Women drop four matches to top competition at Air Force

Brandeis Fencing at sundown at the Garden of Gods in Colorado Springs
Brandeis Fencing at sundown at the Garden of Gods in Colorado Springs

For their first set of dual matches of the season, the Brandeis University fencing teams went west to the United States Air Force Academy for the Western Invitational against some of the top teams in the nation. The men posted a 2-6 mark with wins over Incarnate Word (18-9) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (22-5). The women went 0-9 but had the top individual performance.

Among the Brandeis squad performances, the men's epee led the way. In addition to squad wins in the two team victories, the Judges also defeated Air Force and posted a huge 5-4 win over Notre Dame. Juniors Ben Rogak (East Setauket, N.Y. / Ward-Melville) and Josh Shuster (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Staten Island Technical) were the top individuals, with Rogak going 2-1 against Air Force and Shuster 3-0 against Notre Dame. First-year Tal Kronrod (Concord, Mass. / Concord Carlisle) added 3-0 records against UIW and NJIT. Classmate Tony Escueta (Grand Prairie, Texas / Abeka Home School Academy) had a fine performance for the saber squad, posting a winning record in four matches, including a 3-0 mark against NJIT. The Highlanders finished fourth at the 2021 NCAA Fencing Championships.

On the women's side, junior Maggie Shealy (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) carried the weekend for the saber squad. She posted a 13-2 record on the first day of action and 17-8 overall. Shealy had perfect marks against Incarnate Word, Stanford and Notre Dame, while going 2-1 against Cal-San Diego and Air Force. She was 2-1 against North Carolina and Northwestern on Day 2 of action. The women's closest match was a 14-13 loss to Air Force, in which the foil squad won, 7-2, thanks to 3-0 marks from junior Sammy Shortall (Norwell, Mass. / Norwell) and first-year Alex McKee (Nyack, N.Y./Nyack).

The Judges return to action this week with a pair of meets, the Beanpot on Wednesday evening and the first Northeast Fencing Conference meet, both at MIT.

DAY ONE RESULTS

DAY TWO

VS COLUMBIA

MEN: 5-22 (S, 3-6; F, 1-8; E, 1-8)

Tony Escueta, saber, 2-1

WOMEN: 0-27 (S, 0-9; F, 0-9, E, 0-9)

 

VS NORTH CAROLINA

MEN: 8-19 (S, 1-8; F, 3-6; E, 4-5)

Josh Shuster, Ben Rogak, epee, 2-1

WOMEN: 7-20 (S, 3-6; F, 2-7; E, 2-7)

Maggie Shealy, saber, 2-1

 

VS NORTHWESTERN

WOMEN: 6-21 (S, 3-6; F, 1-8; E, 2-7)

Shealy, saber, 2-1

 

VS NJIT

MEN: 22-5 (S, 9-0; F, 7-2; E, 6-3)

Escueta, Anthony Rabinkov, Joy Qui, saber, 3-0

Luke Ritchie, Elliot Siegel, foil, 3-0

Tal Kronrod, epee, 3-0

Josh Shuster, epee, 2-1

WOMEN: 11-16 (S, 6-3, F, 5-4; E, 0-9)