EVANSTON, Ill. (10/31/2015) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's fencing teams opened the 2015-16 seasons Saturday, competing at the Northwestern Fall Invitational on the campus of Northwestern University.

The Detroit squads competed against the host Wildcats, Cleveland State, Lawrence, Incarnate Word and McKendree. The Detroit men's team earned a 17-10 victory over McKendree and had a couple of close results against Cleveland State and Northwestern, falling by 15-12 margins to each school.

UDM freshman Algird Szumlas shined in his Detroit debut, posting a 10-3 record in the foil. Junior Austin Carlisle went 8-4 in the sabre, while classmate Aaron Dittel picked up seven bout triumphs in the epee.

Making his collegiate debut, Allen Gray picked up five bout wins in the sabre, while senior Brock Bendes (four wins) and sophomore Chuck Neubecker (three victories) also provided strong contributions for Detroit in the sabre.

In the epee, Witold Fuchs earned four bout wins and Thomas Borden tallied one win for the Titans. Freshman Josh Blackburn tallied four victories for the Titans in the foil, while junior Mikael Paulik added another victory for the red, white and blue.

Senior Roby Wong paced the Titans with five triumphs on the day, while Erica Burgess and Nicole Fitch each tallied three bout wins for Detroit in the epee.

Detroit is off competitively during the month of November, but returns to competition in the first week of December, fencing at the Istvan Danosi Open on Dec. 6 at Wayne State University. The squad will also have members of the team at the USA Fencing North America Cup from Dec. 4-7 in Baltimore, Md.