PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—The No. 2 ranked Columbia Fencing teams finished the Philadelphia Penn Invitational with four wins and four losses Sunday at the TSE Center. Sunday's competition marked the culmination of a highly competitive weekend that featured 16 contests against nationally ranked fencing squads.
 
Columbia's women defeated both Ohio State and Northwestern, but dropped matches to Notre Dame and Princeton. Columbia's men's team won matches over Penn and Princeton but lost matches to Notre Dame and Ohio State.
 
Following this weekend's competition, Columbia is now a combined 38-7 overall in dual matches as the women are 20-3 and men are 18-4.
 
The Lions squads fenced No. 1 Notre Dame for the second straight day. Notre Dame won all three weapons and defeated the Columbia women 18-9. Sylvie Binder won two foil bouts and Nora Burke claimed two sabre bouts to lead the Lions. On the men's side, Columbia dropped a 15-12 decision to the Fighting Irish. The Lions won epee 5-4 fueled by two victories apiece by Teddy Lombardo and Justin Haddad. Sidarth Kumbla claimed two foil bouts, while Christopher Walker won all three of his sabre bouts.
 
Columbia also took on Ohio State in the second straight day. Columbia claimed an 18-9 win in women's fueled by wins in all three weapons. Binder won all three foil bouts, Yana Botvinnik and Audrey Chu each won three straight epee bouts, and Daniella Timofeyev won three sabre bouts. Ohio State won a 19-8 decision on the men's side.
 
In the event's fifth round, the Columbia women claimed a 19-8 win over Northwestern, while the men slipped by Penn 14-13. The women were bolstered by an 8-1 foil advantage led by Vivian Zheng and Rachel Zhang with three wins apiece, while Vera Kong took three sabre bouts. The men used a 7-2 foil advantage led by three foil wins by Kumbla to defeat the Quakers by one bout.
 
Columbia finished off the day with a split against Ivy League rival Princeton as the women dropped a 14-13 decision and men rallied for an 18-9 win over the Tigers. On the women's side, the Tigers claimed wins in foil and sabre but the Lions took six of the nine epee bouts led by Ariana Mangano and Botvinnik, who both won three bouts. The men swept Princeton 9-0 in foil and clung to a 6-3 advantage in sabre. Kumbla and James Bourtis each won three foil bouts, while Trenton Schmitt swept three sabre bouts.
 
Columbia is back in action on Sunday, Feb. 6 at the LIU Shark Showcase in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Lions are scheduled to fence host LIU (women), NYU, Hunter (men), and St. John's.
 
PHILADELPHIA INVITATIONAL RESULTS (COLUMBIA ONLY)
Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022 | Philadelphia, Pa. | TSE Center
 
Women: Notre Dame 18, Columbia 9
Men: Notre Dame 15, Columbia 12
Women: Columbia 18, Ohio State 9
Men: Ohio State 19, Columbia 8
Women: Columbia 19, Northwestern 8
Men: Columbia 14, Penn 13
Women: Princeton 14, Columbia 13
Men: Columbia 18, Princeton 9