KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A pair of Titans were in competition Friday as men's foil fencers senior Michael Purdy-Sachs (Port Huron, MI/Port Huron Northern & Independent Studies) and sophomore Yaroslav Ivanov (Louisville, KY/Ballard) were participating in the North American Cup in Kansas City, MO.
 
Purdy-Sachs posted the best result of the day finishing 50th overall while Ivanov struggled and placed 119 out of 131. Purdy-Sachs entered the tournament seeded 77th overall while Ivanov was seeded No. 75.
 
Purdy-Sachs started with a 3-3 record in pool play and entered the direct elimination round as the 54th seed. Ivanov had his day end after the pool round was complete as he went 0-6 and never really found his groove.
 
“Ivanov has fenced better than he did today and never was able to get comfortable,” said head coach Todd Dressell.
 
Purdy-Sachs started the direct elimination round with a 15-3 touch victory over Julian Tang in the round of 128 to advance to the round of 64. In his next bout, he faced the No. 11 seed Stephen Mageras. After a slow start from Purdy-Sachs, the bout featured multiple lead changes as he held the lead partway through. At the end, Purdy-Sachs fell 15-13 and wound up finishing 50th overall. Mageras would go on to finish 19th overall.
 
“Mike started slow and went down by a few touches early in his second DE round. He fought back and started to find his groove, but could not complete the comeback,” said Dressell.
 
The Titans' next fencing event will feature the UDM men's and women's teams hosting the UDM Invitational on Jan. 15 at Calihan Hall.