Northwestern Fencing hosted the NU Duals this past weekend, where it defeated No. 1 Notre Dame 19-8.

The duals took place at Ryan Fieldhouse on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the Fighting Irish, the teams that came to face the Cats were No. 6  Ohio State, No. 11 Temple, No. 13  Stanford, UC San Diego, Air Force, Fairleigh Dickinson, Boston College and Incarnate Word.

Saturday ended in the No. 5 Wildcats’ favor as they took down the country’s top team. NU recorded 19 total points, while Notre Dame tallied eight. The Cats asserted their dominance against their opponent to take down the high-caliber team. 

Senior sabre Thea Nguyen and senior foil Anna Biasco went 3-0 in their respective matchups against the Fighting Irish. 

“It was super fun to just have the competition we did against Notre Dame at home and get to experience that with all of the support system that we have,” Biasco said. “We got to have so many of our academic advisors and athletic staff around and to have all of that and have my whole team be there.” 

NU won every round it played on the first day. Among the teams the Cats beat were UC San Diego and Temple, with a score of 15-12 in both matchups. NU won with a score of 17-10 against Air Force, and the Cats dominated thoroughly with a score of 27-0 against Fairleigh Dickinson, shutting out all its opponents. 

On the second day, NU kept it close with the Buckeyes but ended up losing by one point 13-14. Against Stanford, the Cats were, again, fairly close to a win, but lost 12-15. However, they did score dominant wins against Boston College and Incarnate Word. 

Aside from the competition on Sunday, there was a ceremony to honor the team’s seniors: Biasco, Nguyen, foil Celia Crompton, foil Julia Shalansky, epee Blodwen Bindas and foil Isabelle Banin. Parents and friends came out to support the athletes who have given four years to the team. Team members cheered for their seniors who have given their all to the team.

“It’s just been so cool, and it went by so fast, and I’m super grateful for every single moment that I have,” said Biasco. “This one was a match I’ll never forget.” 

Looking ahead, NU faces Duke on the road at Durham on Feb.12, with the Junior Olympics taking place the following week. NCAA Midwest Regional Championships are slated to occur in March at home at Ryan Fieldhouse.

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Twitter: @kunjal_bastola

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