EVANSTON, Ill. – Stanford closed out the Midwest Duals and fencing's regular season with a pair of men's victories over ranked teams on Sunday at Northwestern's Ryan Fieldhouse.
In the first of its four contests, the Cardinal, unranked in the College Fencing 360 coaches' poll Top 10, edged No. 3 Ohio State, 14-13. The Stanford men closed out the tournament with a 15-12 victory over No. 6 Princeton.
Noah Matricciani in saber and Julian Cheng in foil each went 3-0 in their bouts against Ohio State, with Matricciani duplicating that feat against Princeton.
Stanford went 4-0 on Sunday (though one victory is unofficial because it came against a club team) to finish 7-3 over two days of action. Overall, Stanford finished with a 12-3 record.
Especially impressive was Stanford's men's saber team, which went 9-1 in the tournament and 15-1 during the season.
The Stanford women beat Denison, 24-3, but lost to three ranked teams Sunday, including No. 1 Princeton, 15-12. Stanford went 4-6 in the tournament and is 8-9.
The NCAA West Regionals are March 7 at the Air Force Academy and Stanford will be represented by 22 fencers – 11 men and 11 women. They will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships March 19-22 in Detroit.
Through the regular season, the men's highest winning percentage was .844 (27-5) by Matricciani. Among women, it was .742 (23-8) by Amanda Han in epee.
Top winners were Matricciani and All-American in foil Lucas Orts, who went 27-11. For the women, it was Hanna Lee in epee. She went 36-13 (.735) and her 49 bouts were the most among the Cardinal men or women.
Photo by Aaron Shepley.
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Midwest Duals
Men
Midwest Duals record: Stanford 7-3 (saber 9-1, foil 7-3, epee 7-3).
Sunday's Stanford results
Stanford 14, No. 3 Ohio State 13
Stanford 27, Detroit Mercy 0
Stanford 25, Northwestern (club) 2
Stanford 15, No. 6 Princeton 12
Saturday's scores:
Stanford 22, Cleveland State 5
Stanford 17, Wayne State 10
North Carolina 15, Stanford 12
Stanford 25, Lawrence 2
No. 5 Notre Dame 16, Stanford 11
No. 10 Duke 14, Stanford 13* * *
Women
Midwest Duals record: Stanford 4-6 (saber 5-5, foil 5-5, epee 5-5).
Sunday's Stanford results
No. 4 Ohio State 21, Stanford 6
Stanford 24, Denison 3
No. 10 Cornell 16, Stanford 11
No. 1 Princeton 17, Stanford 10
Saturday's scores:
Stanford 21, Cleveland State 6
No. 5 Temple 17, Stanford 10
Stanford 23, Wayne State 4
Stanford 18, Lawrence 9
No. 3 Notre Dame 19, Stanford 8
Duke 18, Stanford 9
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Stanford's NCAA West Region qualifers:
Men
Saber -- Eugene Ko, Samuel Kwong, Noah Matricciani, Calvin Zau.
Foil -- Julian Cheng, Lucas Orts, Joshua Kang, Justin Kang.
Epee -- Robin Cheong, Tristan Krueger, Aidan Kung.
Women
Saber -- Rose Adams, Valerie Garcia, Kathy Hu, Caroline Wang.
Foil -- Liana Keesing, Anna Lee, Madeline Liao, Woo Joo Kwon.
Epee -- Caroline Baker, Amanda Han, Hanna Lee.
Kathy Hu (right) battles Ohio State. Photo by Aaron Shepley.