SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Led by junior Ashton Daniel's individual national championship in men's foil and senior Sidarth Kumbla's runner-up finish in men's foil, Columbia concluded the 2022 NCAA Fencing Championships in third place in the team standings Sunday at Notre Dame's Castellan Family Fencing Center in South Bend.
  
Columbia began the final day in second place with 138 points, 17 points behind Notre Dame (155 points) and one point ahead of third place Harvard (137). The Lions battled with Harvard all day long and eventually tied the Crimson for second place with 168 points. Harvard +241 scoring broke the tie. Host Notre Dame claimed the team national title with a total of 189 points.

In each of the last six years that Columbia has competed at the NCAA Fencing Championships (2015-22), the Lions have finished no lower than third place in the team competition. Final results from the NCAA Championships are available at this link.
 
Daniel and Kumbla squared off in a closely-contested, hard-fought men's foil championship bout. Daniel jumped out to a 6-2 lead with three straight points, then built a 12-5 lead before Kumbla battled back with six consecutive points to close within 12-11. From there, the two Lions traded points until Kumbla tied it at 14-14. Daniel won the last point but the two had to wait for the official confirmation. It was the first time in 32 years that two Lions squared off in a national championship bout. The last time was during the 1990 NCAA men's sabre final in which David Mandell defeated Peter Ciemens. Daniel becomes Columbia's first men's foil individual champion since Jed Dupree in 2001.
 
As the No. 4 seed, Daniel advanced to the title match by winning a close 15-14 victory over No. 1 seed Princeton's Mohamad Hamza, 15-14. He scored two straight points to take a 14-12 lead, then won the last point to take the bout. Kumbla advanced to the final by defeating Harvard's James Chen 15-5 in his semifinal. He jumped out to a 3-0 lead, rolled to a large 10-5 lead, then won the last five consecutive points for the victory.
 
Daniel advanced to the semifinals by battling up the standings from fifth place following Saturday's competition. On Sunday, he put together back-to-back 3-1 records in the final rounds and accumulated a 16-7 overall record to tie for fourth. His +42 differential was the difference.
 
With his runner-up performance, Kumbla becomes the first male fencer in school history to earn four straight First Team All-America honors. He joins Columbia legends Caitlin Bilodeaux (1984-87) and Emily Jacobson (2005-08) as only the third fencer overall, male or female, in school history to earn that distinction.
 
Kumbla entered Sunday's competition in first place with a 13-2 overall record. He went 3-1 in the fourth round and 2-2 in the fifth round to coast into the semifinals.
 
In men's epee, senior Teddy Lombardo began the day in fifth place, but had to battle his way back into contention for a semifinal spot after going 1-3 in the fourth round. But Lombardo motored through the final round, winning three of his final four bouts to finish in fifth place with a 15-8 overall record and plus-20 differential. Lombardo earned Second Team All-America honors, his second career All-America accolade. Haddad, fencing in his first NCAA Championship, took 13^th place with a 12-11 overall record and +1 differential.
 
In men's sabre, junior Christopher Walker and senior Josef Cohen combined for an 11-5 record on the final day of competition as the duo moved up in the standings. Walker finished the weekend off with four straight wins and concluded the event in 11^th place with a 12-11 record and plus-3 differential. Cohen won four straight fourth round bouts and improved his record to 12-11 with a minus-3 differential. Walker finished inside the top-12 for an honorable mention All-America selection.
 
In Thursday and Friday's women's competition, Columbia was led by third place performances from senior Sylvie Binder (women's foil) and junior Nora Burke (women's sabre), along with a fifth place effort from first-year Zander Rhodes. Binder earned First Team All-America honors for the third time in her career and Burke garnered her second All-America accolade. Sophomore Vera Kong finished in 12^th place and earned All-America honorable mention honors.
 
The NCAA Fencing Championships utilizes a total national title format which combines results from both the men's and women's competitions. For the four-day event, Columbia qualified the NCAA maximum number of 12 fencers. The NCAA Championships featured fencers from 27 different schools, while Columbia was one of only four teams with the maximum 12 fencers competing: Notre Dame, Princeton, and Ohio State.
 
A complete edited NCAA Championship recap will premiere on live national television on ESPNU on Thursday, April 7 at 1:30 p.m. ET.
 
COLUMBIA AT THE 2022 NCAA FENCING CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 24-27, 2022 | South Bend, Ind. | Castellan Family Fencing Center
 
DAY FOUR RESULTS (Sunday, March 27, 2022)
 
Team Standings
1.Notre Dame, 189
2. Harvard, 168
3. COLUMBIA-BARNARD, 168
4. Princeton, 154
5. Ohio State, 144
6. Penn State, 131
7. St. John's, 90
8. Penn, 86
9. Yale, 67
10. Duke, 63
16 others with 54 points or less
 
Men's Epee
Justin Haddad (finished in 13th place/24 fencers, 12-11)
First Round: 4-3; Second Round: 3-1; Third Round: 1-3; Overall: 8-7 (+1), 10th place
Fourth Round: 2-2; Fifth Round: 2-2; Overall: 12-11 (+1), 13th place)
 
Teddy Lombardo (finished in 5th place/24 fencers, 15-8)/Second Team All-America
First Round: 4-3; Second Round: 4-0; Third Round: 3-1; Overall: 11-4 (+18), 5th place
Fourth Round: 1-3; Fifth Round: 3-1; Overall: 15-8 (+20), 5th place)
 
Men's Foil
Ashton Daniel (finished in 1^st place/24 fencers, 16-7)/National Champion, First Team All-America
First Round: 4-3; Second Round: 4-0; Third Round: 2-2; Overall: 10-5 (+23), 5th place
Fourth Round: 3-1; Fifth Round: 3-1; Overall: 16-7 (+42), 4th place)
Semifinal: No. 4 seed defeated No. 1 seed Mohamed Hamza, Princeton, 15-14
Championship Bout: Defeated Sidarth Kumbla, Columbia, 15-14
 
Sidarth Kumbla (finished in 2nd place/24 fencers, 18-5)/National Runner-Up, First Team All-America
First Round: 5-2; Second Round: 4-0; Third Round: 4-0; Overall: 13-2 (+39), 1^st place
Fourth Round: 3-1; Fifth Round: 2-2; Overall: 18-5 (+42), 2nd place)
Semifinal: No. 2 seed defeated No. 3 seed James Chen, Harvard, 15-5
Championship Bout: Lost to Ashton Daniel, Columbia, 15-14
 
Men's Sabre
Josef Cohen (finished in 13th place/24 fencers, 12-11)
First Round: 3-4; Second Round: 1-3; Third Round: 2-2; Overall: 6-9 (-10), 17th place
Fourth Round: 4-0; Fifth Round: 2-2; Overall: 12-11 (-3), 13th place)
 
Christopher Walker (finished in 11th place/24 fencers, 12-11)/Honorable Mention All-America
First Round: 4-3; Second Round: 2-3; Third Round: 1-2; Overall: 7-8 (+1), 14th place
Fourth Round: 1-3; Fifth Round: 4-0; Overall: 12-11 (+3), 11th place)
 
DAY ONE & TWO RESULTS (WOMEN'S COMPETITION)
 
Women's Epee
Valentina Bos (finished in 14^th place/24 fencers, 10-13)
First Round: 2-5; Second Round: 0-4; Third Round: 2-2; Overall: 4-11 (-13), 21^st place
Fourth Round: 2-2; Fifth Round: 4-0; Final Record: 10-13 (+1)
 
Ariana Mangano (finished in 23^rd place/24 fencers, 7-16)
First Round: 2-5; Second Round: 1-3; Third Round: 1-3; Overall: 4-11 (-16), 22^nd place
Fourth Round: 1-3; Fifth Round: 2-2; Final Record: 7-16 (-26)
 
Women's Foil
Sylvie Binder (finished T-3^rd place/24 fencers, 17-6)/First Team All-America
First Round: 4-3; Second Round: 3-1; Third Round: 4-0; Overall: 11-4 (+17), 6^th place
Fourth Round: 3-1; Fifth Round: 3-1; Final Record: 17-6 (+35)
Semifinal: No. 4 seed, lost 15-9 to No. 1 seed Maia Weintraub, Princeton
 
Zander Rhodes (finished in 5^th place/24 fencers, 17-6)/Second Team All-America
First Round: 7-0; Second Round: 2-2; Third Round: 4-0; Overall: 13-2 (+31), 1^st place
Fourth Round: 2-2; Fifth Round: 2-2; Final Record: 17-6 (+34)
 
Women's Sabre (1:30 p.m. start)
Nora Burke (finished T-3^rd place/24 fencers, 20-3)/First Team All-America
First Round: 7-0; Second Round: 3-1; Third Round: 4-0; Overall: 14-1 (+34), 1^st place
Fourth Round: 3-1; Fifth Round: 3-1; Final Record: 20-3 (+37), T-1^st place
Semifinal: No. 2 seed, lost 15-11 to No. 3 seed Atara Greenbuam, Notre Dame
 
Vera Kong (finished in 12^th place/24 fencers, 12-11)/Honorable Mention All-America
First Round: 5-2; Second Round: 2-2: Third Round: 2-2; Overall: 9-6 (+3), 7^th place
Fourth Round: 2-2; Fifth Round: 1-3; Final Record: 12-11 (+4), 12^th place