Individual Fencing Results
Team Fencing Results
Photo Gallery
 
DETROIT (1/25/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's fencing teams hosted the 2014 UDM Invitational at Calihan Hall on Saturday. There were many highlights on the day from both the men and women, but the men's epee squad won all five of its team matches to lead the Titan squad.
 
Schools from Oakland, Michigan, Michigan State, Western Ontario, and Cleveland State were all at Calihan Hall for the competition.
 
The men's epee squad came out on top overall on the day with a 5-0 record and a combined 29-16 score. Individually, the team won over Oakland, 8-1, downed Michigan State, 6-3, and finished with separate 5-4 wins over Michigan, Western Ontario, and Cleveland State to remain perfect in the win column. Sophomore Jacob Theut and freshman Aaron Dittel both had 10-5 records while sophomore Brock Bendes was 9-6 to round out the men's epee squad.
 
The men's team combined won 23-4 over Oakland, 20-7 over Michigan State, 17-10 over Western Ontario, and ended with a 14-13 defeat of Cleveland State. The lone team loss was a 15-12 setback to Michigan.
 
The men's sabre team also topped its opponents on the day with an overall combined score of 27-18, while men's foil was a combined 30-15. Men's sabre was led by freshman Austin Carlisle, who had the highest win total of any Titan on the day with 14.
 
"Coach Dressell has held me to pretty high expectations and I have been working hard to get better and today was a good day. It was cool to have some people come out and support us and it was a nice turnout," said Carlisle.
 
Men's foil had a trio of Titans who are all in their senior year of fencing as Elijah Robertson (nine wins), Cole Goike (eight wins), and Yaroslav Ivanov (nine wins) were all part of the weapon's success. 
 
"It was a lot of fun and it was enjoyable today, but I'm sad because I'm going to miss everyone when I leave," said Goike. "I thought I fenced ok today, and as a team, we did real well. I can't remember another time, maybe my freshman year, doing this well at home and its great for us."
 
The women's team did not feature the same team success as the men with just one team win, a 15-12 decision over Cleveland State.
 
The women still had highlights as the sabre squad, including seniors Eva Berndt and Shannon Canavan, teamed up for 24 wins on the day. Junior Katie Lang led the group with nine wins, while Berndt had seven victories and Canavan added four to the team total.
 
Women's epee still came out positive with a 23-22 overall combined score on the day. Junior Kaylah Berndt had six wins and senior Paige Zmudczynski led the epee group and posted the highest win total on the day among Titan females scoring 10 victories over just two losses.
 
"It was definitely nice to be at home and not travel and to perform well at home," said Zmudczynski. "Overall during my time here, I have seen an improvement in my fencing and this year has gotten off to a good start. We have a really big meet next week and every win counts. I'm looking forward to seeing all the teams there and I hope we perform well."
 
UDM women's foil was led by junior Mary Colombo and sophomore Christina Powers, who each totaled three wins for the young foil squad.
 
"I'm really happy with the overall results and how we did," said UDM men's and women's fencing head coach Todd Dressell. "Moving forward, we are always looking to improve and the next two weeks of the season will be the toughest so we have to be ready."
 
The next competition for the Detroit fencing teams will be Feb. 1 at the Northwestern Mega-Meet in Evanston, Ill.
 
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