Newcomers Lead The Way At Temple Open

Saturday, October 29

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

North Carolina

Temple Open (Women)

Jack KambeselesACC ChampionshipUniversity of North Carolina FencingCarmichael ArenaChapel Hill, NCSaturday, February 27, 2021

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

November 1, 2022 | Fencing

By: Freddy Stanley

PHILADELPHIA - The North Carolina men's and women's fencing teams competed at the Temple Open last weekend in individual competition.

The women's competition was held on Saturday and was highlighted by sophomore transfer Sophia Kovacs taking home bronze in women's sabre. This third-place finish adds to Kovacs' impressive start to individual competition, building off her silver medal at the North American Cup a few weeks ago.

The second-highest finisher from the women's team was freshman Nicole Milewski, who took home tenth in epee in her collegiate debut.

The men's competition on Sunday saw the Tar Heels have consistent success across the board. Five different Tar Heels from the men's squad were able to secure top-ten finishes, and four were able to make it to the quarterfinals of the elimination round.

The highest finisher in the men's team was freshman Nicky Wind, who placed fifth in sabre. Freshman Nick Baumstein also had a strong weekend. Baumstein started out perfect in pool play, going 8-0 and earning himself a first-round bye in the knockout stages. Baumstein finished the day at 9-1, falling in the round of 16 to Penn's Bryce Louie, who went on to win the gold medal.

"I was really excited about Nick Baumstein this weekend," said Head Coach Matt Jednak. "He has been working so hard and you can see his ability to process information and execute at a really high level."

The weapon group that shined the brightest was men's epee. The depth of the squad was apparent as all six Tar Heels finished in the top 25 of the competition. This talented weapon group contains the reigning ACC Champion, the Greek Junior National Champion, and other highly ranked fencers on the national level

"Men's epee is an incredibly strong and a deep squad. It puts the challenge on me to manage the roster and get the right people in the right place throughout the season, which is exactly the problem we want to have," said Jednak.

With all the returning talent on the men's epee squad, freshman Shekar Jayendra was able to climb to the top of the field in his collegiate debut and finish sixth, the highest of any Tar Heel in the men's epee.

"Shekar had a great day for himself. He pushed through to get a result in a lot of bouts. It was just another day for him which allowed him to perform really well," said Jednak.

The two highest finishers from the men's team and the two highest finishers from the women's team were all making their collegiate debuts this weekend. Additionally, the highest finisher for Carolina in five out of the six weapon groups were all newcomers to college fencing. According to Coach Matt Jednak, this is just the beginning of what this young group can do.

"Our new group is very strong and talented, which are the reasons we want them here. They are learning quickly how to be a part of our system and a part of our team," said Jednak.

The North Carolina fencing team will travel to Colorado Springs next weekend to compete in their first dual meets of the season at the Western Invitational. Among the teams in the field are top-five opponents Harvard and Columbia. The Western Invitation will begin on November 5th.

Temple Open Results
Saturday

Women's Foil
21 - Tarleton Hunt
23 - Katie McGillion-Moore
31 - Ella Webb
53 - Sarah Followill

Women's Epee
10 - Nicole Milewski
42 - Isabella Summers
55 - Erica Oake
59 - Lauren Banks

Women's Sabre
3 - Sophia Kovacs
19- Maya Yun
29 - Iman Tucker
39 - Toma Kobozeva

Sunday

Men's Epee
6 - Shekar Jayendra
8 - Jack Kambeseles
16 - Cam Santos
17 - Henry Shugart
22 - Will Joseph
25 - Eli Lippman

Men's Foil
9 - Nick Baumstein
24 - Logan Gatza
28 - Kevin Lima
31 - Dylan Divito
34 - Jake McGillion-Moore

Men's Sabre
5 - Nicky Wind
8 - Noah Shepanek
13 - Elden Wood
18 - Casper Mika
20 - William Wun
51 - Michael Zhang