COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Brandeis University fencing team finished in 20th place out of 30 teams at the 2011 National Collegiate Fencing Championships hosted by the Ohio State University on March 24 through 27. The Judges, who had two competitors at the meet, scored 15 points to finish second among the seven Division III programs at the meet and fifth among seven squads from New England. Notre Dame edged Penn State, 174-168, for the title.

Brandeis rookie Julian Cardillo (Medford, Mass./St. Johns Prep) won eight of his 14 bouts on the first day of action, but won just one more match on the second day of action to finish at 9-14 overall in 17th place. Cardillo, who sat in 10th place after Day One, earned a victory over Lucas Lin of Harvard today, but was unable to keep up his momentum. On the first day of competition, Cardillo picked up wins over three top-10 finishers, Princeton's Alexander Mills (5-2), who came in seventh, Stanford's Turner Caldwell (5-1), who placed eighth overall and Alexander Pensler of Columbia (5-2), who finished ninth.

Cardillo also defeated opponents from UPenn, Yale, North Carolina and Drew University. He was the second Division III finisher in the foil field of 24, tying 16th-place finisher Phillip Jameson with nine wins, but finishing seven points behind on indicator (-20 to -27).

Junior Alex Powell (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) represented Brandeis in the epee, finishing in 23rd place with a record of 6-17 at the meet. Powell went 3-11 on the first day of action and 3-6 on Day Two. Among his three victories on Day One were a 5-4 win over Notre Dame's Brian Jaull, who sat in fifth place at the time. Powell also defeated Stanford's Jake Harbour and Vassar's Brian Rouse. On the second day of action, Powell posted a 5-4 upset of Duke's Jonathan Parker, who went on to finish in seventh overall. Powell swept the Blue Devil contingent with a 5-4 win over Dylan Nollner, while also owning a win over John Marshall of Cleveland State.