Photo Gallery

COLUMBUS, Ohio (2/27/2016) -- Freshman foilist Algird Szumlas medaled in his first Midwest Fencing Conference Championship on Saturday, finishing in third place for the University of Detroit Mercy men's fencing squad. The individual competition of the two-day MFC Championships was held Saturday at French Field House on Ohio State University's campus.

Szumlas finished third out of 55 foilists to lead the Titans. Ohio State earned four out of the top five spots with Szumlas splitting the four Buckeyes. He was named First Team All-Conference following the conclusion of the individual competition.

Junior Austin Carlisle gave two Titans in the top 15 after he placed 11th out of 61 competitors in the sabre. Carlisle earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors. Carlisle, the team's captain, won two direct elimination bouts before falling in the quarterfinals to the No. 6 seed David Cichocki from the University of Michigan.

Detroit performed well as a group in the sabre as three fencers placed in the top 25. Chuck Neubecker finished 20th, while Allen Gray followed in 25th for the Titans. Neubecker went 5-1 in pool play. Senior Brock Bendes placed 38th in the sabre, while Robert Thacker was 54th for the Titans in the weapon.

Freshman Josh Blackburn placed 19th in the foil in his first conference championship. Blackburn went 5-1 in his pool play, scoring 27 touches against just nine received (+18 indicator). Mikael Paulik was 43rd for the Titans in the foil.

In the epee, junior Aaron Dittel finished 38th out of 70 competitors. Dittel went 3-1 in pool play, but dropped his first direct elimination bout after being seeded No. 26 after pool play. Thomas Borden placed 61st and Josef Provido was 63rd for the Titans in the epee.

Five Detroit women's fencers competed in the individual competition, three in the sabre as Emily Rapp led the Titans in 29th place. Erica Tessmer followed for Detroit in the sabre in 38th, while Nicole Fitch was 41st for the Titans in the weapon. 

Destiny Kacir was the leader for the Titans in the foil, placing 31st in her first conference championships out of 56 competitors. Jordyn Dunlap finished 55th for Detroit.

The Titans fence in the team competition on Sunday. First bouts begin at 8 a.m. from French Field House.