Fresh off an undefeated run at the Northwestern Duals, No. 8 Wildcats sought to continue their winning streak at UNC’s Tar Heel Duals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Saturday.
The ‘Cats almost made it through with a clean stack of victories, but a zealous showing from the hosts contributed to a 4-1 tournament run.
The day started off strong with an 18-9 defeat of Temple — NU’s biggest margin of victory against the Owls since 2016.
“I think we were down 3-1, and the next thing I knew we were up 11-3,” coach Zach Moss said. “And it’s just so many people bringing the right attitude, investment, focus… Temple’s a really hard team to put a run like that against just because they’re really well coached. They fight really hard.”
The ‘Cats replicated the 18-9 Temple result against No. 15 NYU, before adding one more positive result to their winning streak against Boston College, with a 16-11 victory.
Moss said a dip in momentum contributed to NU’s subsequent 14-13 loss to the Tar Heels.
“We didn’t have the same energy and hype and vibe that we did the earlier rounds,” coach Moss said. “So it was an important learning moment to reset going into the LIU round at the end of the day, but also to help reestablish the moments and going into conference in two weeks.”
The ‘Cats punched a resounding 23-4 win against Long Island University to cap off their time in North Carolina, and will return to competition as a team Feb. 24 at the Collegiate Fencing Conference Championships.
2022-23 Honorable Mention All-American epeeist Karen Wang swept her bouts against NYU and had 2-1 victories against both Boston College and Temple, but she said one bout stood out to her –– the one against Junyao Lu, an Eagle epeeist.
Wang was down a few touches, then scored four times in a row to enter sudden death, where she came out with a touch and a victory.
“I think in college fencing, or fencing in general, the possibility of a comeback is so frequent, but it takes a lot of work,” Wang said. “So I’m just happy that I was able to see it go through.”
Wang is one of ten NU fencers who will be returning to the Tar Heel state next week for the Junior Olympics. It’s the last year she’ll be eligible for the tournament; next year she’ll be over the age limit for the junior category.
Wang said she’s looking forward to the individual competition.
“I just want to have a lot of fun with it, and end on a high note, hopefully,” Wang said.
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Twitter: @roselcarlson
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