As the Duke fencing season nears its end, the stakes are higher than ever. This weekend, the Blue Devils competed for the chance to go against the best of the best at the NCAA Championship. This time last year, 11 Duke fencers placed within the top 10 of their respective disciplines at the 2023 NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional. With eight of these Blue Devils still in the running, the pressure was on. To no surprise, the team delivered with freshman Charlotte Koenig championing women’s foil.
“The day was very intense and demanding,” said head coach Omar Elgeziry. “Competition was brutal, but we managed to do very well. Overall, I'm proud of our fencers and I'm proud of the fight they put on the strip.”
Despite the Mid-Atlantic/South being one of the toughest regions in the nation, the Blue Devils walked away with 10 top-10 finishes. While the team did well as a whole, the standout performance of the tournament was by far Koenig’s dominant victory.
“She was ranked number one, so we knew that she's going to go in to be one of our contenders…I wouldn't say I was surprised but it was good to see a freshman dominate the circuit and dominate the event because it's still a new experience,” said Elgeziry. “It's a long day, long competition, so I'm proud of her because she delivered when she needed to deliver.”
Koenig, who had to sit out the first half of the season due to injury, has seemingly required no time at all to get back on her feet. After a breakout performance at the Eric Sollee Invitational in January, Koenig has proven herself to be an integral member of the Duke women’s foil squad. The New York native started her run Saturday with a first-round bye and a 4-1 record in round two. Despite losing the majority of her matchups the next round, Koenig was able to find a new gear when it really mattered. In the fourth and final round of pool play, the freshman collected eight wins — the most of all remaining women’s foil competitors. Koenig ended the tournament with a total of 14 wins, an impressive result for one’s first NCAA Regional.
Three of Koenig’s victories in the final round of pool play were actually against her own women’s foil squadmates: Christina Ferrari, Sophia Shen and Rachel Koo. In spite of their varying levels of seniority, the four fencers have consistently challenged each other to improve. Koenig faced co-captain Ferrari in her first bout of the round, falling on the right side of a 5-1 score. The following two matchups ended similarly with Koenig defeating Shen 5-2 and Koo 5-4.
“The spirit of the team is still there, but now everyone's individual…also just the woman’s foil squad is a killer squad,” said Elgeziry. “They are very strong and they are very competitive. We have a very good leader. Christina Ferrari is a senior so she definitely helps in maintaining the energy and keeping all the women's foilists in check, taking care of each other, caring for each other, and not just fighting amongst each other but also fighting against other schools.”
The women’s saber team also showed out Saturday with three Blue Devils advancing to the final round of pool play. The squad was led by freshman Natalie Olsen, who finished in fifth and took home a total of 11 wins. Kunling Tong and Hava Stone, who also qualified for the last round, placed ninth and 10th, respectively. Unfortunately, the trio was no match for Princeton’s Ryan Jenkins, who went undefeated in the final round and ultimately championed the event.
Junior Rachel Kowalsky also finished in the top 10, earning third in women’s epee. The 2022 ACC Bronze Medalist pulled out all the stops in Saturday’s final round, winning eight out of her 11 matches.
On the men’s side, Allen Marakov followed up his second-place performance from last year with a finish in fifth. The epeeist started off the day with five first-round wins but was unable to carry this momentum into the final round, where he was defeated 3-5 by Tiger Tristan Szapary. Freshman Samir Travers built on his recent accolades from the ACC Championship this weekend, finishing sixth in men’s saber.
“We're making small steps in the right direction and what I'm seeing is we're growing and we're sustaining right now,” said Elgeziry.
With strong performances in every discipline across the men and women, the team is likely to qualify several fencers to the NCAA Championship. Qualifiers will be officially announced next week, in consideration of each fencer’s NCAA Regional placement and regular-season achievements.
Following the announcement, qualified Blue Devils will head up north to Columbus, Ohio, for the NCAA Championship. Between March 21 and March 24, the team will no doubt fight valiantly to close out its season on a high note.
“We did what we could throughout the season,” said Elgeziry. “Now, results should come to us. We shouldn't chase it so honestly, I am not putting any expectations. I know that the ones who are going are already up and prepared…let's hope it will be a good day for us.”
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