From Brandeis University Athletics

The Brandeis University fencing teams competed at the 2016 U.S. Collegiate Squad championships on Sunday afternoon. The Judges were unable to repeat their feat of bringing home a medal from their two previous trips to the event, held at Princeton University this year. 

On the men's side, the epee squad fell victim to the same fate as the women's squad, unable to compete in their match to determine fifth place. The Judges defeated a Yale squad in the opening round, 45-40, with close early wins by junior Albert Reiss (Short Hills, N.J. / Millburn) andTom Hearne (Holmdel, N.J./Ranney School) giving the Judges a 10-5 lead. The next five matches were determined by two or fewer points, with Brandeis taking a 35-32 lead into the eighth round. Reiss routed the Bulldogs, 5-0, to give Brandeis some breathing room en route to the five-point win. Brandeis fell to a second Yale squad in the quarterfinals, 45-31, with the Elis closing on a 20-8 run. In the consolation semifinals, against Vassar, the lead changed hands a couple of times, but a 6-4 round by sophomore Hunter Stusnick (New Vernon, N.J. / Chatham) gave the Judges a 30-29 lead headed into the last set of bouts. Senior Ari Feingersch(Coral Springs, Fla. / J.P. Taravella) and Stusnick each extended the lead by one point to 40-37, and Hearne held off a Brewer charge by winning the final touch, 45-44. Brandeis was unable to meet Incarnate Word of San Antonio in the fifth-place match.

In men's foil action, the Judges fell to top-seeded Penn, 45-33, in the first round despite a 10-5 comeback from sophomore Eli Litle (Haifa, Israel / Reali - Beit Beram) in the final round. The Judges then lost to a pair of NYU squads, 45-37 in the consolation semis and 45-39 in the seventh-place match. Men's sabre knocked off an NYU team in the opening round, 45-36, but also fell to a top-seeded Quaker team, 45-19, in the quarters. The Judges lost to NYU, 45-26, in the consolation semis and 45-42 to Vassar to finish eighth.