Elden Wood Excels At Home And Abroad

It is harder to have a better past two months than Carolina fencer Elden Wood.

The freshman from New York City's impressive run started when he got a call to represent Team USA in sabre at the Junior World Cup in Dormagen, Germany. Not only did Wood make the team, but he excelled. Wood breezed through pool play against top junior fencers from all over the world, giving him a high seed for the knockout rounds. Wood defeated Alessandro Conversi of Italy before falling in the round of 64. Wood's pool play record was good enough to earn him a 40th-place finish, out of a field of 191 competitors.

"Fencing against tough competition is nothing new to me. I beat a senior from Notre Dame when I was in high school. It's not new to me, but I was happy I was able to handle the pressure," said Wood.

After two weeks off for the holidays, Wood returned to competition at the January North American Cup (NAC) in Louisville, Ky. Unlike the World Cup, where Wood competed in the junior category, Wood competed among the adults at the NAC. Wood glided through pool play, defeating older competitors, and yet again qualified for the knockout rounds.

A pair of victories brought Wood into the round of 32, where he met Colby Harley, another one of the top young fencers in the country. Harley fences for Columbia, and won the 2022 Summer Junior National Championship. In a bout that could have gone either way, Wood was just one touch away from victory, losing 15-14. Wood's overall record of 6-3 on the weekend gave him a 28th-place finish out of a pool of 212.

"His self confidence has always been there, he exudes it. He is extremely dedicated to the sport and his training. He will always ask the hard questions and dialog openly about what he needs, what he sees, and how he can get better," said Head Coach Matt Jednak.

Eight days later, Wood joined the Carolina fencing team on its way to State College, Pa. to compete at the Penn State Duals. Wood continued his fine form at this meet, going 3-0 against fifth-ranked Penn State, playing a big part in the Tar Heels 15-12 upset win. In a fourth round bout against Columbia, Wood was also able to get revenge against Harley, defeating him, 5-3. In total, Wood finished at 2-1 against No. 2 Columbia and 5-1 on the day.

Wood's performance at the Penn State Duals earned him ACC Men's Fencer-of-the-Week honors. Wood is the first Tar Heel to win the award since February 2021.

"Fencing is all about momentum," said Wood. " I think that my recent success has helped me with my confidence and my ability."

Wood put on yet another impressive performance at the Philadelphia Invitational the next weekend. Wood finished the weekend with a 6-3 record, most notably going 2-1 against No. 5 Princeton.

Most recently, Wood represented Team USA again at the Junior World Cup in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He finished 38th in individual competition out of a pool of 184. Wood was the fourth highest finisher out of 12 Americans in the field. He also helped the United States to a tenth place finish in team competition.

While he has enjoyed a solid run of results, Wood will be the first to tell you that it took time for him to find his footing at UNC. The low point of Wood's season came in his second meet, back in November at the Elite Invitational Duals. Wood only won a single bout out of eight all weekend..

"I started off the season pretty rocky. I have just been able to perform on the weeks that mattered," said Wood.

"It's basically just a connection of putting together his system at his club and the things we are asking for here. They align from a goals standpoint, we want to be strong and to be victorious, but sometimes our processes are different. I think it was just a little bit of just lag in him catching up to what our system is asking for," said Jednak

Since the Elite Invitational, Elden has been nearly flawless. After two call ups to represent Team USA at Junior World Cups, a top 30 finish at the January NAC, and an ACC Male Fencer of the Week award, Elden Wood has fought back from a rocky start to find some of the best form of his career.

"He's a grinder. He is in it for more than wins and losses. He loves the sport and you can see it," said Jednak.

Elden Wood and the rest of the Tar Heels will be back in action on February 12 for the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill. The meet will be held at the brand-new Eddie Smith Field House. Men's competition will begin at 8:15 a.m. and the women's at 12:45 p.m.

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Elden Wood

Related Videos