Four 'Cats Collect Medals to Open Conference Championships

Photo by: Colin B Photography

Four 'Cats Collect Medals to Open Conference Championships

2/22/2020 9:54:00 PM | Women's Fencing

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Northwestern women's fencing team opened up the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, hosted by Ohio State University, with individual competition on Saturday.

The Wildcats had a strong showing on the first day. Epee fencer Julia Falinska, foil fencer Anna Biasco and saber fencers Abigail Swallow and Abby Tartell all secured hardware for themselves with their third place finishes.

Epee fencers Natalie Kim, Adelle Berdichevksy and Emma Scala, sabre fencers Thea Nguyen and Robyn Song and foil fencers Sarah Filby, Alyssa Chen and Sofia Simontov also excelled with top-8eightfinishes of their own.

In epee, Julia Falinska led the team with her top-three finish. Right behind her was Emma Scala, Natalie Kim and Adelle Berdichevksy with fifth, sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively.

To start out the day, six out of the nine epee fencers were exempt from the pools. Marta Amador Molina, Doeren Du and Ananya Gupta fenced in the pools and placed into the direct elimination bracket following their successful 5-0, 5-1 and 4-1 runs, respectively.

The 'Cats cruised through round of 64 and 32. In the round of 16, Shirley Luong, Blodwen Bindas, Du and Amador Molina fell short to their respective opponents and left the competition. Berdichevsky, Kim, Scala and Falinska had successful runs and secured themselves a top-eight finish.

In the round of eight, Berdichevsky, Kim and Scala fell short to Ohio State fencers. Falinska advanced through that round beating Maggie Wright of Lawrence University, 15-6. In the semifinals, she lost to Alexanne Verret, who went onto win the competition, 15-11, and finished the day ranked third overall.

In sabre, Abigail Swallow and Abby Tartell led the Wildcats with their top-three finishes.

Similar to epee, five out of eight sabre fencers were exempt from pools. Isabella Min, Ashley Gomerman and Hannah Marques fenced in the pools and earned themselves a spot in the first round of direct eliminations.

Jacqueline Hua, Marques, Min and Gomerman cruised through the round of 64, each letting their opponents only score two touches. In the round of 16, Robyn Song and Thea Nguyen beat their opponents, 15-12 and 15-10, respectively and earned themselves a top-eight spot.

In the round of eight, Nguyen and Song fell short to fellow Wildcats Swallow and Tartell, 15-14 and 15-11. Nguyen closed out the day ranked fifth, while Song earned herself a sixth place finish.

In the semifinals, Swallow faced Ohio State fencer Sarah Merza while Tartell faced Julieta Toledo, also a Buckeye. Swallow and Tartell lost their respective bouts and tied for third place.

In foil, first-year Anna Biasco led the Wildcats with her top-three finish.

Again, seven out of ten foil fencers were exempt from the pools. Elina Moon, Celia Crompton and Dhruthi Reddy all swept their respective pools and earned themselves spots in the direct elimination bracket.

All of the foil fencers cruised through the first three rounds of the direct elimination and secured themselves a top-16 finish. In the round of 16, Julia Shalansky, Isabelle Banin, Moon and Reedy fell short to their respective opponents, while Jerrica Liao and Crompton lost to fellow Wildcats.

In the round of eight, Sarah Filby and Alyssa Chen lost to Ohio State fencers Camilla Rivano and Alexa Laskaris, 15-10 and 15-11, respectively, while Sofia Simontov lost to fellow teammate Biasco, 15-8.

In the semifinals, Biasco fenced Buckeye Rivano, who went on to win the competition, and lost, 15-4. Biasco finished the competition ranked third overall.

Chicago's Big Ten team will be back in action tomorrow at the team portion of the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships. 'Cats, who secured the last two years' titles, will be looking to win to their seventh overall conference championship.

Epee, Pool Record, DE Record
T3. Julia Falinska, N/A, 3-1
5. Emma Scala, N/A, 2-1
6. Natalie Kim, N/A, 2-1
7.Adelle Berdichevsky, N/A, 3-1
9. Blodwen Bindas, N/A, 1-1
12. Shirley Luong, N/A, 2-1
13. Marta Amador Molina, 5-0, 2-1
16. Doreen Du, 5-1, 2-1
20. Ananya Gupta, 4-1, 1-1
Saber, Pool Record, DE Record

T3. Abigail Swallow, N/A, 3-1
T3.Abby Tartell, N/A, 3-1
5. Thea Nguyen, N/A, 2-1
6. Robyn Song, N/A, 2-1
10. Jacqueline Hua, N/A, 2-1
14. Isabella Min, 6-0, 2-1
19. Hannah Marques, 5-1, 1-1
20. Ashley Gomerman, 4-1, 1-1

Foil, Pool Record, DE Record

T3. Anna Biasco, N/A, 3-1
5. Alyssa Chen, N/A, 2-1
6. Sarah Filby, N/A, 3-1
7. Sofia Simontov, N/A, 3-1
9. Julia Shalansky, N/A, 2-1
10. Isabelle Banin, N/A, 2-1
11. Jerrica Liao, N/A, 2-1
13. Dhruthi Reddy, 6-0, 2-1
T14. Elina Moon, 6-0, 2-1
16. Celia Crompton, 6-0, 2-1

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