STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford fencing team completed another successful campaign in 2014-15, sending 17 Cardinal to NCAA Regionals and six to the NCAA Championships, where it finished 10th. The men’s squad finished the regular season with an impressive 14-3 record, while the women finished a respectable 9-14 given the lack of depth in the squad.
At the NCAA West Regionals in San Diego, Stanford won four of the six divisions, with all-Cardinal matchups in two of the final bouts. The season culminated in an individual highlight with junior Alexander Massialas capturing his second NCAA men’s foil title in three seasons.
Western Invitational
The men's squad beat Florida, Cal Tech, Duke, UC San Diego, Brandeis and Air Force en route to a perfect 6-0 start to the season at the Western Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Captains Justin Lee and Daniel Wolfson led the Cardinal with a 16-2 and 14-4 records, respectively.
The Cardinal received stellar debuts from freshmen Harrison MacRae, Andre Cornman, Darren Mei and Logan Spear. Those four combined to go 49-21 in 70 bouts, performing like veterans in their first competitions.
On the women’s side, Stanford struggled with a short-handed squad but still managed a 3-4 record which included wins over hosts Air Force, Florida, and Cal Tech. Eliza Klyce (foil) and Alexa Rohan (sabre) each had 17-4 records in their season debuts.
Northwestern Duals
Stanford turned in another impressive performance at the Northwestern Duals in Evanston, Illinois. With wins over Air Force, No. 3 Ohio State, Wayne State, Cal Tech, Cleveland State, UC San Diego, and North Carolina, the Cardinal men finished the regular season 14-3.
Led by freshman MacRae, who finished 26-7, the men's epee squad went a perfect 11-0. Two-time NCAA medalist and All-American Massialas returned to the lineup, providing a huge boost. Massialas went 20-1 and freshman Cornman finished 20-4 to help the squad go 9-2.
The women finished the Northwestern Duals with a 6-10 record, but not without impressive performances in the sabre division from Rohan, Stephanie Wang, and Zoe Lee-Chiong. Over the course of the two-day event, the women’s squad defeated Cal Tech, Wayne State, Air Force, Detroit, Lawrence, and Cleveland.
NCAA West Regional
Stanford sent 17 fencers to the NCAA West Regionals in San Diego. Six -- four women and two men -- performers qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Leading the way was Massialas, hardly breaking a sweat in defeating all 14 of his opponents. The 2013 NCAA champion in men’s foil qualified for nationals for the third time in as many seasons on The Farm. Competing in his hometown San Diego, sophomore Ben Riviere also won the mens epee division.
On the women’s side, Stanford fencers took first and second in both the epee and saber divisions. Freshman Becca Rose defeated sophomore May Peterson in the women’s epee final, while Stephanie Wang defeated fellow sophomore Rohan in the sabre division.
The Man to Beat
After winning the NCAA men’s foil championship as a freshman in 2013 and finishing third last season, Massialas re-claimed his title as the top men’s foil fencer in the nation. Massialas won 22 of 23 bouts in Columbus, Ohio, defeating Nobuo Bravo of Penn State in the finals.
“I just wanted to stay focused on each bout at hand,” said Massialas, who scored the most touches and surrendered the least in the round-robin. “With such a long first round, you really just need to take it one by one and forget about the past.”
Massialas became the fourth Cardinal fencer to win multiple NCAA championships, joining the ranks of Nick Bravin (1990, 1992, and 1993 men’s foil), Felicia Zimmerman (1998, 1999 women’s foil), and Felix Reichling (1999, 2000 men’s foil).
