Duke Men Capture 2026 ACC Fencing Title

Saturday, February 21

Durham, N.C.

Duke University

ACC Championships

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Men Capture 2026 ACC Fencing Title

2/22/2026 9:07:00 PM | Fencing

Men's Team Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke men's fencing team reclaimed its spot atop the ACC, capturing the 2026 ACC Fencing Championship Sunday evening inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. With the victory, the Blue Devil men picked up their third conference title, having also won in 2018 and 2021.

The Blue Devils turned in a strong day of competition and finished tied atop the team standings with a 3-1 record, forcing a winner-take-all fence-off against Boston College. The Blue Devils prevailed in the extra session, with sophomore Ethan Boroditsky (epee) and freshman Abdelrahman Tolba (foil) garnering victories in their respective bouts to bring the title back to Durham.

Individually, Duke was led by sophomore sabre Lev Ermakov's nine wins, with Tolba (eight wins) and Boroditsky (seven wins) rounding out the top-three performers.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Senior sabre Hava Stone headlined the Duke women during individual competition as she went 4-2 in pool play to secure the No. 6 seed for the knockout stage. Stone took on No. 3 seed Siobhan Sullivan of Notre Dame in the quarterfinal, dropping a 15-10 decision to finish sixth overall.
After stumbling against Boston College, 16-11, in the opening round of team competition, Duke's men responded with a massive victory over top-seeded and top-ranked Notre Dame in a thrilling, back-and-forth affair.
With the score tied 6-6 through the first 12 bouts, the Blue Devils won three consecutive and four of the next five to build a three-point cushion at 10-7. The Fighting Irish wouldn't go quietly, chipping away at the deficit before knotting the match at 11-all.
Junior foilist Dayaal Singh put the hosts back in front, 12-11, with his victory against Chase Emmer, but Notre Dame answered with consecutive victories to surge ahead, 13-12.
The Blue Devils refused to be denied, as sophomore Owen Li won his bout over Joseph Dominick (5-3) to level the score at 13-13 and send the Duke cheering section into a frenzy. Riding the momentum of the crowd, freshman Abdelrahman Tolba delivered for Duke in the clutch, earning the match-clinching point over the Fighting Irish's Liam Bas to secure the 14-13 triumph for the Blue Devils.
Duke earned a 16-11 victory over Stanford in its third match of the day, with the epee group leading the weapons with a 6-3 mark. Sophomore sabre Lev Ermakov (3-0), junior epee Kozmo Rhyu (3-0) and Tolba (2-0) paced the individual efforts during the round with a combined 8-0 record across their respective bouts.
The Blue Devils picked up a win over Tobacco Road rival North Carolina, 16-11, paced by a 7-2 record by the foil squad. Duke's epee also performed well, going 6-3 during the round.
With the victory over the Tar Heels, along with Notre Dame's win over Boston College, Duke finished team competition tied for first with a 3-1 record, setting up a fence off against the Eagles to decide the ACC champion.
The Blue Devils capitalized on the opportunity to redeem themselves from their opening setback against BC, garnering victories in the epee (5-4) and foil (5-3) bouts to claim their spot atop the podium.

Duke Women: Individual Results (record during pool play)

Epee: Monica Balakrishnan (2-4), Eiry Du (1-5)
Foil: Isa Cheng (0-5), Skylar Knight (2-4), Zizi Newhard (3-2)
Sabre: Victoria Gorman (1-4), Hava Stone (4-2), April Zuo (1-4)
- Stone: No. 6 seed, defeated in quarterfinal

Duke Men: Team Results

No. 11 Boston College (2) def. No. 8 Duke (4), 16-11 (E: 3-6, F: 6-3, S: 7-2)
No. 8 Duke (4) def. No. 1 Notre Dame (1), 14-13 (E: 1-8, F: 6-3, S: 7-2)
No. 8 Duke (4) def. No. 11 Stanford (5), 16-11 (E: 6-3, F; 5-4, S: 5-4)
No. 8 Duke (4) def. No. 15 North Carolina (3), 16-11 (E: 3-6, F: 7-2, S: 6-3)
Fence Off (Best of Three) – No. 8 Duke (4) def. No. 11 Boston College (2)
- Epee: 5-4, Foil: 5-3

QUOTE:
"I feel a mix of emotions, but obviously, I'm very, very happy. We worked hard for this from the beginning. Our eyes were on winning the ACC. But, to win the ACC Championship in Cameron Indoor Stadium – where the magic happens in basketball – that's something else. So for me, it means a lot, but for our kids, for our school, it's something very special." – Duke head coach Omar Elgeziry

"We are the men's ACC Champions! I'm incredibly proud of everyone on this team. After a slow start and a tough loss to BC, things didn't look easy—but we adjusted, locked in and turned it around. Our fencers refused to let the opportunity to compete in Cameron on our home court slip away. Watching them respond, fight back and win the whole thing was truly amazing. I am proud of our amazing team. Go Duke!" – Duke head coach Omar Elgeziry

To stay up to date with Blue Devils fencing, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeFEN".

#GoDuke