After a long and grueling season, the women’s and men’s fencing seasons came to a close on March 20 and March 22, respectively, at the NCAA National Championships in South Bend, IN.
Sophomore Katherine Chen was the lone representative for the women’s team and her performance in épée earned 11 points and placed NYU at 18th out of 20 schools. She finished 14th in her weapon with 11 wins in 23 bouts.
First-year Szymon Wojciechowski and senior Jerry Pan represented the men’s team in épée and saber, respectively. Wojciechowski’s tournament concluded with an 11-12 record, placing 13th in his weapon, while Pan held a 5-18 record and finished with a No. 23 individual placement. The duo totaled 16 points for NYU and a No. 19 placement out of 22 schools.
“I really wanted to make NCAA finals in my freshman year — I did that,” Wojciechowski said. “But the performance could have been much better because my position could have been higher, especially after the regionals.”
In his first season at NYU, Wojciechowski qualified for the national championship after winning the men’s épée title at the NCAA Regional Championship. He was also given United States Fencing Coaches Association First Team All-Region honors. Chen qualified for the championship following a ninth-place finish at regionals, and Pan qualified after placing 13th in saber. Chen and Pan also medalled earlier in the season at the North American Cup and were named USFCA Second Team All-Region and USFCA Division III All-Region, respectively.
Although neither team finished the season with a national title, the realistic goal from the start of this year was always to excel at the regional championship.
“We were bouncing back from what I think was viewed as a pretty strong season for 2024-25, but ended in a really deflating way,” head coach Ben Bratton told WSN. “Not to say that the regular season didn’t matter, but we were working almost every day to perform at our regional championships.”
Since only 45 schools offer a fencing program, all schools are combined into one league, regardless of division. As a result, the Violets — a Division III school fencing at the Division I level — consistently face off against programs with more resources, funding and practice space.
Nevertheless, the Violets were able to make a name for themselves this past season. At the end of January, the women’s team defeated then-No. 4-ranked Harvard University for the first time in program history. The Crimson led the series undefeated prior to the Violets’ 14-13 win.
“While we’re not at that full vision of standing on a podium at NCAAs yet, those are great little milestones that happen on the way to reaching that target — that tell you you’re moving in the right direction,” Bratton said.
On the piste, both men’s and women’s teams bonded over shared practices based on their weapon. The squads practice three times a week and also have team lifts twice a week. Off the piste, the squads bonded over shared dinners, with K-BBQ a stand-out favorite among the saber team. With six first-years on each team, they were paired up with a mentor who is not part of their weapon. Senior captain Farr Dickson mentored first-years Hiba Hafeez on the épée squad and Liisa Hambazaza on the saber squad.
“At the beginning of the year, you get mentees, and we try to group the freshmen up with a captain that they’re most helpful for,” Dickson said. “So you have the squad captain, but you also have somebody who’s not in your squad that you can talk to, for any reason.”
At the end of the season, the women’s and men’s teams will be graduating four and five fencers, respectively, including senior Sophia Dondisch, who’s fourth in épée victories in the program. Bratton and the rest of the coaching staff will not only be looking to fill these gaps, but will also concentrate on building up the women’s foil and saber teams.
Whereas the women’s foil squad is going to be the focus of the coaching staff for development, women’s saber is primarily made up of younger athletes, and more experience would help the team progress, Bratton explained. Nevertheless, he is confident in the teams’ trajectories next season, where the entire team will be made up of his recruits for the first time since he assumed the position of head coach in September 2022.
“These are all my recruits, my athletes, totally my culture, so it’s exciting to field that team,” Bratton said. “I know they’re gonna really do well next year.”
Contact Sherry Chen at [email protected].