Feb. 9, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio- The second-ranked Notre Dame men's and women's fencing teams both went 4-0 on Saturday at the Ohio State Duals, with the day's highlights including a convincing 23-4 win for the Irish women over sixth-ranked Northwestern while both Notre Dame teams topped the nationally-ranked Buckeyes (16-11 for the men and 15-12 for the women).
The day's most-anticipated matchup came in men's sabre between ND and OSU, with the Irish winning five of the nine bouts (senior captain Andre Crompton and junior Matt Fabricant both went 2-1).
The Notre Dame men (14-0) - despite the absence of injured freshman sensation Michal Sobieraj and his 26-1 epee record - extended the third-longest regular-season winning streak in Irish men's fencing history to 55 matches (spanning three seasons), adding wins over Cleveland State (25-2), Northwestern (22-50 and Wayne State (21-6).
The freshman women's foil duo of Andrea Ament and Alicja Kryczalo both went unbeaten, pushing their combined season record to 58-4. Ament (22-2) shook off a nagging foot injury to win all 12 of her bouts at OSU while Kryczalo improved her season record to 36-2 with an 11-0 day.
Three other Irish fencers added solid one-loss records for the day, including junior men's epee captain Jan Viviani (11-1, 35-3 season record), freshman foilist Derek Snyder (8-1, 32-6) and sophomore women's epeeist Kerry Walton (10-1, 45-5). Viviani maintained the best career winning percentage in Notre Dame men's epee history (.888, 111-14) while ND's all-time leader in men's foil winning percentage, junior captain Ozren Debic, went 4-0 in limited action for a 30-2 season mark and 114-7 in his career (.942, also sixth all-time among all ND men's weapons).
The Irish women pushed their season record to 16-2 and avenged last week's 15-12 loss to Northwestern at the Air Force Duals, with ND's other wins at OSU coming vs. Cleveland State (26-1) and Wayne State (23-4).
Other top performers for the Irish women included fifth-year women's sabre captain Carianne McCullough (9-2, including 3-0 vs. Northwestern) and sophomore Destanie Milo (10-2, 2-1 vs. the Wildcats).
Viviani's only loss of the day came versus OSU's Spencer Jones (5-4) while Snyder's lone loss came against OSU's Craig Galanter. The only blemish on Walton's day was a 5-2 loss to OSU's Toya Richmond.
Updated national rankings are expected to be released on Feb. 19, with both Notre Dame teams ranked No. 2 in the first poll that was conducted prior to the season.
ND-OSU RECAP NOTES
* OSU's Jason Rogers - one of the nation's top-ranked juniors - won all three of his men's sabre bouts but ND won five of the other six, including wins from Crompton (5-3) and Fabricant (5-4) vs. All-American Colin Parker (the 6th-place finisher at the 2001 NCAAs).
* Walton beat OSU All-American Alexandra Shklar (the 6th-place NCAA finisher in 2001) by a 5-2 count, with Shklar edging ND's Meagan Call (5-4) and beating Anna Carnick (5-2).
ND-NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S NOTES
o The Irish women raced out to a 13-1 lead and ended up claiming eight wins vs. Northwestern in epee and foil (plus seven in sabre).
* Call and Carnick continued their competition with Midwestern rivals Kate Rudkin (4th at 2001 NCAAs) and NCAA qualifier Jen Greenebaum, with Call dropping a close 5-4 bout to Rudkin and beating Greenebaum (5-3) while beat Rudkin (5-3) and Greenebaum (5-0) ... Walton also beat both Northwestern fencers (5-4 and 5-2).
OTHER NoTES
o Wayne State All-American Jakob Krochmalski (3rd at 2001 NCAAs) posted wins over Crompton and Fabricant but lost to fifth-year Irish fencer Andrzej Bednarski, 5-2.
* Wayne State All-American Inga Wallrabenstein (5th at 2001 NCAAs) dropped a pair of 5-4 bouts to Ament and Kryczalo.
* ND's top weapons this season remain the men's epee squad - which has won nearly 82 percent of its bouts (103-23) - followed by the women's epee team (.778, 126-36) and the veteran men's sabre squad (.770, 97-29).
| ND Men 14-0 (2nd in USFCA Poll) | ND Women 16-2 (2nd in USFCA Poll) |
| ND 25, Cleveland State 2 | ND 26, Cleveland State 1 |
| ND 22, Northwestern 5 | ND 23, (6) Northwestern 4 |
| ND 16, (8) ohio State 11 | ND 15, (6) ohio State 12 |
| ND 21, Wayne State 6 | ND 23, Wayne State 4 |
| Epee | Prev. | CSU | NW | OSU | WSU | Day | Year | Career(ND Rank) |
| Brian Casas | 20-8 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 1-2 | 3-0 | 10-2 | 30-10 | 149-55 (11th overal/5th epee) |
| Michael Macaulay | 0-2 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 5-4 | 5-6 | 14-11 |
| Andrew Nerlinger | 4-3 | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 ----- | 4-3 | 4-3 | |
| Nick Schumacher | ----- | 1-0 | 1-0 | ---- | 1-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 8-6 |
| Michal Sobieraj | 26-1 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | 26-1 | 26-1 |
| Jan Viviani | 24-2 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 3-0 | 11-1 | 35-3 | 111-14/.888 (14th overall/1st epee) |
| | | 9-0 | 8-1 | 4-5 | 8-1 | 21-8 | 103-23 (.818) |
| Foil |
| Jeremy Beau | ---- | 1-1 | 1-0 | ---- | 3-0 | 5-1 | 5-1 | 49-11 |
| Matt Castellan | 4-8 | 1-0 | 1-2 | ---- | 2-0 | 4-2 | 8-10 | 24-14 |
| Ozren Debicc | 26-2 | 1-0 | ---- | 3-0 | ---- | 4-0 | 30-2 | 114-7/.942 (6th overall/1st foil) |
| Steve Mautone | 8-12 | 1-1 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 8-3 | 16-15 | 123-59 |
| Derek Snyder | 24-6 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 8-1 | 32-6 | 32-6 |
| | | 7-2 | 7-2 | 7-2 | 8-1 | 29-7 | 91-35 (.722) |
| Sabre |
| Andrzej Bednarski | 19-8 | 3-0 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 3-0 | 8-3 | 27-11 | 145-32 (15th overall/ 6th sabre) |
| André Crompton | 24-3 | 2-0 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 9-2 | 33-5 | 141-21 (18th overall/7th sabre) |
| Matt Fabricant | 24-4 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 0-3 | 8-4 | 32-8 | 95-17 |
| Neal Salisian | 4-4 | 0-2 | ---- | 1-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 4-4 | 17-12 |
| | | 9-0 | 7-2 | 5-4 | 5-4 | 26-10 | 97-29 (.770) |
| Epee | Prev. | CSU | NW | OSU | WSU | Day | Yr. | Career |
| Meagan Call | 25-15 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 7-4 | 32-19 | 125-42 (8) |
| Anna Carnick | 32-5 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 1-2 | 3-0 | 10-2 | 42-7 | 136-35 (7) ,.795 (4th) |
| Susan Clark | 3-0 | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ---- | 3-0 | 3-0 |
| Kirsten Housing | 2-5 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | 2-5 | 2-5 |
| Erin Riley | ----- | 1-0 | ----- | ----- | 1-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 13-4 |
| Kerry Walton | 35-4 | 2-0 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 3-0 | 10-1 | 45-5 | 45-4 |
| | | 9-0 | 8-1 | 4-5 | 8-1 | 29-7 | 126-36 (.778) |
|
| Foil |
| Andrea Ament | 10-2 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 12-0 | 22-2 | 22-2 |
| Liza Boutsikaris | 18-5 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1-2 | 2-1 | 7-4 | 37-13 | 127-28 |
| Maggie Jordan | 11-0 | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | 12-2 | 12-2 |
| Alicja Kryczalo | 10-1 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 11-0 | 36-2 | 36-2 |
| Kathryn Schuster | 1-4 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | 4-7 | 8-11 |
| Michelle Sutton | 6-4 | 0-1 | ---- | ---- | 1-0 | 1-1 | 12-13 | 36-30 |
| | | 8-1 | 8-1 | 7-2 | 8-1 | 31-5 | 123-39 (.759) |
|
| Sabre |
| Danielle Davis | 2-0 | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | 3-4 | 3-4 |
| Mary-Hope Feher | 0-2 | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | 0-2 | 0-2 |
| Jessie Filkins | 5-8 | 2-0 | ----- | ----- | 0-1 | 2-1 | 11-14 | 39-23 |
| Maggie Jordan | 5-6 | 1-0 | 2-1 | 1-2 | 2-1 | 6-4 | 19-15 | 19-15 |
| Carianne McCullough | 13-6 | 3-0 | 3-0 | 1-2 | 2-0 | 9-2 | 34-9 | 119-29 |
| Destanie Milo | 18-4 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 3-0 | 10-2 | 40-8 | 81-19 |
| Melissa Treviño | 0-3 | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | 0-3 | 0-3 |
| | | 9-0 | 7-2 | 4-5 | 7-2 | 27-9 | 107-55 (.661) |
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