Fencing exceeds expectations at St. John's Super Cup

Heading into the 2012 season, the Columbia men’s and women’s fencing teams were unranked, inexperienced, and beginning a new coaching era under Michael Aufrichtig. According to outside observers, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year. However, after the team’s performances at the St. John’s Super Cup and NYU Duals, those same individuals must be thinking that something is working.

Saturday began with a stunning upset of host No. 6 St. John’s 14-13 by the men’s squad. Later in the day, the men continued their strong performance by upsetting defending national champion No. 4 Notre Dame 15-12. In its other three matches, the men lost narrowly to No. 1 Penn State 13-14, No. 5 Ohio State 10-17, and No. 3 Harvard 11-16.

“[Saturday] was absolutely fantastic,” senior epeeist captain Sean Leahy said. “We came in with the expectations to fence really hard but knowing that it was going to be a tough day. Right off the bat we beat St. John’s, which is the first time the men’s team has done that in at least four or five years. This was a team that last year, in the same competitions, where we were barely winning two or three bouts out of 27.”

At NYU on Sunday, the men defeated Ohio State 16-11 and Wayne State 21-6, but fell to North Carolina 10-17, St. John’s 13-14, and Notre Dame 6-21.

The women also left Queens with a couple of upset wins over No. 1 Penn State 14-13 and No. 7 Harvard 15- 12. Unfortunately, the women fell to No. 6 Ohio State 13-14, No. 5 St. John’s 9-18, and No. 3 Notre Dame 7-20.

The women fenced even better on Sunday, defeating Notre Dame 15-12, No. 4 Northwestern 14-13, and Wayne State 21-6. They lost again by one bout to Ohio State and fell to St. Johns 9-18.

“I am very pleased,” head coach Michael Aufrichtig said. “We had the mission of introducing teams to the new Columbia fencing. We needed to go make a statement, and everyone gave everything they had. I wasn’t surprised by the efforts but I was much more excited that they brought it.”

Players and coaches believe that this experience against national powerhouses, win or lose, will give the team confidence going forward.

“It gives you a lot of confidence,” new assistant coach Jeff Spear, CC ’10, said. “Take the men’s sabre squad, who won four of five matches yesterday. They’ve proven to themselves that they can go in and win. This squad can go with the top teams.”

What explains the team’s success against excellent competition?

First, the Lions have been blessed with an extremely strong freshman class, which has already begun to add value to the team.

“Our great younger fencers really stepped it up,” Aufrichtig said. “You can come out scared or without fear. They might have been scared on the inside but they didn’t show it. Freshmen really stepped it up and are already adding a lot to this team.”

Second, some of the changes Aufrichtig has implemented into the program­—most notably on-campus practices and deliberate five-touch bout training exercises—have already begun to pay dividends.

“As the fencer on strip, you are more mentally comfortable with it in a variety of scenarios,” Leahy said. “It’s easier to remain focused, aggressive, and fighting. It’s also good for the fencers off strip watching because we know how to coach each other, we know how to respond. That’s all because of the practices we have been having.”

“We are winning way more 5-4 bouts than we were before,” senior sabreist captain Sammy Roberts said. “Forcing yourself into those scenarios in practice lets you know that there isn’t a lot of time frame and you need to focus in for that small amount of time."

The Lions will next take to the strip when they host the Historical Meet Plus on Wednesday, Feb. 8th.