Thursday, March 21
Cleveland, Ohio
All Day
Columbia University
vs
NCAA National Championships Day 1
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin
Fencing Primed for NCAA Nationals
3/20/2019 4:57:00 PM | Fencing
Live ScoringMen's Live Stream (Friday only)Women's Live Stream (Sunday only)Ticket InformationFencing RosterFencing Schedule
Columbia Fencing sends 12 fencers to Cleveland for the National Championships this week.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Columbia Fencing hopes to reclaim the NCAA national title in Cleveland this weekend. The Lions were atop the podium in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and had finished third in 2017 and second last year behind Notre Dame. The event will be held at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State, in conjunction with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. The round-robin and semifinal bouts begin at 9 a.m., while the finals begin at 1 p.m. The rounds will be played over Thursday and Friday for the men, and Saturday and Sunday for the women.
Columbia is currently sitting at the No. 2 spot in the NCAA/CollegeFencing 360 national coaches poll. The Lions are the top ranked Ivy League and Northeast regional team competing at this weekend's championships. Notre Dame is currently ranked No. 1, having won the last two national titles.
The Lions are one of four schools in the nation who qualified the maximum number of student athletes for the national stage; two per weapon per gender, for a total of 12. Due to the structure of the national championship competition, qualifying a full squad increases the chances for overall success. The other schools who qualified full squads are Notre Dame, Harvard and Penn State.
Both the men's and women's first day of competition will be structured in a five round round-robin style tournament. The first three rounds will be five-touch bouts. Each win notched by a fencer will translate into a point for the team cumulative score. The top four fencers from each weapon will compete for the individual titles. The second day of competition will consist of fifteen touch bouts for the semifinals and final rounds.
Last season, Iman Blow, a returning senior foilist this season, will hope to defend her national individual title. Blow was named women's foil champion for the Northeast region two weeks ago. Sylvie Binder, a sophomore foilist, finished tied for third in individual competition last season, and will be returning to the strips this season after capturing the individual Ivy League foil title this past February.
Sam Moelis, returning men's foilist, was national runner-up last season. Moelis found success throughout the 2018-19 season, claiming the silver at Northeast Regionals. Sidarth Kumbla made it to the final day of competition at last year's nationals. Kumbla topped fellow teammate Moelis at the regionals this season, but fell to Moelis in the semifinal round of nationals last year.
Columbia welcomes four first-year athletes, Teddy Lombardo (epee), Karolina Nixon (epee), Daniella Timofeyev (sabre), and Nora Burke (sabre) to the strips at nationals this season.
The semifinals and finals will be streamed live on ESPN3 beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday for men's bouts and 1 p.m. on Sunday for the women. Live results can be found here or on twitter at @columbiafencing.
Men's Fencers:
Foil:
Sam Moelis -2nd at Regionals; 25-6 season record
Sidarth Kumbla -1st at Regionals; 34-7 season record
(Nolen Scruggs-Alternate)
Sabre:
Andrew Doddo- 2nd at Regionals; 26-8 season record
Calvin Liang- 9th at Regionals; 17-10 season record
Epee:
Teddy Lombardo -9th at Regionals; 23-13 season record
Mick Yamanaka -5th at Regionals; 17-15 season record
Women's Fencers:
Foil:
Iman Blow -1st at Regionals 42-8; season record
Sylvie Binder -3rd at Regionals; 42-3 season record
(Ester Schreiber-alternate)
Sabre:
Nora Burke -8th at Regionals; 23-7 season record
Daniella Timofeyev -5th at Regionals; 25-14 season record
(Violet Michel- Alternate)
Epee:
Anne Cebula- 1st at Regionals; 40-15
Karolina Nixon -13th at Regionals; 29-10 season record
Men's Championships:
Thursday
9 a.m. - Men's Epee Rounds 1-3
11 a.m. - Men's Foil Rounds 1-3
1:30 p.m. - Men's Sabre Rounds 1-3
Friday
9 a.m. - Men's Foil, Epee and Sabre Rounds 4-5
1:30 p.m. - Men's Semifinal and Championship bouts
Women's Championships:
Saturday
9 a.m. - Women's Epee Rounds 1-3
11 a.m. - Women's Foil Rounds 1-3
1:30 p.m. - Women's Sabre Rounds 1-3
Sunday
9 a.m. - Women's Foil, Epee and Sabre Rounds 4-5
1:30 p.m. - Women's Semifinal and Championship bouts
Columbia is currently sitting at the No. 2 spot in the NCAA/CollegeFencing 360 national coaches poll. The Lions are the top ranked Ivy League and Northeast regional team competing at this weekend's championships. Notre Dame is currently ranked No. 1, having won the last two national titles.
The Lions are one of four schools in the nation who qualified the maximum number of student athletes for the national stage; two per weapon per gender, for a total of 12. Due to the structure of the national championship competition, qualifying a full squad increases the chances for overall success. The other schools who qualified full squads are Notre Dame, Harvard and Penn State.
Both the men's and women's first day of competition will be structured in a five round round-robin style tournament. The first three rounds will be five-touch bouts. Each win notched by a fencer will translate into a point for the team cumulative score. The top four fencers from each weapon will compete for the individual titles. The second day of competition will consist of fifteen touch bouts for the semifinals and final rounds.
Last season, Iman Blow, a returning senior foilist this season, will hope to defend her national individual title. Blow was named women's foil champion for the Northeast region two weeks ago. Sylvie Binder, a sophomore foilist, finished tied for third in individual competition last season, and will be returning to the strips this season after capturing the individual Ivy League foil title this past February.
Sam Moelis, returning men's foilist, was national runner-up last season. Moelis found success throughout the 2018-19 season, claiming the silver at Northeast Regionals. Sidarth Kumbla made it to the final day of competition at last year's nationals. Kumbla topped fellow teammate Moelis at the regionals this season, but fell to Moelis in the semifinal round of nationals last year.
Columbia welcomes four first-year athletes, Teddy Lombardo (epee), Karolina Nixon (epee), Daniella Timofeyev (sabre), and Nora Burke (sabre) to the strips at nationals this season.
The semifinals and finals will be streamed live on ESPN3 beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday for men's bouts and 1 p.m. on Sunday for the women. Live results can be found here or on twitter at @columbiafencing.
Men's Fencers:
Foil:
Sam Moelis -2nd at Regionals; 25-6 season record
Sidarth Kumbla -1st at Regionals; 34-7 season record
(Nolen Scruggs-Alternate)
Sabre:
Andrew Doddo- 2nd at Regionals; 26-8 season record
Calvin Liang- 9th at Regionals; 17-10 season record
Epee:
Teddy Lombardo -9th at Regionals; 23-13 season record
Mick Yamanaka -5th at Regionals; 17-15 season record
Women's Fencers:
Foil:
Iman Blow -1st at Regionals 42-8; season record
Sylvie Binder -3rd at Regionals; 42-3 season record
(Ester Schreiber-alternate)
Sabre:
Nora Burke -8th at Regionals; 23-7 season record
Daniella Timofeyev -5th at Regionals; 25-14 season record
(Violet Michel- Alternate)
Epee:
Anne Cebula- 1st at Regionals; 40-15
Karolina Nixon -13th at Regionals; 29-10 season record
Men's Championships:
Thursday
9 a.m. - Men's Epee Rounds 1-3
11 a.m. - Men's Foil Rounds 1-3
1:30 p.m. - Men's Sabre Rounds 1-3
Friday
9 a.m. - Men's Foil, Epee and Sabre Rounds 4-5
1:30 p.m. - Men's Semifinal and Championship bouts
Women's Championships:
Saturday
9 a.m. - Women's Epee Rounds 1-3
11 a.m. - Women's Foil Rounds 1-3
1:30 p.m. - Women's Sabre Rounds 1-3
Sunday
9 a.m. - Women's Foil, Epee and Sabre Rounds 4-5
1:30 p.m. - Women's Semifinal and Championship bouts
Players Mentioned
FOIL
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FOIL
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SABRE
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EPEE
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Sabre
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FOIL
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SABRE
/ Fencing
EPEE
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SABRE
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FOIL
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EPEE
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FOIL
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FOIL
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SABRE
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