COLUMBUS, Ohio (2/27/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's fencing team earned its best-ever finish at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships on Sunday, placing third overall out of 22 teams competing at Ohio State University.
The Titans placed in the top 10 in all three weapons with the sabre squad placing third, foil earning fifth and epee taking ninth. Detroit Mercy earned 645 points overall, just 10 points behind second-place Michigan. Ohio State took first place with 810 points.
"I'm absolutely thrilled," Titan head coach
Todd Dressell said. "It's very satisfying. It was the consistency all day and we fenced well. This is the strongest men's team that I've fielded."
The men's sabre team placed third as a team, earning a 5-4 win over Indiana in the third-place match. Seeded third, Detroit Mercy earned a 5-1 victory over Denison, then secured a 5-2 triumph over Michigan State before falling 5-2 against Michigan. The Titans rebounded, however, in the sabre with the team winning 5-3 over Indiana. Senior captain
Austin Carlisle earned three victories against Indiana and freshman
Wiley Dressell earned the other two bout wins in the third-place match.
"Austin had a critical victory in the Indiana bout," Dressell added. "Wiley had lost to him earlier in the match. Austin stepped up in his turn and beat him and that was huge."
The men's foil squad opened with the No. 6 seed and posted a 5-2 victory over Michigan. The Titans then fell to Illinois before picking up a 5-3 win over Indiana. The foil team earned a 5-2 win over fifth-seeded Cleveland State in the fifth-place match. Sophomore foilist
Algird Szumlas went 3-0 in the fifth-place match with classmate
Josh Blackburn earning the other two victories.
In the epee, the Titans fell in the first round to Michigan State narrowly by a 5-4 margin. Senior
Aaron Dittel earned two wins and freshman
Tahj Butler also picked up two victories against MSU.
Titans Perform Well During Individual Competition
Detroit Mercy had four Titans place in the top 10 during the individual competition on Saturday.
Algird Szumlas medaled for the Titans, placing third in the men's foil individual competition.
Austin Carlisle (seventh) and
Wiley Dressell (ninth) each finished in the top 10 in the sabre individual competition. Sophomore
Josh Blackburn earned a 10th-place finish in the foil for the Titans.
Szumlas cruised to the semifinals, winning four-straight direct elimination bouts, including winning over Wayne State's Brendan Johnson, 15-8, in the quarterfinals. Szumlas had a great performance in the semifinals, but fell to top-seeded Maximilien Chastanet of Ohio State by a 15-14 margin. He finished third out of 72 points overall.
Carlisle earned seventh place after winning his first three direct elimination bouts, including earning a 15-11 win over ninth-seeded Frank Ditullio of Ohio State in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, Carlisle lost 15-10 to top-seeded Fares Arfa of Ohio State.
Dressell was seeded fifth entering the bracket play and earned a 15-1 win and 15-6 victory in his first two bouts. Dressell then fell to Michigan's David Cichocki in the round of 16 by a 15-7 margin.
Blackburn had a No. 11 seeding entering direct elimination bouts and posted a 15-0 win before earning a 15-10 victory. Blackburn fell in the round of 16 to Ohio State's Nicola Sirito, 15-5.
In the epee, freshman Tahj Butler placed 21st and
Aaron Dittel was 30th. Butler won his first DE bout before falling to Chicago's Maciek Zmyslowski, 15-9. Dittel earned a win over higher-seeded Patrick Paquette of Bowling Green, 15-12, and then fell to Wayne State's Henry Kisthardt, 15-11, in the round of 32.
In their first conference championships,
John Engelman placed 17th and
Joshua Sexton earned 42nd in the sabre. Engelman earned a 15-11 win in his first direct elimination bout before falling in the round of 32.
In the foil,
Mikael Paulik placed 40th,
Ethan Powers was 45th and
Christopher Morrison earned 46th.
Thomas Borden earned 46th individually in the epee and
Josef Provido placed 64th to round out the finishers individually for the Titans on Saturday.
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On Tap
The Titans will send individuals to the NCAA Midwest Fencing Regionals on Saturday, March 11 at Wayne State University. The fencers will look to qualify for the NCAA Championships, to be held from March 23-26 at the University of Notre Dame.
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