At the NCAA National Collegiate Fencing championships, which were held in San Antonio from March 21 to 24, Brandeis fencers were pitted against competitors from Division I, II and III schools, including several 2012 Olympians. Three student-athletes represented the Judges: Julian Cardillo ’14, who made his third-straight appearance in the men’s foil, and Adam Mandel ’15 in the men’s sabre and Caroline Mattos ’16 in the women’s foil, who were each making their first trip to nationals. Facing two of the deepest foil pools in recent memory, Cardillo and Mattos earned five and three wins, respectively.
It was Mandel who provided the biggest excitement for the Judges. Mandel entered his second day of competition with six victories and sitting in 18th place, six spots out of All-America status. In his first round of four bouts on Day Two, Mandel went 1-3, remaining in 18th place. In his final four bouts, however, Mandel faced three other fencers with whom he was tied, and another just ahead of him in the standings with eight wins. In those final four matches against fencers from Stanford and Harvard, Mandel put together three 5-3 wins and another by a 5-2 score. Those final four wins gave Mandel an 11-12 record, good for 12th place overall and All-America status, making him Brandeis’s first All-American in fencing since 2008 and the first for the Judges in men’s sabre since Olympian Tim Morehouse ’00 thirteen years earlier.
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