Season in Review: FencingSeason in Review: Fencing
Dave Bernal/isiphotos.com
Fencing

Season in Review: Fencing

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2015, Stanford fencing has a National Champion. Arianna Cao picked up an individual national championship in women's foil to cap a strong season from both the men's and women's fencing squads. 

The Cardinal earned four wins over top-10 opponents, had the program's best NCAA Championships finish (9th) since 2014, and had three fencers earn All-America honors in Alexander Massialas' first season as head coach.

In the program's first season in the ACC, Alexander Jeon and Renzo Fukuda earned medals with top-three finishes at the conference championships.

Seven Cardinal fencers qualified for NCAA Championships, including two freshmen and two sophomores.

National Champion Arianna Cao

National Champion Arianna Cao

Sophomore Arianna Cao took home a National Championship in Women's Foil, the Cardinal's 15th individual champion in program history and first since 2015.

Cao went 17-6 in pool play at NCAAs, earning the last spot in the four-person elimination round. The San Jose, Calif. native took down both fencers in her path, winning 15-13 and 15-14 to take the hardware in dramatic fashion.

Cao is the Cardinal’s fourth women’s foil champion in program history, and first since Iris Zimmerman in 2001. The last member of the Cardinal women’s team  to take home an NCAA Championship was Vivian Kong, winning epee in 2014.

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Introducing Coach Massialas

Introducing Coach Massialas

First-year head coach Alexander Massialas saw immediate success on The Farm, upsetting top-ranked Harvard in the first competition of the season. The Card would go on to pick up wins over No. 5 Northwestern and No. 10 Duke in the regular season.

At the NCAA Championships, Stanford posted the program's best overall finish (9th) since 2014.

Trio of All-Americans

Trio of All-Americans

The Cardinal saw three fencers earn All-America honors in 2025, led by Cao's First Team Selection. Freshman Renzo Fukuda earned Second Team honors with an 8th-place finish in men's foil, while Crystal Qian picked up an Honorable Mention with and 11th-place finish in Women's Foil.

It was an amazing first season coaching on The Farm. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of student-athletes to coach, they bought into a brand new system, they adapted and grew when I pushed them out of their comfort zones, and they took pride in their training. All the results we achieved are a testament to their hard work, and I’m extremely proud of the body of work the team put forward this year.

Alexander MassialasHead Coach