COLUMBUS, Ohio (2/24/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's fencing team competed in the two-day 2020 Midwest Fencing Conference Championship from Ohio State University on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 22-23. The Titans fenced in the individual portion of the event on Saturday before competing in the team competition on Sunday.

As a team, Detroit Mercy placed 16th as a squad, while Detroit Mercy had two fencers place inside the top-40 individually on Saturday.

Individual Competition (Saturday, Feb. 22)
Sophomore Jaydon Alojipan -- competing in his first season of sabre -- was the top Titan finisher, placing 21st overall in the weapon for the Titans. Alojipan fenced well in pool play, earning a mark of 5-1 with an indicator of +16 (28 touches scored, 12 touches received). He had the fourth-best mark after pool competition and entered the direct elimination bracket seeded 16th. He won his first DE bout 15-6 over Chicago's Gabe Schneider before falling to Michigan's Thomas Choi, 15-6, in the next round. He finished with a record of 6-2 overall.

Senior Christopher Morrison also placed inside the top-40 for the Titans, earning 38th overall in epee. Morrison went 3-3 in pool competition with a +6 indicator (23 touches scored, 17 touches received). Morrison dropped his first DE bout against Ohio State's Christopher Collado by a 15-12 margin to finish the day 3-4 overall.

Senior James Baker finished 44th in sabre for the red, white and blue. Baker went 2-4 in pool play before falling in his first direct elimination, 15-6, to Purdue's Ryan Bardellini. 

Also in men's epee, sophomore Bryce Sturgis finished 52nd, sophomore Paul Rider placed in a tie-for-53rd and sophomore Peter Swanney was 58th for the Titans. Rider and Sturgis each notched bout victories for the Titans during pool competition.

Sophomore foilist Kurt Romkema finished 56th to lead men's foilists, while freshmen Jaylin Brown and Joey Kachachi were 60th and 61st, respectively.

Team Competition (Sunday, Feb. 23)
The Titans placed 16th overall as a men's squad with a total of 355 points. The Titan men's epee and foil squad each placed 16th, while the Detroit Mercy men's sabre team placed 11th. In sabre, the 11th-seeded Titans fell 5-3 to No. 6 seed Wisconsin in its first round matchup. Alojipan was the highlight there, winning all three of his bouts against Wisconsin for the Titans.

Morrison and Swanney helped lead the epee squad past Xavier in the opening round of team play as the Titans won 5-2 with Morrison winning all three of his bouts and Swanney picking up the other two bout wins. The epee team fell in its next matchup. In foil, Romkema was 2-0 in a 5-3 win over Iowa as Detroit Mercy won its opening round match-up before bowing out in the next head-to-head.

Up Next
Individual competitors will compete for the Titans at the 2020 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship, which is host by Detroit Mercy on Saturday, March 7 from Calihan Hall. The Titans also host the 2020 NCAA Fencing Championships, held from March 19-22 at the TCF Center in downtown Detroit. For more information, visit detroittitans.com/2020-ncaa-fencing-championships.