Photo Gallery
COLUMBUS, Ohio (2/28/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's fencing teams wrapped up competition at the 2016 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships on Sunday, competing in the team portion of the two-day event at Ohio State University.
Detroit finished 15th overall as a men's and women's team, highlighted by a ninth-place finish by the men's squad. The Titans finished with 705 total points, which was just ahead of Illinois and Oakland, a pair of club teams. The Titans were just behind Cleveland State, which had 745 combined points.
On the men's side, Detroit was ninth out of 20 teams. In the foil, Detroit was seeded No. 4 entering the tournament and defeated No. 13 Oberlin in the first round, 5-2. Freshman
Algird Szumlas led the squad with a 3-0 record and classmate
Josh Blackburn picking up the other two wins in a 5-2 victory. In the quarterfinals, Detroit narrowly fell by a 5-4 margin to No. 5 Northwestern, despite three victories from Szumlas.
In the men's foil consolation bracket, Szumlas stayed undefeated on the day, winning all three matches, while Blackburn added two more as Detroit won 5-2 over Michigan. In the fifth-place match, the Titans fell to Chicago, 5-4, as Blackburn and Szumlas each tallied two victories. Szumlas led the squad on the day with an 11-1 record.
The men's epee squad won its play-in match over Toledo, 5-2, behind three victories from junior
Aaron Dittel. The Titans then went head-to-head with No. 1 Ohio State and fell 5-1, with
Josef Provido providing the lone bout win for Detroit.
The Detroit men's sabre team was seeded No. 8 entering bracket play, but dropped its very first match against No. 9 Wisconsin. Junior captain
Austin Carlisle won all three of his matches, while
Allen Gray picked up the other win for Detroit which fell by just a 5-4 margin. Detroit was on the wrong end of several close bouts in the sabre.
On the women's side, Detroit was seeded No. 16 in the foil, going up against top-seeded Ohio State in the very first round. The Titans bowed out by a 5-0 score. In the sabre, No. 14 Detroit was matched up against third-seeded OSU once again with the Buckeyes picking up a 5-0 victory in the first round.
Several Titan individuals are set to return to Ohio State University and French Field House in two weeks on March 12 for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships. The individual tournament gives the Titan fencers a chance to qualify for the NCAA Fencing Championships.
