From Brandeis University Athletics
The Brandeis University fencing team wrapped up its 2018-19 season today at the NCAA Northeast Regional championships.
Leading the way on the day was sophomore sabre fencer Alexander Holtmann (Bad Ueberkingen, Germany / Kaufmaennische Schule Geislingen), who finished in 11th place as the only Brandeis fencer to make the final pool of 12. Seeded 21st entering the meet, Holtmann went 3-2 in the opening round of action with wins over fencers from NYU, Vassar and Yale to earn the 12th spot into the semifinal round. In the semis, he went 3-3 with a minus-one indicator to just edge into the finals in the 11th spot. Holtmann defeated two opponents from Columbia, as well as junior teammate Charles Catino (Bellevue, Wash. / Hillside) in the round. Holtmann then went 4-7 in the final round. In the finals, his wins were over the eventual regional champion Ben Nazanton from St. John's, fourth-place finisher Erwin Cai from Harvard, sixth-place finisher Mikolaj Bak from NYU and 12th-place Bolang Meng from BC. With only one finisher ahead of him exceeding the two-fencer-per-team limit, Holtmann will finish just outside of the top eight needed for NCAA qualification.
The Judges' next-best finishers were a pair of 15th-place finishes in men's foil and men's epee. In the foil, junior captain Ian Quin (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) was the 14thseed entering the meet. He went 4-2 in the opening round, posting wins over opponents from MIT, Sacred Heart, Vassar and NYU to advance to the semifinals in 12thplace. Despite wins over foes from MIT and St. John's in the second round, it wasn't enough for Quin to advance. In the men's epee, junior Chris Armstrong (Highland Park, Ill. / Highland Park) entered the meet seeded 30th. He opened the day going 3-1 in the preliminary round, then in the second round, went 3-3 with wins over Harvard, NYU and Brown and a zero indicator to claim the 19th of 21 spots in the semifinals. Despite a win over eventual fourth-place finisher Albert Chien of Harvard, Armstrong needed one more win to reach the finals after going 2-4.