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Ohio State’s Jason Rogers (#3 US) leads the #1 Buckeyes in action this weekend.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State fencing squad competes Saturday and Sunday at the Midwest Conference Championship in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame hosts this year’s event with bouts commencing at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse. Team competition will be Saturday, while individual action will be Sunday.
LAST SEASON
Last season at the Midwest Conference Championship the Buckeyes placed first overall with 1030 points. The men’s squad, who combined for 540 points, edged out top-ranked Notre Dame (475) by 65 points. On the women’s side, the Buckeyes topped the Fighting Irish (485) by just five points and Northwestern (475) by 15.
Ohio State’s performance in the competition led them to a combined overall first place finish. Adam Crompton (sabre), Boaz Ellis (foil), Hanna Thompson (foil) and former Buckeye Louise Bond-Williams (sabre) each captured the Midwest Conference fencing title in their respective weapons.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
In Ohio State’s 44-2 overall performance this season, Buckeye leaders within the six weapons have emerged. In men’s sabre, Adam Crompton leads with a 31-2 record, Richard Spicer holds a 36-3 mark in men’s foil and Denis Tolkachev rounds out men’s epee at 25-4.
On the women’s side, Eileen Grench leads in sabre with a 30-3 record, Hanna Thompson holds a 53-2 foil mark and Marquerite Plekhanov leads in epee with a 26-12 record.
Also on top for the Buckeyes are Jason Rogers, 22-3 (men’s sabre), Boaz Ellis, 18-4 (men’s foil), Christian Rivera, 20-3 (men’s epee), Amelia Gaillard, 21-6 (women’s sabre), Metta Thompson, 32-6 (women’s foil) and Kaela Brendler, 15-9 (women’s epee).
12 RANKED
Twelve Ohio State fencers are ranked in the nation according to the Feb. 11 ranking report by U.S. Fencing. Five Buckeyes are ranked in the Top 10 of the senior division. Jason Rogers is ranked No. 3 in men’s sabre, while Adam Crompton is ranked No. 6. Amelia Gaillard is ranked No. 6 in women’s sabre, while Eileen Grench is positioned at No. 9 in women’s sabre. Hanna Thompson holds the No. 4 spot in women’s foil.
Senior Division
– Women’s Sabre: No. 6 Amelia Gaillard, No. 9 Eileen Grench (Junior Div. fencer)
– Women’s Foil: No. 4 Hanna Thompson, No. 16 Metta Thompson
– Women’s Epee: No. 23 Kaela Brendler (Junior Div. fencer)
– Men’s Sabre: No. 3 Jason Rogers, No. 6 Adam Crompton, No. 33 Jason Paul (Junior Div. fencer)
– Men’s Foil: No. 33 William Jeter (Junior Div. fencer)
– Men’s Epee: No. 23 Christian Rivera (Junior Div. fencer)
Junior Division
– Women’s Sabre: No. 6 Eileen Grench, No. 24 Syvenna Siebert
– Women’s Epee: No. 6 Kaela Brendler
– Men’s Sabre: No. 17 Jason Paul – Men’s Foil: No. 16 William Jeter
– Men’s Epee: No. 5 Christian Rivera, No. 46 George Blackburne
FRESHMAN TRIO
Freshmen Siobhan Byrne, Amelia Gaillard and Eileen Grench have had a stellar start this season in women’s sabre. Gaillard and Grench are currently ranked in the senior division of women’s sabre by U.S. Fencing. Gaillard is positioned at No. 6 with a 21-6 overall record, while Grench is ranked No. 9 and is 30-3 overall in sabre this season. Byrne is 19-6 overall in varsity matches for the Buckeyes.
HIGH MARKS
Adam Crompton went undefeated against all his opponents Jan. 29 and 30 at the Notre Dame Duals in South Bend, Ind. Crompton finished the weekend 24-0 and overall this season is 26-1 in sabre. Hanna Thompson also had a stellar showing at the Notre Dame Duals as she suffered just one loss. Thompson went 29-1 and is 37-2 overall in women’s foil. LAST TIME OUT The fencing team hosted opponents Feb. 5 at the Ohio State Duals at French Field House in Columbus, Ohio.
The Buckeyes improved to 44-2 overall with wins over Cleveland State, Chicago, Detroit-Mercy, Michigan, Purdue, Case Western Reserve, Oberlin and Bowling Green. Both the men’s and women’s fencing squads are now 22-1in duals action this season. In eight rounds, the Buckeyes went undefeated against all eight opponents.
The men topped Cleveland State, 25-2, Chicago, 26-1, Detroit, 22-5, Michigan, 24-3, Purdue, 23-4, Case Western Reserve, 23-4, Oberlin, 25-2, and Bowling Green, 24-3. On the women’s side, the Buckeyes were victorious over Cleveland State, 24-3, Chicago, 25-2, Detroit, 26-1, Michigan, 23-4, Purdue, 26-1, Oberlin, 26-1, and Bowling Green, 24-1. Their only shutout came against Case Western Reserve, 27-0.
NOTRE DAME DUALS
The Buckeye fencers competed Jan. 29-30 at the Notre Dame Duals in South Bend, Ind. Both the men and women picked up 10 wins each and improved their overall record to 28-2. In duals action, the men picked up 10 wins including, No. 4 Notre Dame, 16-11, Cleveland State, 23-4, Detroit, 25-2, Northwestern, 17-10, Cal State Fullerton, 18-9, Michigan, 19-8, Wayne State, 19-8, Michigan State, 24-3, Wisconsin, 25-2, and Lawrence, 24-2.
Their only loss at the Notre Dame Duals, and first this season, came against No. 2 Penn State, 15-12. The OSU women also tallied 10 wins in duals competition and suffered their first loss of the season to No. 2 Notre Dame, 16-11. The Buckeyes defeated No. 3 Penn State, 14-13, No. 6 Northwestern, 21-6, Cleveland State, 25-2, Detroit, 25-2, Cal State Fullerton, 23-4, Michigan, 21-6, Wayne State, 21-6, Michigan State, 18-9, Wisconsin, 27-0, and Lawrence, 23-3.
RECAP OF NEW YORK DUALS
The fencing squad opened 2005 play with wins over four opponents Jan. 23 at the New York University Duals in New York, N.Y. Both the men’s and women’s squads went 4-0 in dual action.
The men defeated Stanford, 21-6 and New York, 20-7. Buckeye junior Jason Rogers registered six wins in sabre for the team against Stanford and New York, while sophomore Boaz Ellis had five wins in foil against Stanford and New York. The Buckeyes went 17-10 overall against Columbia, shutting out the Lions, 9-0, in epee, 5-4 in foil and fell 3-6 in sabre competition. Against Notre Dame, Ohio State topped the Fighting Irish 16-11 overall with a 7-2 mark in sabre, 6-3 score in foil and fell, 3-6 in epee.
On the women’s side, the Buckeyes knocked off New York and Stanford, 19-8 respectively. The women faced tough challenges against Columbia and Notre Dame as the Buckeyes edged both opponents, 14-13. Against Columbia, Ohio State went 2-7 in epee and 6-3 in both the foil and sabre events. The Buckeyes pulled past Notre Dame by scores of 5-4 in epee, 4-5 in foil and 5-4 in sabre competition. Eileen Grench, Siobhan Byrne and Amelia Gaillard aided in sabre wins over Columbia and Notre Dame, while Hanna and Metta Thompson led in foil wins over the Lions and Irish, respectively.
NORTH AMERICAN CUP
Several members of the Ohio State fencing squad competed Jan. 14-17 at the Division I North American Cup Championship in Kansas City. Ohio State fencers Adam Crompton and Jason Paul won their respective saber divisions at the North American Cup Championships, Jan. 14-17 in Kansas City. Crompton won his title in Div. I men’s saber, while Paul was the Junior men’s saber champion.
Five other Buckeyes placed in the Top 10 of their divisions. Christian Rivera had a pair of Top 10 finishes, placing second in Junior men’s epee and ninth in Div. 1 men’s epee. Two fencers tied for third in their divisions, including Boaz Ellis in Div. 1 men’s foil and Amelia Gaillard in Div. 1 women’s saber. One other Buckeye had a Top 5 finish as Hanna Thompson placed fifth in Div. 1 women’s foil. In women’s saber, Eileen Grench placed ninth in the Junior division and 15th in the Div. 1 competition.
CAPTAIN CRUNCH
The Buckeye squad is led by overall captains Boaz Ellis, Hanna Thompson and Metta Thompson and weapons captains Christian Rivera (men’s epee), Ellis (men’s foil), Jason Rogers (men’s sabre), Kaela Brendler (women’s epee), Hanna and Metta Thompson (women’s foil) and Marguerite Plekhanov (women’s sabre).
UP NEXT
Ohio State is back in action March 6 at the Midwest Regional Championship in Detroit, Mich. The Buckeyes will shoot to qualify the maximum of 12 fencers to compete at the NCAA Championships in Houston Texas.