Assistant fencing coach Ed Kaihatsu summed up this season with one word: bachai.
The Japanese word means, “You get what you deserve,” he said.
If you work hard, you’ll be rewarded. If you don’t work hard, you’ll fall flat.
Or, in the case of this year’s Wildcats fencing team, you can land somewhere in the middle.
Northwestern’s 26-3 final dual-meet record may look good on paper, but it was really a season of ups and downs for the Cats. Unfortunately for NU, the year ended on a major down.
NU failed to four-peat as Midwest Conference champions Saturday at Notre Dame.
“The work ethic hasn’t been as high as it has been in the past,” Kaihatsu said. “That little extra oomph, we just didn’t have it. It cost us.”
The team is now left pondering what might have been – and what will be in the future.
NU was fired up entering the event, with the foil squad finishing second and the ep
