Midwest Fencing Conference Championship Central
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State fencing program ended its first day of the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships in French Field House on a high note, walking away with all six individual weapon titles and a total of 16 podium finishes. Buckeyes closed out four of the six finals bouts.
WOMEN’S EPEE
Ohio State’s Alexanne Verret claimed her second consecutive title after overpowering teammate and freshman Montserrat Viveros in a close 15-14 bout. Senior Natalia Falkowski finished off the all-Buckeye podium by claiming third. Remaining Buckeyes Jessica Thow and Eva Petronchak also finished in the Top 15.
1 Alexanne Verret
2 Monteserrat Viveros
3T Natalia Falkowski
10 Jessica Thow
11 Eva Petronchak
WOMEN’S FOIL
Camilla Rivano and Gabriela Cecchini faced off in the finals in the fourth Buckeye finals matchup of the night. Rivano took the gold with Cecchini and Alexa Laskaris in second and third, respectively. This is Rivano’s third MFC individual title.
1 Camilla Rivano
2 Gabriela Cecchini
3T Alexa Laskaris
30 Emma Montgomery
WOMEN’S SABRE
Another Buckeye showdown for first place resulted in Julieta Toledo taking first as Sarah Merza took home silver. Sasha Kolmykova, Evie Bustamante and Stephanie Miller also finished in the Top 10.
1 Julieta Toledo
2 Sarah Merza
7 Sasha Kolmykova
8 Evie Bustamante
9 Stephanie Miller
13 Nicole Fisher
MEN’S EPEE
The highly competitive men’s epee squad claimed five of the Top 10 spots. In another Buckeye finals face-off between Henry Lange and Bence Bende, Lange edged out Bende and claimed gold. Crotchett finished third followed by Comes and Culpepper also in the Top 10.
1 Henry Lange
2 Bence Bende
3T Kaiden Crotchett
5 Matthew Comes
6 JR Culpepper
14 Ethan Edwards
27 Chris Collado
MEN’S FOIL
Newcomer Diego Cervantes made his debut on the home strips a memorable one with a dominating 15-5 finals performance, earning first place. Defending champ Nathan Wriedt followed in third. Liam Smith, Will Gaziano, Leon Cao, Jacob Gordon and James Flanagan all finished in the Top 20.
1 Diego Cervantes
3T Nathan Wreidt
10 Liam Smith
11 Will Gaziano
12 Leon Cao
16 Jacob Gordon
17 James Flanagan
MEN’S SABER
The saber unit secured six out of the Top 10 spots. Sophomore Roscoe Swartz earned his first conference title, after falling to a fellow Buckeye in the finals last year. Blake Bradford and Domenik Koch tied for third, followed by Stephen Chou and Hudson Santana in fifth and sixth, respectively. Frank Ditullio, Matthew Hayes and Shanvanth Arnipalli all clinched Top 20 finishes for Ohio State.
1 Roscoe Swartz
3T Blake Bradford
3T Domenik Koch
5 Stephen Chou
6 Hudson Santana
8 Frank Ditullio
14 Matthew Hayes
17 Shanvanth Arnipalli
MFC TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Buckeyes will compete in the team dual competition starting at 8 a.m. Sunday for the men’s and women’s squad MFC Championship titles.
For the first time, there will not be an overall team champion; instead, they will award the women men’s and women’s squads individually. Last year, the Buckeye men claimed first and the women took second behind Northwestern.
ZERO WASTE
Ohio State’s goal is to be zero waste by 2025 by diverting at least 90 percent of waste away from the landfill. For the second year in a row, the Midwest Conference Championships is a zero waste event. Senior Natalia Falkowski approached Coach Ohio Donald Anthony Junior to initiate the zero waste mission within the fencing program. For more information about zero waste, click here. View the day one zero waste report here.
