Men's Foil Results
Men's Epee Results
Men's Sabre Results
Women's Foil Results
Women's Epee Results
Women's Sabre Results

DETROIT (12/9/2013) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's fencing team began the 2013 season on Sunday at the annual Istvan Danosi hosted by Wayne State in Detroit. The Titans captured four medals in the competition including a silver and three bronze medals.
 
Redshirt junior Yaroslav Ivanov earned a silver medal in men's foil and senior Elijah Robertson earned a bronze in foil. Freshman Aaron Dittel came in third place earning bronze in men's epee while senior Eva Berndt represented the women on the podium earning a bronze medal in women's sabre.
 
"We had a good day and I'm happy with our overall results," said UDM men's and women's varsity head coach Todd Dressell who is in his 15th year leading the Titan fencers. "We had a good group of returners perform well and some nice surprises which is a good thing as we look ahead to our upcoming season."
 
Participating in the event was host Wayne State, the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Cleveland State, Western Ontario, Oakland University, and Oakland Community College.
 
Ivanov made his return to the Titans after spending the 2013 spring semester studying abroad in Poland. Ivanov placed second in men's foil after a 4-0 record in pool play and earning a bye in the first direct elimination (DE) round. Ivanov won his next three DE bouts to advance to the gold medal bout but would fall by seven touches in the finals. Robertson finished in a tie for third and earned his first career medal. Robertson went 4-1 in pool play and earned a first round bye before capturing two DE wins and making it to the semifinals.
 
Dittel finished in a tie for third in men's epee earning a bronze medal. Dittel was 5-1 in the pool rounds and won three DE bouts before falling to eventual epee champion, David Howes from Michigan. Titan sophomore Jake Theut also fared well in epee with a 3-3 pool record and winning two bouts in the DE before facing off against teammate Dittel that saw Dittel come out on top 15-11. Senior Cole Goike also fenced with the foil weapon placing seventh going 3-2 in pool play. After a first-round bye, Goike won a DE before falling to the eventual foil champion.
 
In men's sabre, sophomore Andrew Gibbons led the Titans in that weapon placing seventh overall. After a 4-1 pool play record, he won two DE rounds and nearly advanced to the semifinal bout falling by a close two touches. Junior Frank Adamini posted four wins overall with three in pool play and a fourth in his first DE round.
 
In women's sabre, senior Eva Berndt earned a bronze medal placing third while junior Katie Lang was ninth and senior Shannon Canavan came in 11th. Berndt totaled a 4-1 record in pool play and took a first round bye. She followed that with a win over teammate Canavan and a second DE win advanced her to the semifinals falling by two touches. Canavan was 2-2 in the pools and won a first round DE before facing Berndt. Lang captured three wins in the pool round.
 
In women's epee, senior Paige Zmudczynski and sophomore Roby Wong finished back-to-back in the standings with Zmudczynski placing seventh and Wong eighth. Zmudczynski won three bouts in the pools and Wong won two while both earned a first round bye and captured a single DE win.
 
In women's foil, Mary Colombo was the top finisher placing 12th bringing home three wins in the pools round.
 
The next scheduled team event for the UDM fencing teams will be on Jan. 18 at the Cleveland State Invitational.
 
Notes: In competition on Saturday in Livonia, freshman Aaron Dittel of men's epee qualified for the Junior Olympics that will take place in February.
 
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