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A Look Back at the 2020 Season
3/30/2020 12:07:00 PM | Fencing
A Look Back at the 2020 Season
DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke fencing team saw another strong season as the Blue Devil men went 17-7 overall while the women posted a 12-13 record when athletics was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
NCAA QUALIFIERS
Seven Duke fencers have received invitations to the 2020 NCAA Fencing Championship that was slated for March 19-22 in Detroit, Mich.
2020 marked the 12th time head coach Alex Beguinet qualified five or more to the national stage.
The Blue Devils who earned bids were Danny Campbell III (epee), Alex Gorman (saber), Eoin Gronningsater (foil), Ping Ping Kitsiriboon (saber), Brycen Rushing (foil), Zoe Superville (foil) and Bowen Wang (epee).
The 2020 season marked Gronningsater's fourth time qualifying for NCAAs while Rushing would have competed on the national stage for the third year. Gorman, Kitsiriboon and Superville would have returned for the second consecutive season as two newcomers in freshmen Campbell III and Wang qualified for the first time.
Gronningsater hoped to become the first Blue Devil male foilist to grab three All-America honors in his career while Kitsiriboon aimed to garner the award as a saberist for the second time since Peter Truszkowski in 2006 and 2008.
NCAA MID-ATLANTIC/SOUTH REGIONAL
The Duke fencing team hosted the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional March 7 in the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center as 11 Blue Devils notched top-10 performances, highlighted by Superville and Rushing in the top three of their respective weapons.
The competition featured 11 Blue Devils who advanced to the final round of pool play, including all four men's foilists.
The finalists were Superville, Rushing, Campbell III, Gorman, Gronningsater, Finn Hossfeld, Kitsiriboon, Lindsay Sapienza, Jonathan Schwartzman, Ben Stone and Wang.
FIVE MEDALS AT ACCS
Huda Aldadah (silver), Campbell III (bronze), Gorman (silver), Rushing (silver) and Wang (silver) brought hardware back to Bull City from their performances in the individual competition at the 2020 ACC Fencing Championships in February.
Aldadah and Gorman became just the fourth and fifth Blue Devil women to garner All-ACC accolades while Rushing and Wang were honorees on the men's side by placing in the top two.
Aldadah garnered the top seed in the women's epee semifinals with a whopping 14 victories and faced fourth-seeded Rylie Rueda of Boston College. Aldadah came away with a 15-12 victory and fell to Notre Dame's Miriam Grady in the finals by a narrow 15-13 margin.
Campbell III also earned the top seed in the men's epee semifinals with 10 wins today and faced off against teammate and fourth-seeded Wang. Campbell III fell to Wang in the semifinals and ultimately defeated third-ranked Darius Zacharakis of Notre Dame (15-13) in the fence-off for third place.
As the second seed in the women's saber semifinal with 11 victories, Gorman took down Notre Dame's Natalie Disher (15-9) before falling top-seeded Kara Linder of Notre Dame (15-10) in the last round to garner a silver medal.
Rushing was selected the third seed as the lone Blue Devil in the men's foil semifinal against three Notre Dame opponents. Rushing defeated Marcello Olivares (15-10) to advance to the final. Rushing fell to top-seeded Andrew Machovec (15-4) in the final round.
Fencing off against teammate Campbell III in the semifinals, Wang earned the victory over Campbell III as the fourth seed with eight wins before ultimately falling to Josiah Broughton (15-14) by one touch in the finals.
GRONNINGSATER COLLECTS ACC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced a list of 50 student-athletes who were selected as 2020 Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award recipients as Gronningsater collected the honor.
A two-time Duke fencing captain and two-time All-American, Gronningsater has seen both athletic and academic success throughout his four years as a Blue Devil.
In 2019, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native became the first Blue Devil male foilist to capture back-to-back All-America accolades since Dorian Cohen (2010-11) and was tabbed to the CoSIDA Academic All-District III Men's At-Large Team.
With an outstanding 182-38 (.827) career record to date, Gronningsater qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of his four years and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional, was named ACC Fencer of the Year in 2018 and the ACC Most Valuable Player for helping lead the Blue Devil men to their first ACC team title.
FENCE FOR THE FIGHT
The 2020 season brought the start of the highly successful Fence for the Fight campaign in partnership with the Duke Cancer Institute.
With 1,215 wins this season in combination with pledging, the Fence for the Fight campaign totaled $30,144.55.
For more information on Duke fencing, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeFEN".
#GoDuke
NCAA QUALIFIERS
Seven Duke fencers have received invitations to the 2020 NCAA Fencing Championship that was slated for March 19-22 in Detroit, Mich.
2020 marked the 12th time head coach Alex Beguinet qualified five or more to the national stage.
The Blue Devils who earned bids were Danny Campbell III (epee), Alex Gorman (saber), Eoin Gronningsater (foil), Ping Ping Kitsiriboon (saber), Brycen Rushing (foil), Zoe Superville (foil) and Bowen Wang (epee).
The 2020 season marked Gronningsater's fourth time qualifying for NCAAs while Rushing would have competed on the national stage for the third year. Gorman, Kitsiriboon and Superville would have returned for the second consecutive season as two newcomers in freshmen Campbell III and Wang qualified for the first time.
Gronningsater hoped to become the first Blue Devil male foilist to grab three All-America honors in his career while Kitsiriboon aimed to garner the award as a saberist for the second time since Peter Truszkowski in 2006 and 2008.
NCAA MID-ATLANTIC/SOUTH REGIONAL
The Duke fencing team hosted the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional March 7 in the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center as 11 Blue Devils notched top-10 performances, highlighted by Superville and Rushing in the top three of their respective weapons.
The competition featured 11 Blue Devils who advanced to the final round of pool play, including all four men's foilists.
The finalists were Superville, Rushing, Campbell III, Gorman, Gronningsater, Finn Hossfeld, Kitsiriboon, Lindsay Sapienza, Jonathan Schwartzman, Ben Stone and Wang.
FIVE MEDALS AT ACCS
Huda Aldadah (silver), Campbell III (bronze), Gorman (silver), Rushing (silver) and Wang (silver) brought hardware back to Bull City from their performances in the individual competition at the 2020 ACC Fencing Championships in February.
Aldadah and Gorman became just the fourth and fifth Blue Devil women to garner All-ACC accolades while Rushing and Wang were honorees on the men's side by placing in the top two.
Aldadah garnered the top seed in the women's epee semifinals with a whopping 14 victories and faced fourth-seeded Rylie Rueda of Boston College. Aldadah came away with a 15-12 victory and fell to Notre Dame's Miriam Grady in the finals by a narrow 15-13 margin.
Campbell III also earned the top seed in the men's epee semifinals with 10 wins today and faced off against teammate and fourth-seeded Wang. Campbell III fell to Wang in the semifinals and ultimately defeated third-ranked Darius Zacharakis of Notre Dame (15-13) in the fence-off for third place.
As the second seed in the women's saber semifinal with 11 victories, Gorman took down Notre Dame's Natalie Disher (15-9) before falling top-seeded Kara Linder of Notre Dame (15-10) in the last round to garner a silver medal.
Rushing was selected the third seed as the lone Blue Devil in the men's foil semifinal against three Notre Dame opponents. Rushing defeated Marcello Olivares (15-10) to advance to the final. Rushing fell to top-seeded Andrew Machovec (15-4) in the final round.
Fencing off against teammate Campbell III in the semifinals, Wang earned the victory over Campbell III as the fourth seed with eight wins before ultimately falling to Josiah Broughton (15-14) by one touch in the finals.
GRONNINGSATER COLLECTS ACC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced a list of 50 student-athletes who were selected as 2020 Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award recipients as Gronningsater collected the honor.
A two-time Duke fencing captain and two-time All-American, Gronningsater has seen both athletic and academic success throughout his four years as a Blue Devil.
In 2019, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native became the first Blue Devil male foilist to capture back-to-back All-America accolades since Dorian Cohen (2010-11) and was tabbed to the CoSIDA Academic All-District III Men's At-Large Team.
With an outstanding 182-38 (.827) career record to date, Gronningsater qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of his four years and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional, was named ACC Fencer of the Year in 2018 and the ACC Most Valuable Player for helping lead the Blue Devil men to their first ACC team title.
FENCE FOR THE FIGHT
The 2020 season brought the start of the highly successful Fence for the Fight campaign in partnership with the Duke Cancer Institute.
With 1,215 wins this season in combination with pledging, the Fence for the Fight campaign totaled $30,144.55.
For more information on Duke fencing, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeFEN".
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
Epee
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Epee
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Saber
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Foil
/ Fencing
Foil
/ Fencing
Saber
/ Fencing
Foil
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Saber
/ Fencing
Foil
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Saber
/ Fencing
Foil
/ Fencing
Epee
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