OSU Fencing Heads Back to South Bend – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
Jan. 27, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State fencing team will travel to South Bend, Ind. to compete in the Notre Dame Dual Meet Jan. 29-30. The team will face defending National Champion Notre Dame and runners- up Penn State in addition to Duke, Air Force, Florida, Case Western and Cleveland State.
SUCCESSFUL START OF DUAL MEET SEASON
The Ohio State fencing team travelled to Evanston, Ill. for its first dual meet competition of the season. The women’s team finished 8-3 with wins over Hollins, Chicago, James Madison, Fairleigh Dickinson, Cal. State Fullerton, Cal State San Diego and Michigan but lost to Northwestern, Temple and UNC-Chapel Hill. The Men’s team finished 5-0 with wins over North Carolina, Cal State San Diego, Cal State Fullerton, Lawrence and Northwestern.
The Buckeyes competed in their first dual meet of the season Jan. 22-23 at Evanston, Ill. and performed up to their coaches’ expectations. Assistant coach Michael Shearer said both the men’s and women’s squads had positive weekends to start the dual meet season.
“The women’s team won all the matches it was expected to win but couldn’t come up with any upsets,” Shearer said. “There were strong performances were turned in by each squad of weapons. The key to being successful this weekend against Notre Dame and Penn State is to rest and recover from the Northwestern Open and to have better performance consistency against better teams.”
The men’s squad dominated the Northwestern Open by winning all five matches it participated in.. The team swept Northwestern and only lost one bout to any other team. The sabre and foil squads had mixed results, while the foil squad also added victories to assure OSU’s dominance. “The Northwestern Open was a very good weekend for the team to build on for the tougher schedule it will face in the next few weeks,” Shearer said. At the Notre Dame Dual meet the Buckeyes will battle defending National Champion Penn State and runners up Notre Dame.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Sophomore Greg Bianca started the dual meet season on the right foot by finishing the weekend 10-1 in the men’s epee bouts. Alan Jones and Geoffe Kane both posted over 10 wins in the men’s epee bouts. Kane finished 13-0 and Jones was 14-1.
The men’s foil squad was anchored by Greg Carlino and Kevin Dalley who both scored points for the Buckeyes. Carlino finished 9-6 and Dalley was 7-8 on the weekend.
The sabre squad had four fencers finish with records over .500. Michael Dangler finished 5-0-1, John Jakelsky was 5-4, Joe Wernet was 93- and Ian Cliffe finished the weekend 5-2.
The Women’s epee squad turned in all-around solid performances. Toya Holland led the way with 20 wins and 10 losses. Jamie Rice was close behind with 17 wins and 13 losses. Leah Tracy finished with 16 wins and 9 losses.
The women’s foil squad was led by Fane Groes who finished the weekend 31-2. Sally Dowding helped the Buckeyes with an impressive 22 wins and only 11 losses.
WOMEN’S SABRE DEBUTS
The sabre was used for the first time in dual meet competition by Ohio State fencers at the Northwestern Open. The sabre was added just this year to the women’s events. The OSU sabre squad was led by Sara Bowen who finished with 24 wins and six losses. Lynn El-Hillow finished the meet with a record of 21-10 and Kelly McCafferty finished at 13-18.
LAST YEAR AT NOTRE DAME
At the Notre Dame dual meet last year the men’s team finished 9-1, and the women finished 10-1. The Buckeyes faced only three teams they will see this year, Case Western, Notre Dame and Cleveland State. Both the men and women won last years matches with Cleveland State and Case Western but lost to Notre Dame. Other teams there last year that wound up in the Buckeye’s win column included: Lawrence, Chicago, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Wayne State, Detroit Mercy and Northwestern.
CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
Joe Wernet was named captain of the 1999-00 Ohio State men’s fencing team, while Fane Groes will serve as captain of the women’s squad. Greg Carlino (men’s foil), Geoff Kane (men’s epee), Guy Loftin (men’s sabre), Lynn El-Hillow (women’s sabre), Jamie Rice (women’s epee), and Groes (women’s foil) will also serve as squad captains.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Freshman Guy Loftin continues to be ranked No. 25 nationally in men’s sabre. Rankings are compiled by the United States Fencing Association and are available at www.USFencing.com. Volunteer coach Terrance Lasker is ranked No. 2 nationally in the men’s sabre.
