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Brandeis Men Take Second, Women Third at 2015 Fencing Beanpot

Brandeis Men Take Second, Women Third at 2015 Fencing Beanpot
Posted: Feb 11, 2015

From Brandeis University Athletics

The Brandeis University fencing team hosted the 2015 Beanpot Tournament tonight, as Harvard, Boston College and MIT visited the Gosman Athletic Center in the eighth edition of the event.

Harvard, ranked fourth in the CollegeFencing360 coaches women's poll and fifth in the men's poll successfully defended both crowns, going 3-0. The Crimson have won all eight women's titles and seven of the last eight men's after Brandeis won the first in 2007-08.

The host Judges placed second on the men's side, while BC was second for the women.

Brandeis opened with a 19-8 win over Boston College on the men's side, while the Eagle women prevailed, 14-13. The Judges won five of the six weapons against BC – the men swept, winning 7-2 in sabre and foil and 5-4 in epee. Despite winning 6-3 in sabre and 5-4 in foil on the women's side, BC's 7-2 advantage in epee carried them to the win. Brandeis got 3-0 performances against the visitors from The Heights from seniors Adam Mandel (White Plains, N.Y./The Masters School) in the sabre and Noah Berman (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) in the foil for the men and sophomore sabre fencer Ashley Jean (Norwood, Mass./Fontbonne Acad.) for the women.

In the MIT match, it was the foil squads that came up big for the Judges as Brandeis edged the Engineers, 14-13 on the men's side and 15-12 on the women's. The men pulled off a 9-0 sweep, allowing just one touch in all nine bouts. Senior Ethan Levy (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) and sophomore Len Grazian (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) each went 3-0, while Berman won two bouts and rookie Guillermo Narvaez (Metepec, Mexico/Technoligico de Monterrey) won one. The sweep offset a 5-4 loss in sabre and an 8-1 epee defeat. On the women's side, the foil fencers took a 7-2 decision, with junior Caroline Mattos (Providence, R.I./LaSalle Acad.) and rookie Zimeng "Boots" Xue (Beijing, China/Peking University Affiliate School)posting 3-0 marks. The Judges overcame a 5-4 loss in sabre – despite a 3-0 mark from Jean – and a 5-4 defeat in epee as well.

Against Harvard, the epee squads were the story. On the men's side, the Crimson took an 18-9 decision, but junior Tom Hearne (Holmdel, N.J./Ranney School) helped his squad to a narrow 5-4 defeat by posting a 3-0 record. The Judge women fell, 21-6, even though the epee squad pulled out a 5-4 victory. Four different Judges contributed to the win, with rookie Liz Feller (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Henrick Hudson) going 2-1, while classmate Shayna Lyandvert (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) earned a win in her only bout. Each posted a 5-4 victory in the final round to help Brandeis edge Harvard in the weapon.

Overall, the evening's top records for Brandeis belonged to Mattos (6-1) and Jean (6-3) on the women's side and Berman (6-2), Hearne (6-3) and Mandel (6-3) on the men's side.

Before the match, the Judges honored their five seniors competing in their final home matches: Berman, Levy, Mandel and sabre fencer Jess Ochs-Willard (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) for the men and foil fencer Jessie Kirshner (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) for the women.