SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Brandeis University first-year sabre fencer Tony Escueta (Grand Prairie, Texas/Abeka Home School Academy) added three more wins to his total at the 2022 NCAA National Collegiate Fencing Championships at the University of Notre Dame. With the six total points scored by Escueta, in addition to the 14 by junior Maggie Shealy (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) on the first two days of action, the Brandeis fencing team finished 17th out of 27 teams at the championships.
After going 3-12 on the first day of action, Escueta went 3-5 in the final two rounds of the weekend to finish with an overall record of 6-17. His three wins came against the defending NCAA sabre champion from Notre Dame and two fencers from Princeton. His losses came against two fencers each from UC-San Diego and Penn State and one from Notre Dame.
By finishing with 20 points and in 17th place, Brandeis was second among Division III institutions at the NCAA Championships, trailing only NYU, who finished in 11th place with 54 points. The Judges finished ahead of MIT and John Hopkins among D3 schools. Brandeis was also second among New England teams, behind second-place Harvard (168 points) and ninth-place Yale (67 points). Also from the region were BC, who finished 18th (17 points), MIT, and Brown in 24th place (12 points).
The Judges will return Escueta and All-American Shealy next year, and will expect to have 2020 NCAA qualifier Jessica Morales (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) back from injury for the 2022-23 season.