PHILADELPHIA – The Haverford College men's fencing team opened its season Sunday in grand fashion at the 31st Annual Temple University Open, the largest collegiate fencing tournament in the country. With over 550 athletes from 36 schools, the Temple Open is an individual-format competition that draws the best fencers on the east coast.

Epeeist Andrew Bostick was the last man standing, after an extraordinary comeback against his teammate James Nieuwland. Bostick claimed Haverford's first Temple gold since 2005. The epee squad was bolstered by co-captains Remy Olson and Dan Drebing's 12th and 33rd, respective finishes.

In the sabre, Aaron Ruby battled his way to the finals, placing sixth for his best finish yet at this tournament. Oliver Elbert advanced to the quarterfinals, placing 17th; Linus Marco took 82nd, while Darwin Keung was 86th of the 112 sabrists.

Andrew Soule-Hinds had the highest foil finish for the Fords, easing into the final round for sixth place. Lawrence Wang and Paul Weichselbaum were very impressive in their respective 12th and 16th placements, while Sam Levinson was 29th, unluckily drawing Duke's eventual gold medalist Dorian Cohen in the round of 32 of the 102 competitors.

"This tournament was a great opportunity to see our new fencers in action, as well as see the improvements in our veterans," head coach Christopher Spencer said. "But the best development was the team spirit exhibited by both the men and the women. The mutual support, camaraderie, and teamwork that really enabled these tremendous results were on full display. I'm proud of every athlete that spent the entire day working to help their teammates."

Haverford heads to the Vassar (N.Y.) College Invitational this Sunday. The meet gets underway at 10 a.m.