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DETROIT (3/8/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy hosted the NCAA Midwest Fencing Regionals on Saturday at Calihan Hall with 10 student-athletes representing UDM in the final step the NCAA Championships to be hosted by Ohio State starting on March 20, 2014.
 
Senior Eva Berndt (sabre), junior Katie Lang (sabre), senior Paige Zmudczynski (epee), junior Kayla Berndt (epee), and sophomore Roby Wong (epee) were the UDM women competing while freshman Aaron Dittel (epee), sophomore Jacob Theut (epee), freshman Austin Carlisle (sabre), senior Yaroslav Ivanov (foil), and senior Elijah Robertson (foil) were in competition for the UDM.
 
Some of the best competition from around the Midwest was at Calihan Hall with one example men's foilist Gerek Meinhardt of Notre Dame, who is the No. 2 fencer in the country and a member of the USA Olympic team.
 
Robertson faced Meinhardt in the table of 16 and managed two touches against the Olympian but fell 15-2 as Robertson finished 15th. Meinhardt was first in the men's foil competition.
 
Ivanov was also in foil and won two bouts in the pool round before facing Hazem Kazhbak of Notre Dame. Ivanov fell 15-3 to finish 11th overall.
 
The men's epee squad featured Dittel and Theut. Theut was 3-2 in pool rounds and received a first round bye in the first direct elimination (DE) table of 32. He would fall 15-10 to Matt Bogard of Ohio State in the table of 16. Dittel was also 3-2 in pool play and received a first round bye in the DE table of 32. Dittel faced Conrad Sutter of Notre Dame and the match was close but Sutter edged out Dittel 15-12. Theut finished 10th and Dittel was 11th overall in men's foil.
 
Carlisle was the final male to represent Detroit and he earned two wins in the pool round to finish ninth overall in men's sabre before falling 15-6 to Graham Jones of Lawrence.
 
On the women's side, junior Katie Lang finished 13th and senior Eva Berndt was 19th overall in women's sabre.
 
Eva Berndt had two wins in the first round of pools while Lang had three to advance to the second round. Lang added two more pool wins to her total in round two and earned a bye in the first DE table of 32. In the table of 16, she faced Celina Merza of Ohio State and Merza won the bout, 15-4.
 
Senior Paige Zmudczynski, junior Kaylah Berndt, and sophomore Roby Wong finished 17th, 18th, and 19th respectively in women's epee.
 
Kaylah Berndt was 3-2 in the first pool round and fell in the table of 32 by two touches to Claire Allen of Lawrence.
 
Zmudczynski was 3-2 in the first pool round and fenced Cydney McChesney of Wayne State in the table of 32. McChesney was able to top Zmudczynski by a 15-11 score.
 
Wong added a win in the pool rounds in her first NCAA Tournament competition.
 
This was the third time the Titans have hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional with the other years in 2007-08 and in 2000-01. The location of the event rotates every seven years among the different teams from Detroit, Notre Dame, Wayne State, Cleveland State, Ohio State, Lawrence and the women from Northwestern.
 
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