Results

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (12/8/2012) -- Freshman Andrew Gibbons of the University of Detroit Mercy men's fencing team competed in the North American Cup (NAC) Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee and placed 57th in the men's sabre event as he was taking part in the NAC for the first time in his young career.

"It was the first big competition for Andrew so there was a bit of a learning curve for him," said UDM men's fencing head coach Todd Dressell. "He is learning there is a bigger pool of talent at the collegiate level and he is facing difficult opponents."

The last bout of the day for Gibbons in the direct elimination round when he was up against the No. 8 seed, Siegfried Gokea . Gibbons was down and then he came back and made it close before falling in the end by five touches, 15-10. Gokea ended up finishing fifth overall in the competition. 

"He has nowhere to go but up and I think he has a lot of talent to do it," said Dressell of Gibbons. "This is the first time he has seen this kind of quality talent altogether and he is going to see that this year."

Gibbons was competing in the Division II event which is for fencers who have their Level "C" rating or lower. Gibbons currently holds a "D11" ranking, which means he earned his "D" level status in 2011. Fencers are ranked "A" through "E" with "A" being the highest level. 

The next event for the Detroit Titan fencers will take place on Jan. 12 at Calihan Hall as the Titans will host the UDM Invitational.