilist to cap her impressive Joyce Center debut with a 13-3 record. She combined with Ament and Kryczalo to win 91% of their bouts (40-4) while Providenza, Vincent and Zagunis (longtime teammates at the Oregon Fencing Alliance) logged a 40-3 combined record.

The Notre Dame women clinched vs. Northwestern after just 19 bouts (14-5), en route to the impressive 20-7 win. The Irish struggled vs. the Wildcats in women's epee (5-4) but won 15 of 18 bouts in the other two weapons (8-1 in foil, 7-2 in sabre), led by 3-0 efforts from Ament, Bautista, Providenza, Zagunis and sophomore epeeist Amy Orlando.

Senior Michal Sobieraj led another strong day from the Irish men's epee squad.

ND-PSU NOTES - Saturday's strip assignments featured ND fencing PSU in men's and women's epee simultaneously while the women's sabre and women's foil bouts also started first, followed by men's sabre and men's foil ... under that setup, the ND women raced out to an 8-0 lead thanks to six sabre wins and two in foil ... the notable bouts included '04 Olympic gold medalist Zagunis vs. '04 NCAA runner-up Sophia Hiss (5-2), Kryczalo vs. fellow all-American Meredith Chin (5-1) and Providenza vs. Hiss in a rematch of the '04 NCAA title bout (5-3) ... Ament's victory over fellow All-American Anna Donath (5-4) clinched the team win at 14-9 ... other wins of note included Ament vs. Chin (5-3), Walton vs. Katarzyna Trzopek in a matchup of former NCAA champs (3-0), Kryczalo vs. Donath (5-1) and Walton vs. '04 NCAA participant Case Szarwark (5-2) ... Donath edged the upstart Bautista in overtime (4-3) for PSU's first win of the day ... Szarwark (5-0) and Trzopek (4-3) both posted wins over Orlando, Hiss bested Vincent (5-2) ... the pattern of the men's bouts results in foil ending the competition (as opposed to the slower-moving epee that typically provides the final points) ... the ND men doubled up PSU in epee and narrowly lost in sabre (4-5) but failed to close out that 10-8 cushion after losing seven of the first eight foil bouts (minus All-American Derek Snyder, who will miss all of the '05 season due to hand surgery) ... top wins for the Irish men included Stearns vs. a pair of Oregon Fencing Alliance products - Marten Zagunis (older brother of Mariel; 5-4, after trailing 0-4) and Ian Farr (5-4), sophomore sabre and another OFA fencer Patrick Ghattas vs. Zagunis (5-4), and Jedrkowiak vs. former All-American Chris Miller (5-4).

Sophomore epeeist Amy Orlando closed the day strong with a sweep of Northwestern.

OTHER BOUTS OF NOTE - Top wins for the ND women vs. Northwestern included: Ament vs. the potent trio of Julia Foldi (5-0), Jessica Florendo (5-2) and Christina Wang (5-3), Bautista's own sweep of those three (5-4 vs. Foldi and Florendo, 5-3 vs. Wang), Kryczalo vs. Florendo (5-2) and Wang (5-4); Orlando's 5-1 win over her Northwest Fencing Center teammate Sharon Sullivan; a sweep from the ND sabres vs. Lauren Van Gieson (5-1 by Providenza, 5-4 by Vincent, 5-2 by Zagunis) and wins by Vincent (5-3) and Zagunis (5-1) over former All-American Lauren Dunn ... the Fullerton women's team includes a pair of NCAA veterans, with foilist Senta Breden losing to Ament (1-5) and Kryczalo (2-4) while sabre Rachel Liebing dropped 5-3 bouts to Providenza and Vincent.

Senior foilist Alicja Kryczalo has continued to flash her trademark winning smile plenty of times in 2005.

RECORD BOOK UPDATE - Sobieraj improved to 23-1 for the season and has yet to compile double-digit losses in his career (134-9) ... he moved up to 28th on the ND list for career men's fencing wins and edged into 5th with a .937 career win pct. (still tops all-time among men's epeeists) ... Sobieraj also passed Mike Matranga ('74), David Calderhead ('92) and Andy Quaroni ('85) into 8th on the ND list for career men's epee wins ... Adjemian improved to 15-3 for the season while Howard now is 14-4 and Jedrkowiak 20-5 ... Ghattas (9-2) now stands 19-4 for the season and 55-8 in his career (.873, good for 23rd all-time among ND men's fencers) ... Kryczalo continues to motor along with a 22-2 season record and 150-12 for her career, tying her with Walton (150-26; 18-6 in `05) for 20th on the ND list for women's fencing wins (her .926 win pct. still ranks 3rd) ... Walton's .848 career win pct. ranks 16th (3rd in women's epee history) and she remains 9th on the women's epee wins list ... Ament (137-14 career; 26-2 in '05) has moved up to 7th with a .907 career win pct. while Providenza (60-11 career; 21-5 in '05) still owns the best career win pct. in ND women's sabre history (.845) .. Zagunis has stormed to a 24-1 record with the Irish, with her only loss coming to Olympic teammate Emily Jacobson of Columbia.

Sophomore Valerie Providenza (3-0) helped the Irish women's sabre team go 8-1 in the win over Penn State.

Notre Dame Women vs. Penn State (ND 16, PSU 11)
WS - Valerie Providenza def. Juliet Howard, 5-1 ... 1-0
WS - Mariel Zagunis def. Sophia Hiss, 5-2 ... 2-0
WF - Andrea Ament def. Tamara Najm, 5-1 ... 3-0
WS - Angela Vincent def. Laura Hillstrom, 5-1 ... 4-0
WF - Alicja Kryczalo def. Meredith Chin, 5-1 ... 5-0
WS - Providenza def. Hiss, 5-3 ... 6-0
WS - Vincent def. Howard, 5-3 ... 7-0
WS - Zagunis def. Hillstrom, 5-3 ... 8-0
WF - Donath def. Bautista, 4-3 (OT; Bautista had priority) ... 8-1
WE - Case Szarwark def. Amy Orlando, 5-0 ... 8-2
WS - Hiss def. Vincent, 5-2 ... 8-3
WS - Providenza def. Hillstrom, 5-0 ... 9-3
WF - Ament def. Chin, 5-3 ... 10-3
WS - Zagunis def. Howard, 5-3 ... 11-3 (ND wins sabre, 8-1)
WE - Kerry Walton def. Katarzyna Trzopek, 3-0 ... 12-3
WF - Najm def. Melanie Bautista, 5-1 ... 12-4
WE - Andrea Wine def. Becca Chimahusky, 5-2 ... 12-5
WF - Kryczalo def. Anna Donath, 5-1 ... 13-5
WE - Trzopek def. Orlando, 4-3 ... 13-6
WF - Chin def. Rachel Cota, 5-2 ... 13-7 (ND wins foil, 6-3)
WE - Szarwark def. Chimahusky, 5-0 ... 13-8
WE - Wine def. Walton, 5-4 ... 13-9
WF - Ament def. Donath, 5-4 ... 14-9 (ND clinches)
WE - Trzopek def. Chimahusky, 5-1 ... 14-10
WF - Kryczalo def. Najm, 5-1 ... 15-10
WE - Wine def. Orlando, 5-4 ... 15-11
WE - Walton def. Szarwark, 5-2 ... 16-11 (PSU wins epee, 7-2) ...

Freshman epeeist Greg Howard has made a quick transition to college fencing.

Notre Dame Men vs. Penn State (PSU 15, ND 12)
ME - Greg Howard def. Ryan Wangner, 5-1 ... 1-0
ME - Michal Sobieraj def. Arthur Urman, 4-3 (OT; Urman had priority) ... 2-0
ME - Aaron Adjemian def. Dennis Kraft, 5-4 ... 3-0
ME - Urman def. Howard, 5-2 ... 3-1
ME - Wangner def. Adjemian, 3-2 ... 3-2
MS - Matt Stearns def. Marten Zagunis ... 5-4 (was down 0-4) ... 4-2
ME - Sobieraj def. Kraft, 5-3 ... 5-2
MS - Ian Farr def. Patrick Ghattas, 5-3 ... 5-3
MS - Axel Reblewski def. Nicholas Diacou, 5-1 ... 5-4
ME - Adjemian def. Arman, 5-0 ... 6-4
MS - Stearns def. Farr, 5-4 ... 7-4
MS - Zagunis def. Diacou, 5-2 ... 7-5
ME - Kraft def. Howard, 5-3 ... 7-6
MS - Reblewski def. Ghattas, 5-4 ... 7-7
MS - Farr def. Diacou, 5-4 ... 7-8
MS - Stearns def. Reblewski, 5-3 ... 8-8
ME - Sobieraj def. Wangner, 4-3 (OT; Sobieraj had priority) ... 9-8 (ND wins epee, 6-3)
MS - Ghattas def. Zagunis, 5-4 ... 10-8 (PSU wins sabre, 5-4)
MF - Jeff Chang def. Frank Bontempo, 5-3 ... 10-9
MF - Jakub Jedrkowiak def. Chris Miller, 5-4 ... 11-9
MF - Nonpatat Panchan def. 5, Diego Quinonez 2 ... 11-10
MF - Miller def. Bontempo, 5-2 ... 11-11
MF - Chang def. Quinonez, 5-1 ... 11-12
MF - Panchan def. Jedrkowiak, 5-1 ... 11-13
MF - Miller def. Quinonez, 5-2 ... 11-14
MF - Panchan def. Bontempo, 5-3 ... 11-15
MF - Jedrkowiak def. Jacob Clark, 5-0 ... 12-15 (PSU wins foil, 7-2)

Freshman foilist Jakub Jedrkowiak

MEN'S RESULTS
ROUND 1
Notre Dame def. Wisconsin, 27-0
Northwestern def. Notre Dame JV, 16-11
Michigan State def. Lawrence, 16-11
Cal State Fullerton def. Detroit, 19-8
Wayne State def. Michigan, 16-11
Ohio State def. Cleveland State, 23-4

ROUND 2
Notre Dame def. Cal State Fullerton, 25-2
Michigan def. Michigan State, 25-2
Penn State def. Ohio State 15-12
Cleveland State def. Wisconsin 24-3
Detroit def. Lawrence, 16-10

ROUND 3
Penn State def. Notre Dame, 15-12
Michigan State def. Wisconsin, 22-5
Cal State Fullerton def. Northwestern, 16-11
Michigan def. Lawrence, 24-3
Ohio State def. Detroit, 25-2
Wayne State def. Cleveland State, 19-8

ROUND 4
Notre Dame def. Michigan State, 24-3
Penn State def. Cal State Fullerton, 23-4
Michigan def. Wisconsin, 25-2
Ohio State def. Northwestern, 17-10
Cleveland State def. Lawrence, 21-6
Wayne State def. Detroit, 19-8

ROUND 5
Notre Dame def. Michigan 24-3
Ohio State def. Cal State Fullerton, 18-9
Cleveland State def. Michigan State, 15-12
Penn State def. Wayne State, 22-5
Detroit def. Wisconsin, 17-8
Northwestern def. Lawrence, 19-8

ROUND 6
Penn State def. Detroit, 23-4

WOMEN'S RESULTS
ROUND 1
Notre Dame def. Wisconsin, 27-0
Penn State def. Northwestern, 19-8
Michigan State def. Lawrence, 21-6
Cal State Fullerton def. Detroit, 21-6
Wayne State def. Michigan, 15-12
Ohio State def. Cleveland State, 25-2

ROUND 2
Notre Dame def. Cal State Fullerton, 25-2
Michigan def. Michigan State, 21-6
Ohio State def. Penn State, 14-13
Cleveland State def. Wisconsin, 21-6
Northwestern def. Wayne State, 18-9
Detroit def. Lawrence, 15-6

ROUND 3
Notre Dame def. Penn State, 16-11
Michigan State def. Wisconsin, 25-2
Northwestern def. Cal State Fullerton, 22-5
Michigan def. Lawrence, 24-3
Ohio State def. Detroit, 25-2
Wayne State def. Cleveland State, 23-4

ROUND 4
Notre Dame def. Michigan State, 24-3
Penn State def. Cal State Fullerton, 22-5
Michigan def. Wisconsin, 26-1
Ohio State def. Northwestern, 21-6
Cleveland State def. Lawrence, 15-11
Wayne State def. Detroit, 20-7

ROUND 5
Notre Dame def. Michigan, 25-2
Ohio State def. Cal State Fullerton, 23-4
Michigan State def. Cleveland State 20-7
Penn State def. Wayne State, 21-6
Detroit def. Wisconsin, 20-1
Northwestern def. Lawrence 24-3

ROUND 6
Notre Dame def. Northwestern, 20-7
Notre Dame JV def. Detroit, 17-10