Jan. 27, 2014
2014 Philadelphia Invite
PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Johns Hopkins men's fencing team put in a strong showing at the Philadelphia Invitational, winning all five of its bouts to improve to 10-6 on the season. Sophomore John Petrie and freshman Patrick Rose won 12 bouts apiece to lead Hopkins to wins over Sacred Heart (14-13), North Carolina (14-13), Drew (22-5), NJIT (18-9) and Haverford (21-6).
Hopkins opened the invitational with a close win over Sacred Heart, which is receiving votes in the latest CollegeFencing360.com Coaches Poll. The Pioneers won the Epee by a 6-3 score, though freshman Nathaniel Green won a pair of bouts for the Blue Jays. Hopkins would take the Foil (6-3) and Sabre (5-4) by close scores to claim the overall team win. Sophomore captain Glenn Balbus led the Jays in the Foil by sweeping all three of his bouts, while Petrie won a pair. In the Sabre, Rose and junior Paul Vitale each won two bouts with Rose clinching the win in the eighth bout.
The Blue Jays then pulled out a win over the Tar Heels, who are also receiving votes in the latest poll, by winning just one of the three weapons. North Carolina claimed victories in the Sabre (6-3) and Epee (7-2) but a 9-0 sweep by Hopkins in the Foil proved to be the difference. Green and sophomore Mark Zimmermann each won bouts in the Epee, for two crucial points for the Jays. Rose won two of his bouts and junior Aravind Menon also won a bout to grab three points for JHU. Hopkins dominated in the Foil behind three wins each from Balbus, Petrie and senior Evan Stafford.
The bouts got a little easier from there as Hopkins lost just one weapon in its final nine bouts. Against the Rangers, the Blue Jays took the Foil and Sabre by sweeps and dropped a hard-fought decision in the Epee (5-4). Zimmermann and sophomore Andy Huang won two bouts each for the Jays in the Epee in the loss. In the Foil, Petrie, Stafford and junior Robert Goldhirsch each won three bouts for Hopkins. Vitale, Rose and freshman Daniel Dembner did the same in the Sabre.
Hopkins then defeated NJIT with a sweep of all three weapons. Huang and Zimmerman led the way in the Epee versus the Highlanders with two wins each in a close 5-4 win. Balbus, Petrie and Goldhirsch then won two bouts each to lead JHU to a 6-3 win in the Foil. Menon led Hopkins in the Sabre with a sweep of his bouts as JHU took a 7-2 decision.
Hopkins closed out the day with a win over Haverford and another sweep of all three weapons. Green, Huang and Zimmermann each won two bouts in the Epee in a 6-3 JHU win. While in the Foil, Balbus, Stafford and Petrie combined for six of the Blue Jays' seven wins. And in the Sabre, Rose and Menon won three bouts each as JHU claimed an 8-1 victory.
The Blue Jays are idle until Saturday, February 8 when they travel to Durham, NC for the Duke Invitational.
Philadelphia Invitational
Epee
Dylan Etzel • 1-6
Nathaniel Green • 5-7
Andy Huang • 7-4
Mark Zimmermann • 7-8
Foil
Glenn Balbus • 10-2
Robert Goldhirsch • 6-1
John Petrie • 12-2
Evan Stafford • 9-3
Sabre
Daniel Dembner • 5-1
Aravind Menon • 8-4
Patrick Rose • 12-3
Paul Vitale • 7-5
