HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's fencing team will open the 2016-17 season at the Temple Open this Sunday. The Fords placed fourth at the MACFA Team Championship a year ago and will look to get back on top of the standings for the first time since 2012 with a mixture of veteran leadership and incoming freshmen who have energized the team.
Epee has traditionally been a strength of the Fords and this year appears to be no different. Haverford has qualified three epeeists to the NCAA Regional in each of the past three seasons. Headlining that group are a pair of three-time NCAA Regional qualifiers in Eric Gardner and Jake Bassinder. Gardner, a team captain, just missed out on a trip to the NCAA Championship as he earned the "at-large" seat during his sophomore season when he fenced his way to a 12th place finish at the regional. Gardner was also a MACFA gold medalist in epee during the 2014 season.
Bassinder and Gardner both tied for third at the MACFA Championship last season as the team placed third overall in that weapon. Bassidner's best finish at the NCAA Regional was a 21st place showing. The team's rookie of the year last season, Edward Ogborn, will add depth to the epee squad. Some of Ogborn's strongest showings a year ago came against the Fords' toughest competition that included the Penn State Invitational, Sollee Invitational, and the upcoming Temple Open. Freshmen Pablo Thiel and Kadan Lottick will step into the epee lineup and look to bolster the team's rich tradition.
Sabre has improved its placement at the MACFA Championship in each of the past two seasons. Last year it was then-freshmen Gabriel Braun and David Parker who led that surge as they advanced to the regional meet. Braun was named the athletic department's Archibald MacIntosh '21 recipient as the top scholar-athlete in the freshman class. He started off his career at Haverford by making the finals of the Temple Open and eventually placed third at his first MACFA Championship and 19th at the NCAA Regional. Parker led the sabre squad with an 18th place showing at the NCAA Regional as a freshman.
Henry Li, also a sophomore, made great strides during his first year with the Fords. His season was highlighted by five wins in sabre at the MACFA meet in early February. Studying abroad in the first semester, junior Devin Louis will bolster the sabre squad in his return during the spring. Louis was the team's rookie of the year two seasons ago. Freshman John Hare will also compete in sabre adding youth to a young but talented weapon squad.
Leading a young foil squad this season will be the Fords' co-captain Ching LI. Li impressed with six victories in foil at the MACFA Meet. The foil squad will be bolstered by the addition of three incoming freshmen: Jack Leighninger, Russell Rivera, and Yan Yan Xie. Junior Ian Wheeler, the team's lone regional qualifier in that weapon last year, will also return to compete where he could contest foil or epee during the spring after spending the fall semester abroad.
Men's fencing will compete in a total of 10 meets before the NCAA Regional Championship. The Fords will host their only two home meets of the year during the fall semester as they take part in both the Dan Arnstein '09 Invitational (Nov. 19) and Haverford Holiday Invitational (Dec. 3) during the upcoming season. Haverford will also welcome back its Alumni during the spring semester for the annual Alumni Match/Banquet on Saturday, February 11. The MACFA Championship, where the Fords will look to improve on a fourth place team finish a year ago, will take place on Feb. 26.