COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three members of the Ohio State women’s fencing squad placed in the Top 10 on day one of the Garret Penn State Open in State College, Pa. Six of the 12 Buckeyes who competed advanced to elimination rounds. The Buckeyes picked up wins in 86 of their 183 bouts.
SABRE
Senior captain Sarah Merza led the sabre squad with 14 wins, placing sixth overall. She picked up 13 wins in pool competition, making her the eighth seed heading into elimination rounds. Aleksandra Kolmykova picked up 10 wins in pool competition, seeding her at No. 9. The two Buckeyes met in the round of 16 and Merza walked away with a 15-5 victory. That victory carried her into the round of eight where she dropped a close 15-13 match to the No. 1 seed, who went on to win silver.
Sophomore Stephanie Miller and freshman Evie Bustamante both finished in the Top 20 as well. The squad as a whole squad went 37-55 on the day.
6 Merza
12 Kolmykova
18 Bustamante
20 Fisher
21 Miller
29 Gluck
EPEE
All four epee fencers who advanced out of pool competition placed in the Top 25. Natalie Falkowski and Jessica Thow took home 24th and 25th place, respectively, after collectively claiming nine wins. In the round of 16, Alexanne Verret and Kristen Ruscitelli both dropped to Top 2 seeds. Verret fell to the No. 1 seed of Columbia in a 15-13 battle and Ruscitelli was defeated 15-7 by the second seed. Verret claimed 10 wins and Ruscitelli claimed six for the Buckeyes. Epee ended the day with a 25-34 record.
15 Ruscitelli
16 Verret
24 Thow
25 Falkowski
FOIL
Both foil fencers, Camilla Rivano and Alexa Laskaris, advanced to direct elimination rounds and went on to place in the Top 10. Laskaris started pool competition strong with five straight wins. She fought hard for another five in rounds two and three. Laskaris battled to a 15-10 win in the round of 16, but then dropped conceded 15 touches in the round of eight to end her campaign. Her performance landed her in seventh place overall. Rivano only conceded two bouts in the first round and then won out the next 10 which secured her position as top seed in the direct elimination rounds. She dominated her first bout 15-2, but then fell 15-12 in the round of eight, which earned her sixth place. Laskaris and Rivano won a total of 24 bouts and conceded only eight bouts all day.
5 Rivano
7 Laskaris
WHAT’S NEXT?
The men’s squad competes in the open Sunday starting at 8 a.m. with foil and epee followed by sabre at 10 a.m. Live scoring is here.
