The fencing team competed in its second tournament of the 2024-25 season, traveling to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, this past Sunday.
For the men, the Leopards left with a 4-2 record, claiming victory over Cornell University, Long Island University, Cleveland State University and Denison University. The men improve to 9-4 on the year.
Senior foil Benito Hergert and freshman sabre Jordan Ginsberg led the team with 14 wins each. Senior foil Chris Davis, freshman sabre Nikita Kogan and freshman epee Ryan Leibowitz were right behind with 12 apiece. Senior epee Antoine Mannes and junior epee Tyler Morse also notched 10 and nine wins, respectively.
“There’s a lot of preparation that goes into a meet like this,” Hergert said. “Practicing smart and consistently, recovering well and being mentally ready for anyone I’m about to fence are all important.”
The Leopards fell to Yale University and Vassar College by scores of 19-8 and 16-11. The men were victorious in 96 out of 162 total bouts.
“Our two men sabre recruits have been performing well and filling in for vacancies we had in the past,” Hergert said. “Now we’re starting to beat teams we hadn’t beaten before.”
The women continued to struggle, finishing 0-5 on the day and falling to 1-11 on the year. They suffered losses to Denison 24-3, Vassar 15-12, Yale 22-5, Wellesley College 18-9 and Tufts University 19-8.
Freshman foil Zoe Lenz managed seven wins, while freshman epee Hilla Weatherill and senior epee Zoe O’Connor each had six.
O’Connor said that the women came into Sunday with a “better mindset” than the previous weekend.
“The women came together during our Friday practice to talk about things that we liked from the last tournament and things that we wanted to improve on,” O’Connor said. “A lot of us did a good job at not being as nervous.”
The women’s squad, which does not compete again until Jan. 26, will take the time to hone in on improvements.
“I would like to see better morale,” O’Connor said. “That’s something we can totally work on going against some of these schools.”
The men’s team will return to action on Sunday for the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association (MACFA) A verus B meet, hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology.
Disclaimer: News Editor Makenna McCall ’27 is a member of the fencing team. She did not contribute writing or reporting.