Duke’s fencing program is probably best known for Becca Ward, the sophomore sensation who won a silver medal for the United States in women’s saber at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She continues to star for the Blue Devils, finishing a perfect 12-0 Sunday, including 3-0 in her matches against No. 1 Penn State. Ward, however, is not the only young fencer contributing to Duke’s emergence.
Despite an inauspicious upset loss in the opener to Air Force on the men’s side, the Blue Devils rebounded in a big way, going on to defeat defending national champion and perennial powerhouse Penn State, also No. 1 on the men’s side, for the first time in 25 years. Duke earned the victory by winning 15 out of 27 bouts.
Both the men’s and women’s teams went 3-1 on the weekend, with the 10th-ranked Duke men’s lone loss coming to Air Force. The women fell against Penn State despite Ward’s undefeated mark. Both squads managed to defeat crosstown rival North Carolina.
“The team is very young—we have a lot of freshmen on the men’s team and the women’s team... and we have good support with the seniors,” head coach Alex Beguinet said.
Of Duke’s 15 victories on the men’s side against Penn State, freshmen and sophomores combined for 10. Anthony Lin stood out among the freshmen, going 8-4 in his bouts.
“He is going to be a very strong fencer—he is already,” Beguinet said. “As a freshman, he is leading the saber squad.”
Beguinet also hailed freshman Emily D’Agostino as a leader on the women’s team based on her performance. She nearly matched Ward’s outstanding record, going 11-1 in her bouts. Fellow freshmen Lily Shepard (8-2) and Keara Mageras (6-2) also provided a boost to the women’s team.
Duke finished both days of the tournament with its strongest effort, showing the improving nature of this young team. Both squads won easily against Brandeis in their final matches of the day.
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