Fencing Competes at Home – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
Oct. 25, 2000
The OSU Open
The Ohio State fencing teams will play host to the OSU Open, Saturday, Oct. 28. The meet begins at 8:30 a.m. in French Field House and St. John Arena.
The event is open to anyone and should include about 350 fencers. The finals will be held in St. John Arena at 6 p.m. Tickets for the finals will be $3 for students and $5 for adults.
The OSU Dual Meets
Sunday, Oct. 29 the Buckeyes will play host to the OSU Dual Meets. The event will feature eight schools including Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Chicago, Michigan, Northwestern, Case Western and Michigan State. The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. in French Field House. Each team in the event will compete against almost every other squad.
2000 NCAA Competitors
All three Buckeyes who earned automatic berths in the NCAA Championships last season, including two All-America honorees, return for OSU. Fane Groes (Sr., Copenhagen, Denmark/Vordinborg), has earned All-America honors in foil the past two seasons. Last year she placed seventh at the NCAA Championships after placing first at the Midwest Conference championships. Groes led the women’s foil squad with a mark of 97-12 last year.
In men’s epee, Geoff Kane (Sr., Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River) became the first OSU male fencer to earn All-America honors since 1997 after placing 12th in epee at the NCAA Championships. Kane, who placed sixth at the Midwest Conference Championships, ranked second on the squad with a mark of 42-22 last year.
Alan Jones (So., Ft. Leonardwood, Mo./Waynesville) also competed at the 2000 NCAA Championships in epee. Jones placed first at the Midwest Conference Championships before finishing 16th at the NCAAs. As a freshman last season, he led the epee team with a 44-28 record and recorded the most wins of any Ohio State freshman. Other Key Returnees
In addition to the NCAA participants, four Buckeyes who placed in the Top 10 in their respective weapons at the 2000 Midwest Conference Championships return this season. On the men’s side, Greg Bianca (Jr., Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) was ninth in epee and Greg Carlino (Sr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) was third in foil. Bianca posted an overall mark of 38-21 in epee, while Carlino led the men’s foil squad with a record of 45-28. For the women, Sally Dowding (Sr., W. Midlands, England/Binswood Hall N. Leamington) placed ninth in foil while Leah Tracy (Jr., Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) was 10th in epee. Dowding ranked second on the women’s foil squad with a mark of 63-7 and Tracy ranked second in epee with a record of 52-29.
The Newest Buckeyes
Among the newest Buckeyes are Colin Parker (Fr., Fayetteville, Ga./The Heritage School) and Amanda Nelson (Fr., Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln). Parker won the bronze medal in sabre at the World Championships in 1999 and the gold medal in the 2000 Junior World Cup. Nelson, who competes in both sabre and foil, won the gold medal at the 1999 Overland Park women’s foil championships. Another newcomer in men’s sabre, Can Aydin (Fr., Istanbul, Turkey/Ted Istanbul), was named the Fencer of the Year in Turkey in 1997-98.
The OSU Coach
Fencing head coach Vladimir Nazlymov began his quest to develop the Ohio State program last season. Nazlymov led the men’s team to a 14-8 record and the women’s squad to an 18-8 mark. He also guided two Buckeyes, Fane Groes and Geoff Kane, to All-America status.
Before coming to Ohio State, Nazlymov spent eight years as the head coach for the Kansas City, Mo., School District where he designed and developed an Olympic-caliber fencing program.
From 1986-1988 Nazlymov served as the USSR National Team’s head coach. The USSR went on to win the gold medal at the 1986 World Championships and silver medals at the 1987 Worlds and 1988 Olympics
Nazlymov was the head coach of the Soviet Union Military Fencing team from 1976-1990. He guided his students to two Olympic gold medals and 12 World Championships, as well as eight European Championship crowns.
Competing for the Soviet Union, Nazlymov was a three- time Olympic Champion (1968, 1976, 1980). He earned the Olympic silver medal in 1972 and 1976, while notching the Olympic bronze medal in 1972.
Recapping 1999-00
Last season, the Ohio State fencing team, under then-first year head coach Vladimir Nazlymov, placed 12th at the NCAA Championships. The men’s squad posted a record of 14-8, while the women were 18-8 overall. The men’s squad placed third at the Midwest Championships, while the women finished second.
The Schedule
The Buckeyes will travel to face many of the top teams in the nation this season. One of the squad’s toughest weekends will be the Penn State Dual Meets, Jan. 29-30, 2001. The host Nittany Lions won the NCAA national championship last season, while Notre Dame and St. John’s tied for second place.
The Buckeyes will compete at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships Feb. 24-25. Last season the squad placed third, behind Notre Dame and Northwestern. The season ends with the NCAA Regionals in Detroit, Mich., March 10 and the NCAA Championships, March 21-25 at Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis.
Who to Watch?
The OSU Open features a strong field, including some of the top fencers in the nation. Terrance Lasker is a three-time national champion and was the first alternate for the U.S. National Sabre Team for the 2000 Olympic Games. Jakob Krockmalski was a member of the Poland Junior National Team and placed second at the NCAA Championships last season. Michael Momtchelidze, a high school student, finished first in the U-17 Nationals this past year and twins Metta and Hannah Thompson, high school seniors from Rochester, N.Y., are two of the top women’s foil competitors in the U.S.
