Northwestern Claims Second At MFC Championships

2/26/2017 9:53:00 PM | Women's Fencing

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 8 Northwestern came home with a second place finish at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at Columbus, Ohio this weekend, headlined by an epee gold medal and five individual medals.

"I am proud of the poise, fight, and team spirit that was on display this weekend," head coach Zach Moss said. "Our team persevered through to the very end and set a great tone for the rest of the postseason."

In the team competition on Sunday, the Wildcats finished second place behind Ohio State by a score of 795-770. The next closest team, Michigan, had 705 points.

The Wildcat epee team went undefeated en route to a first place finish with wins over Chicago, Case Western, Michigan and Ohio State. In the dramatic final match against the Buckeyes with the score at 4-4, freshman Pauline Hamilton pulled out a clutch 5-4 victory to earn the epee team a MFC title for the second year in a row. Sophomore Ella Lombard went 4-1 on the day.

The sabre team also advanced to the finals against Ohio State by defeating McKendree, Purdue and Michigan. The 'Cats finished in second after a narrow 5-3 loss to the Buckeyes. Junior Sacha Bazzal went 4-0 in the first two matches.

In foil, the Wildcats won their quarterfinal against Case Western before falling to Wayne State in the semifinal. They finished strong with a 5-0 win over Michigan to take home third place. Senior Stephanie Chan led the squad with a 4-1 record.

On Saturday in the individual competitions, Northwestern claimed two silver medals and three bronze medals while filling up the top ten in all three weapons.

In epee, Ella Lombard finished second overall with four knockout round wins and a narrow 15-11 loss in the finals. Katie Van Riper also medalled by tying for third after tallying three knockout wins. Pauline Hamilton took fifth, while Anna Tolley, Adelle Berdichevsky, Mandeep Bhinder and Aahana Chatterjee all landed in the top ten.

Yvonne Chart led the Wildcats in foil with a bronze medal after picking up three direct elimination wins before bowing out in the semifinals. Stephanie Chan was right behind in fifth place, and Alexandra Banin, Stella Pointeau and Sharon Chen added top ten finishes.

The 'Cats earned three medals in sabre as Alisha Gomez-Shah finished with silver and Maddy Curzon and Julia Abelsky both took home a bronze. Gomez-Shah won four bouts while Curzon took three in the knockout round. Abelsky, however, had to first fence in pools where she was 6-0, before almost running the table from the round of the 64 to the semifinals. Cindy Oh and Emine Yücel also found their way into the top ten.

The Wildcats will now turn their attention to the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Mar. 11, in Detroit, Mich. as they look to continue their strong postseason.

Epee - First Place (4-0)
NU def. Chicago, 5-2 (Round of 16)
NU def. Case Western, 5-0 (Quarterfinal)
NU def. Michigan, 5-0 (Semifinal)
NU def. Ohio State, 5-4 (Final)

Ella Lombard 4-1
Anna Tolley 2-0
Pauline Hamilton 4-2
Katie Van Riper 3-1
Mandeep Bhinder 5-2

Sabre - Second Place (3-1)
NU def. McKendree, 5-1 (Round of 16)
NU def. Purdue, 5-1 (Quarterfinal)
NU def. Michigan, 5-0 (Semifinal)
Ohio State def. NU, 5-3 (Final)

Sacha Bazzal 4-0
Julia Abelsky 4-1
Abby Tartell 3-1
Maddy Curzon 2-3
Emine Yücel 2-1
Alisha Gomez-Shah 2-0
Cindy Oh 1-1

Foil - Third Place (2-1)
NU def. Case Western, 5-0 (Quarterfinal)
Wayne State def. NU, 5-4 (Semifinal)
NU def. Michigan, 5-0 (Third Place)

Yvonne Chart 4-2
Alexandra Banin 3-1
Stella Pointeau 3-1
Stephanie Chan 4-1

Individual Competition

Epee
2. Ella Lombard
4. Katie Van Riper
5. Pauline Hamilton
6. Anna Tolley
7. Adelle Berdichevsky
9. Mandeep Bhinder
10. Aahana Chatterjee
11. Shirley Luong

Foil
T3. Yvonne Chart
5. Stephanie Chan
7. Alexandra Banin
8. Stella Pointeau
10. Sharon Chen
11. Amy Jia
12. Stefani Kahookele
13. Michelle Lee (6-0 pool)
14. Lucia Procopio (5-0 pool )
18. Kayla Kelch (6-0 pool)
19. Sarit Kapon (4-0 pool)
20. Kimmy Fishman (5-0 pool)

Sabre
2. Alisha Gomez-Shah
T3. Maddy Curzon
T3. Julia Abelsky
6. Cindy Oh
7. Emine Yücel
11. Sacha Bazzal
13. Abby Tartell