CLEVELAND - The men's foil team went a combined 32-13, including a 9-0 sweep over host Cleveland State, as both the men's and women's fencing teams participated in their second team event and first tournament of the 2010-11 season this weekend at the Cleveland State Duals.

The event consisted of dual matches for the Titans against teams from Case Western, Vassar, Michigan, Wayne State, and host Cleveland State.

Overall, the men's foil team of junior Michael Purdy-Sachs (Port Huron, MI/Port Huron Northern & Ind. Studies), senior Brad Coon (Jenison, MI/Hudsonville), and freshmen Yaroslav Ivanov (Louisville, KY/Ballard), Kyle Cisco (Brownstown Twp., MI/Oscar Carlson) and Elijah Robertson (Plymouth, MI/Salem) went a combined 32-13 on the day, including a 9-0 sweep over host Cleveland State.

The men's team recorded an 18-9 victory over Case Western led by the men's foil and sabre teams which each recorded 7-2 wins. The women fell 16-8 to Case.

Both the men's and women's squads had difficult bouts against a well-established Vassar team. The men's foil team highlighted that match with a 6-3 win.

“Vassar is a strong, experienced team and it was a tough match for all of our fencers, especially those on the team who are still very new to the sport,” said head coach Todd Dressell.

The next match-up against Michigan saw the men drop a 19-8 decision while the women fell 23-4.

Against local rival Wayne State, the men's epee team lost a 5-4 heartbreaker as the Titans fell 17-10 in men's action and the women took a 22-5 loss.

The final contest of the day came against host Cleveland State that saw the women's team secure its first dual victory of 2010-11 with a 12-9 win. The men also won 16-12 giving Detroit the sweep over the host team.

Individually on the men's side, Purdy-Sachs went 9-0 on the day while Ivanov went 10-2 and Coon was 9-2.

The Duals saw other standout performances on the day from senior Tom Nelson (Riverview, MI/Gabriel Richard) who went 6-9 overall in men's epee, and fellow senior Tom Lorenzo (Avon, OH/St. Ignatius) record a 7-8 mark in men's sabre.

A couple of Titan newcomers competing in a fencing tournament for the first time were freshmen Cole Goike (Ray Twp., MI/Romeo) and Logan Clements (Swartz Creek MI/Swartz Creek). Both went 5-10 on the day.

“I think our newcomers should be commended for their work in this tournament. It's never easy to start something new and it takes a lot of time and effort on their part,” added Dressell.

On the women's team, which is made up entirely of freshmen, saw Ariel Skellet (Flint, MI/Powers Catholic) and Eva Berndt (Fremont, MI/Providence Christian) go 3-6 on the day in the sabre event.

“I think that we fenced really well and that as we work more, we will continue to improve over the course of the season. We have recruits like Ivanov who come in have fenced for a long time, whereas other people are learning for the first time and if they keep up with their training, they will only get better,” commented Dressell.

The next event for the fencing teams will be on January 29-30 as they will head to South Bend, IN for the Duals at Notre Dame.