Mixed Bag for Fencing at NYU Duals as Women

The Columbia fencing team came away from its first collegiate meet of the season at the NYU Duals with mixed results. With key fencers missing for last Saturday’s meet, the third-ranked Lion women put up a strong showing with a 4-1 record on the day, while the men went 2-3 against some the nation’s best competition.

Columbia began the day with the women facing Northwestern and the men taking on Stevens Institute, and both Columbia teams claimed easy victories. The next match pitted the Lions against national powerhouse Notre Dame, as the Light Blue women defeated the top-ranked Irish 15-12, but the men fell 18-9. A second loss by the Notre Dame women later in the day to second-seeded Ohio State should leave Columbia second in the next national poll once it is released.

Both the men and the women struggled in their next match, however, as Ohio State dominated the women 20-7 and the men 19-8. The women’s loss to the Buckeyes was the team’s first in over a season as the women went undefeated in 2007. This was also the third straight season that the Columbia men fell to Ohio State, after losing 14-13 and 20-7 respectively on the two previous occasions.

The Lions next faced Wayne State whom they defeated handily 22-5 on the men’s side and 21-6 on the women’s. The next match against St. John’s saw the Red Storm finish in a very similar manner to that of the Notre Dame face-off, as the Lion women once again had a strong showing in a 19-8 victory, but the Columbia men failed to find their stride in the 19-8 loss.

The 2-3 showing from the men is one that could have gone very differently had the Lions had all their fencers competing. With junior Dwight Smith competing for an Olympic spot, junior Lorenzo Casertano finalizing his United States citizenship and others competing in World Cup events, Columbia entered the day shorthanded. The team certainly felt the losses as the teams seeded as two, three, and four all defeated the Lions. The women were much less lacking in personnel, and went on to defeat the one, six, and seven seeds.

Despite the top-level competition, this match is only seen as a tune-up for the two most important tournaments of the year.

“Our goals remain for the same on the year: to win Ivies and to compete well at Nationals,” head coach George Kolombatovich said prior to Saturday’s NYU Duals. “I believe we will compete very strongly in both events this year.”

The Lions begin defense of their last season’s Ivy titles this weekend in the first half of the Ivy Championships at Yale.