CLEVELAND, OHIO-  Columbia Lions Fencing maintains it's place on the top of the leaderboard after men's competition wrapped up Friday afternoon at the 2019 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. The Lions have tallied 90 team points, six points ahead of Penn State, which currently holds second place in the standings.  The Lions sent Teddy Lombardo (epee) and Sidarth Kumbla (foil) to semifinal competition, Lombardo finished second and Kumbla tied for third overall.

Five of the six Columbia men's fencers placed in the top-12 finishers at today's competition, earning them spots on All-American squads.  Teddy Lombardo (epee) and Sidarth Kumbla (foil) were named to the first team, and Calvin Liang (sabre), Andrew Doddo (sabre) named second team, and Sam Moelis (foil) made the third team All-American roster.
 
MEN'S EPEE RECAP:
After the fourth and fifth rounds of the epee competition, Mick Yamanaka completed his bouts with a 10-13 record and a sixteenth place finish overall.  Teddy Lombardo found success on the strip, completing the preliminary rounds in the No. 3 seed, winning 16 of his 23 bouts. Lombardo's top four finish moved him into the semifinal competition.
 
In the semifinals, Lombardo was able to draw out Wayne State's Ahmed Elsayed, claiming the bout 15-10. Lombardo advanced to the finals round to face off against Ohio State's Oliver Shindler.  Shindler was the first seed entering the semifinal competition, and took down UIW's Alex Sless 15-13.  
 
Lombardo started out strong, taking the first two touches in the first 30-seconds of the bout, but lunged awkwardly and fell onto the strip.  After receiving medical attention, Lombardo returned to the strip and tried to rally to the finish.  Lombardo was downed by Shindler 11-9 when time expired in the third period.   Lombardo was the final competitor standing for Columbia, and ended the day in second place in Men's epee.  
 

MEN'S FOIL RECAP:
After the two preliminary rounds today, Sam Moelis finished ninth overall, and tabbed a 13-10 record for the two days of competition. Sidarth Kumbla was able to build on his momentum from yesterday, and finished the 25 bouts ranked third in the 24 fencer field. Kumbla finished the morning with a 19-4 record for the round-robin bouts, earning him the No. 3 spot in the rankings and a punched ticket to the semifinal rounds.  
 
Kumbla faced Axel Kiefer of Notre Dame in the semifinal round, and pulled ahead early 12-6. Kumbla, however, was unable to finish ahead of the Fighting Irish, dropping a 15-13 decision.  The semifinal performance solidified Kumbla's third place finish, tied with Geoffrey Tourette of Harvard.   
 
 
MEN'S SABRE RECAP:
Men's sabre performed consistently throughout today's preliminary competition.  After the first round of the day, fourth overall, Andrew Doddo found himself in the No. 4 slot on the leaderboard, Calvin Liang closely behind in the No. 5 position. After the fourth round, both Liang held onto his fifth spot, while Doddo fell to No. 6.  Both Lions held a 16-7 record, however Liang won the tiebreaker due to the +31 indicator, pulling him ahead of Doddo.  Both men received 2nd team All-American honors.
 
 
UP NEXT
The fencing championships resumes tomorrow at 9 a.m. with the first three rounds of women's epee bouts, followed by foil at 11 a.m. and sabre at 1 p.m.  The points from the third and fourth days of competition are added to the current team totals.  At the end of the fourth day of competition, the newest national championship team will be determined.  
 
SATURDAY SCHEDULE:
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 SCHEDULE:
9 a.m.- Women's epee, foil & sabre rounds 4-5
1 p.m.- Women's semifinals and final rounds
 
 
Men's Final Results:
Sabre:
5- Calvin Liang- 2nd team All-American(16-7, +31)
6- Andrew Doddo- 2nd team All-American(16-7, +27)
 
Foil:
T3- Sidarth Kumbla- 1st team All-American (19-4)
9- Sam Moelis- 3rd team All-American (13-10)
 
Epee:
2- Teddy Lombardo- 1st team All-American (16-7)
16- Mick Yamanaka (10-13)