COLUMBUS, Ohio — Men’s foil and men’s sabre both grabbed third-place finishes Sunday to lead Lawrence University to fourth place at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at French Field House.
The Vikings finished fourth in the combined team standings with 1,275 points. Ohio State won the title with 1,590. The Lawrence men were second with 690 points, and Ohio State took the top spot with 810. The Lawrence women were fifth with 585, and Northwestern was first with 785.
Men’s foil edged Northwestern 5-4 in the third-place match as Ben Carlick won all three of his bouts for Lawrence. Nathan Schlesinger picked up the other two wins for the Vikings.
Men’s foil started the day with a 5-0 sweep of Illinois, and the Vikings then edged the University of Chicago 5-4 in the quarterfinals. The Vikings fell 5-4 to Cleveland State in the semifinals but bounced back to win the thriller over Northwestern.
Men’s sabre also won a 5-4 nail-biter in the third-place match. Joe Davis won all three of his bouts to lead the Vikings to the win over Michigan State, and William Henry and Kai Kramer picked up one win apiece.
The Vikings swept Illinois 5-0 in the first round, and Lawrence defeated Wayne State 5-2 in the quarterfinals. Michigan downed the Vikings 5-3 to send Lawrence to the third-place match.
Men’s epee finished seventh with a 5-1 victory over Xavier in the seventh-place match. The Vikings started the day with a 5-0 sweep of Purdue in the first round before a 5-3 loss to Michigan dropped them into the consolation bracket. After a 5-4 loss to Illinois, the Vikings defeated Xavier.
On the women’s side, Lawrence’s sabre contingent finished sixth despite having only two fencers instead of three. The short-handed duo of Shelby Guinn and Erin Paxson defeated Chicago 5-4 in the first round before falling 5-0 to Ohio State.
Guinn and Paxson then tied Case Western Reserve 4-4 but won the touches tiebreaker 13-10 to advance to the fifth-place match. The Vikings nearly pulled that one out as well, but Michigan State hung on for a 5-4 victory.
In women’s foil, Lawrence took sixth place. The Vikings started with a 5-0 win over Michigan State before falling 5-0 to Northwestern. The Vikings then defeated Wisconsin 5-0 before losing 5-2 to Michigan in the fifth-place match.
Women’s epee lost its first round match 5-2 to Wisconsin and placed 10th.