APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University fencer Nathan Schlesinger knew the situation at last Saturday’s NCAA Midwest Regional — win and you’re in.
Schlesinger, a freshman from Austin, Texas, who competes in foil, took it to the wire and beat Algird Szumlas of the University of Detroit Mercy in overtime and punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships.
“I knew that was it,” said Schlesinger, who received the official notice that he was in when the NCAA Championships field was announced Tuesday. “I knew that was going to be the critical bout to put me over the top and qualify me. I was cloud nine for a little while there.”
Schlesinger is headed to Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., for the NCAA Championships, which take place March 24-27. The foil competition is March 26-27.
Schlesinger is Lawrence’s first qualifier for the NCAA meet since Jeff Peyton completed a four-year run at the national meet in 2001. Peyton also competed in foil. Schlesinger also is the first Lawrence athlete to qualify for an NCAA championship since high jumper Rose Tepper went to the NCAA indoor meet back in 2011.
“I knew going into the (regional) tournament I had to place higher than a certain group of people,” Schlesinger said. “There were two particular competitors that would give me a challenge that I knew I had to beat.”
Szumlas was one of those two and Cleveland State University’s Adam Mack was the other. Schlesinger beat Mack pretty easily but it went down to the final touch to defeat Szumlas.
Schlesinger finished the competition with a 5-6 record, and when he checked the scoresheets, he saw that Szumlas had four wins and Mack had only three.
“I was so excited,” said Schlesinger, who has been fencing for six-plus years. “I signed the scoresheet and ran over to my teammates.”
The Midwest Regional was slated to have five qualifiers from foil and claiming the top four spots were Notre Dame’s Axel Kiefer, Ohio State’s Stanislav Sudilovsky and Maximilian Chastanet and Notre Dame’s Kristjan Archer. Since NCAA rules prohibit more than two fencers from one school from qualifying in any weapon, Schlesinger claimed the final berth ahead of fencers from Notre Dame and Ohio State.
“Nate has worked very hard,” Lawrence coach Steve Amich said. “He came to Lawrence with a whole lot of ability. You have to credit his teammates as well because you’re only as good as the competition you work with on a daily basis. The rest of the foil team was part of this process. It’s very rewarding to have this happen. I’ve been to the NCAAs seven times but none in the last 10 years so it’s nice to get back.”
Lawrence’s fencing history at the NCAA Championships goes back to 1995 when Mike Gattnar won the national title in epee.