Tar Heels Shine In Final Bouts Before Dual Meets

Sunday, November 7

University Park, Pa.

8 AM

North Carolina

Penn State Garret Open (Men)

November 7, 2021 | Fencing

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The North Carolina fencing team wrapped up two days of competition at the Penn State Garret Open on Sunday and headed home with a first-place finish, two top-three finishes, and six top-eight finishes over some top competition.

The women competed on Saturday and the men on Sunday against an extremely challenging field that included three teams ranked in the men's top ten and five teams ranked in the women's top ten of the CollegeFencing360.com poll.

On the men's side, senior Beni Rabinowitz won first place in sabre, coming out on top of a highly competitive field. He became the first Tar Heel to take first at the Garret Open since 2009 and the first men's sabre champion since John Friedberg, who won the event in 1981 and went on to claim an NCAA Championship in 1983.

"It was a very mature day for Beni," UNC coach Matt Jednak said. "He was able to stay focused and sharp mentally which helped him out a lot. He had a really good game plan going into his bouts and executed that gameplay very well."

Freshman Casper Mika added to the Tar Heels on the podium in men's sabre, finishing in third place. Senior Anders Hartmark finished eighth in foil and freshman Eli Lippman finished in seventh in epee as the highest finishers for North Carolina in each event.

On Saturday, sophomore Sofia Molho finished third in women's foil, the highest finish of any North Carolina women's fencer on the day. Freshman Isabella Summers finished 16th in eppe and senior Julia Parzecki finished 12th in sabre, both the highest finishing Tar Heel in their respective events.

"This weekend was just another step in our process in getting ready for our dual meets," Jednak said. "We did a really good job of working as a team. Even though it was an individual event this weekend, we did a good job of supporting each other. No matter what gender or what weapon was fencing we always had our team there cheering and giving advice."

The Tar Heels will travel to the Air Force Academy on Nov. 13-14 for their first dual meet of the season.

Penn State Garret Open – State College, Pa.

Nov. 6-7, 2021

UNC Results

November 6

Women's Foil (field of 49)

Women's Epee (field of 42)

Women's Sabre (field of 50)