Sapienza Shines at North American Cup

Friday, October 7

Detroit, Mich.

All Day

Duke University

US Fencing Association North American Cup

Sapienza Shines at North American Cup

10/10/2016 3:43:00 PM | Fencing

Complete Results

By: Duke Sports Information

DETROIT, MICH. – The Duke fencing team saw a number of strong performances at this weekend's October North American Cup (NAC), hosted by the United State Fencing Association in Detroit, Mich.

“We are very proud of all of our fencers who travelled to Detroit this past weekend to compete against some of the best in the country,” said head coach Alex Beguinet. “Lindsay [Sapienza] had the best showing of all with her seventh place finish in women's saber and Eoin [Gronningsater] did a phenomenal job landing in 11th place. We are just as proud of the others. All of the weapons had very, very strong slates of competitors at this first Division I event of the new competition year. Olympians, post-collegiate Olympian hopefuls, the best collegiate fencers and the best pre-collegiate fencers were joined by some of the strongest international fencers, making each field very strong. It was a great opportunity for some very high level fencing. In addition, there was a new format used in both men and women's epee. We are very interested to hear from our epeeists how they felt about it and how it may have impacted their fencing.”

Freshman Lindsay Sapienza earned her spot on the podium in the Division I Women's Saber in Detroit on Monday. In her first collegiate NAC, Sapienza finished the day seventh out of 120 after falling to eventual silver-medalist Zara Moss in the Table of 8. The freshman wrapped up pool play with a 4-1 mark and tallied four straight victories after earning a bye in the Table of 128.

Freshman Eoin Gronningsater kicked off competition for the Blue Devils Saturday in Division I Men's Foil. With his collegiate debut, Gronningsater hit the strips hard, finishing the day 11th out of 233 before falling to eventual silver-medalist Alexander Choupenitch, of the Czech Republic, in the Table of 16. The freshman wrapped up pool play with a 5-1 indicator and reeled off three straight victories after earning a bye in the Table of 256.

Sophomore Will Feldman continued competition in men's foil and finished pool play with a 3-3 mark.

Freshman Kendyl Bree was the lone Duke fencer in Division I Women's Epee Saturday morning and went 4-2 in the first round of pool play. The epeeist earned a bye in the first direct elimination before completing the next round of pool play with a 2-4 ledger.

Competition continued Sunday in Division I Men's Saber and Division I Men's Epee with three fencers. Freshman Aidan McGinnis finished pool play with a 1-4 mark in epee, while freshman Duncan De Caire posted a 2-4 indicator in saber and won two straight matches to end in the Table of 64. Also in saber, freshman Ben Stone finished pool play 4-2 and won two straight matches after earning a bye in the Table of 256, ending the day tied for 50th.

As a former NCAA competitor, junior Pascual Di Tella concluded competition in men's saber tied for 21st after going 5-0 in pool play and winning two straight after receiving a bye in the Table of 256.

“I know that each of our fencers will be returning to campus with feedback for their coaches on what worked and what they will need to work on for the next Division I NAC, with an eye on preparing for the collegiate season,” Beguinet said.

A complete list of results for the Blue Devils competing this weekend can be found below. Select Duke fencers will participate in the second of four North American Cups Friday, Nov. 11-14, in Milwaukee, Wis.

Division I Women's Saber (120 Entries)
7. Lindsay Sapienza

Division I Men's Foil (233 Entries)
11. Eoin Gronningsater
136. Will Feldman

Division I Women's Epee (150 Entries)
68. Kendyl Bree

Division I Men's Epee (274 Entries)
t-232. Aidan McGinnis

Division I Men's Saber (185 Entries)
t-21. Pascual Di Tella
t-50. Ben Stone
64. Duncan De Caire

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