OSU Fencers Hit The Road Again – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
Feb. 9, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State fencing team will travel to Durham N.C. to compete in the Duke Duals on Feb. 11-13. The Buckeyes will fence Duke, Air Force, M.I.T., North Carolina and Brandeis.%^$
%^$BUCKEYES FARE WELL AT NOTRE DAME
%^$The Ohio State men’s and women’s fencing teams competed well at the Notre Dame Duals on Jan. 29-30. The men’s squad finished the tournament 3-2 with wins over Florida, 16-11, Northwestern, 18-9, and Cleveland State, 20-7. The men lost to host Notre Dame, 22-5, and Penn State, 24-3. Assistant coach Michael Shearer said the men performed well.%^$
%^$”They did as well as we expected them to,” Shearer said. “They won the matches they should have and unfortunately we just aren’t in the same league as Notre Dame and Penn State and we didn’t win.”%^$
%^$The women’s squad finished the weekend 2-3 with wins over Florida, 15-12, and Cleveland State, 19-18. The team lost to Notre Dame, 16-11, Penn State, 23-3, and Northwestern, 18-9.%^$
%^$Shearer was also happy with the women’s team performance and pointed to continued improvement as the key.%^$
%^$”We are working with an entirely new program,” Shearer said. “With a new coach comes new training, new strategies and it is hard to break old habits. Too much emphasis is being put on a quick and positive result but it takes a long time for old habits to be replaced. We are improving and the end result this year might not show it but down the road it will be evident.”%^$
%^$INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
%^$Alan Jones anchored the men’s epee squad turning in an 11-2 performance at Notre Dame. Geoffe Kane posted nine wins and six losses and Greg Bianca finished the dual meet 8-6.%^$
%^$The men’s foil squad was led by Greg Carlino who had six wins and eight losses while Kevin Dalley finished with five wins and 10 losses.%^$
%^$The sabre squad had two fencers finish with records of .500. Michael Dangler finished 4-4 and Joe Wernet was 6-6.%^$
%^$The Women’s epee squad was anchored by Toya Holland who had nine wins. Leah Tracy finished with seven wins and eight losses and Jaime Rice was 4-11.%^$
%^$The women’s foil squad was led by Fane Groes who finished the weekend 14-1. Sally Dowding helped the Buckeyes with five wins and 10 losses.%^$
%^$The sabre, in its first year of competition by women, was led by Sara Bowen, who finished 7-8. Lynn El-Hillow turned in a solid performance winning six bouts and losing nine.%^$
%^$THIS WEEK’S MVP’S
%^$Most Valuable Player award for the Notre Dame Duals goes to Freshman Alan Jones, who competes in the epee. The men lost to Penn State, 24-3, and Jones was the lone Buckeye to score points against the Nittany Lions, recording three. He finished 2-1 against Notre Dame.%^$
%^$The women’s Most Valuable Player award was given to junior Fane Groes, who competes in the foil. Groes finished the weekend 14-1. He lone loss was extremely close, according to Shearer. Groes won all three bouts against Penn State and Notre Dame. “Fane has great potential and after finishing 12th in the country last year we are pushing her to get good solid wins in hopes of a top four NCAA finish. She is a legitimate All-America candidate,” Shearer said.%^$
%^$LAST YEAR AT DUKE
%^$At Duke last year the men had tough time winning only one of five matches. They beat North Carolina, 14-13 but lost to Duke, Rutgers, Notre Dame and Air Force. The women finished the 1999 Duke Duals undefeated turning in wins over Duke, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Air Force and North Carolina. This year the Duke Duals will be used as a measuring stick for the Buckeyes coach Shearer said.%^$
%^$”Notre Dame and Penn State are two team’s that are not in our league. The teams we will face this weekend are in our league. We are on the same level with these teams. They have one great fencer, a couple good fencers and the rest are average, similar to us. We could see a 5-0 performance from both squads but each bout will be hard fought with scores like 5-4. The most important matches will be the middle of the lineup matches. Our top fencers are going to beat their weak ones and their top fencers will beat our weak ones. That leaves the middle of our lineup to decide the outcome of the match.”%^$
%^$NATIONAL RANKINGS
%^$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.
