PHILADELPHIA — The Haverford College men's fencing team launched its 2024-25 season at the Nikki Franke Classic, hosted on the Temple University campus. Held at the Liacouras Center, formerly the Temple Open, is one of the largest individual fencing competitions on the East Coast and annually marks the start of the collegiate fencing season.
In epee, Eric Chen kicked off his sophomore season impressively. The reigning Division III All-American finished 34th in a highly competitive field, ranking as the third-highest Division III fencer behind two Johns Hopkins competitors. Chen went 4-0 in his opening pool, defeating fencers from NYU, TCNJ, Drexel, and Penn. In the second round, he continued his momentum with wins over Penn State's Sebastian Bonomo, Drexel's Benjamin Neeman, and NYU's Steven Grams. Seeded 13th in direct eliminations, Chen ultimately fell to Peter Nikolov of NYU in the Round of 64.
Vivek Veluvali also earned notable wins in the first pool round, defeating Boston College's Torata Mishima and Drexel's Luka Specter. He advanced to the second pool, where he secured victories over Erik Marran of Stevens and Xander Wilcox of Duke. In the direct elimination round, Veluvali was bested by Ajit Sivakumar of NYU.
Raphael Yamamoto went winless in his initial pool but excelled in the consolation pools, finishing 4-1 with wins over competitors from Hunter, Navy, Swarthmore, and Temple Club, securing third place in the consolation epee round. Jack Lesher also faced initial challenges but secured wins over Nicholas Topaz of NYU and Jason Guidangen of Temple Club, finishing 18th in the consolation round.
In foil, Michael Pyo led the contingent, finishing tied for 36th. Pyo achieved wins over fencers from Drexel, Wagner, and Temple Club in the first pool and progressed to the second round with victories over Issac Ramirez of Hunter, Brendan Wadley of Long Island, and Cristian Porras of North Carolina. His run concluded in the Round of 64 after a match with Chaissen Costello of Sacred Heart.
Andrew Strayer tied for 44th, defeating fencers from North Carolina, Stevens, and Temple Club in the first pool and later Josh Schaefer of NJIT and Graham Shambarger of Stevens in the second. Strayer was eliminated in the Round of 64 by Boston College's Christian Ko. Henry Fedonchik finished 56th, earning wins over Swarthmore in the first round and Francis Orozco of Florida in the second. He advanced to face Joel Hecht of Drexel in the Round of 128, winning that bout but falling to Luke Zhang of Penn in the Round of 64.
In foil, Henry Bishop tied for 66th after defeating Rowan in the first round and James Glover of Stevens in the second. He was eliminated by Tuna Korkmaz of Duke in the direct eliminations.
Making his debut, Ezra Weintroub rallied in the consolation pool after an initial winless round, finishing with a 5-1 record and victories over Drexel, Rowan, Swarthmore, Temple Club, and Hunter, to secure third place in the consolation bracket.
In sabre, Deep Patel led the Haverford contingent, tying for 62nd. He won his initial pool match against a Temple Club fencer but went winless in the second round before facing Ben Kogan of Penn in the direct eliminations, where he fell in the Round of 64.
Jack Greff finished 67th, taking down Jaden Jones of Swarthmore in the first round and later achieving wins over competitors from Hunter, Stevens, and Swarthmore in the consolation round, earning him eighth place in the consolations.
Greg Roumiantsev, winless in his first pool, found success in the consolation round with wins over Christopher Dunn of TCNJ and Henry Roberts-Poyourow of Temple Club, ultimately finishing 10th in consolation.
The Haverford men's fencing team will return to competition on November 3, opening the team season at the Drew Invitational in Madison, N.J. Matches are set to begin at 9 a.m. on the strips inside the Simon Forum.