DURHAM, NC – The Johns Hopkins men's fencing team kicked off a busy weekend with an upset of host and 10^th-ranked Duke on Saturday morning at the Duke Invitational. JHU then dropped a pair of tight decisions to Air Force, 15-12, and Brandies, 14-13.
 
Hopkins earned wins in the Epee (6-3) and Foil (7-2) in the 15-12 win over Duke in the first round. Freshman Ethan Insler and sophomore Matthew Dao went a combined 6-0 to lead the Epee squad to the win. In the Foil, it was freshman Yi Peng Sha that led with three wins, while sophomores Alan Zheng and Spencer Grossman Smisek won two bouts each. In the Sabre, senior Qilin Tong and freshman Leonid Kotov picked up one win each in a 7-2 loss.
 
JHU lost to Air Force in a close one, with the Sabre (6-3) and Epee (5-4) squads grabbing wins. Sophomore Alex Jeffords won all three of his bouts and Tong picked up two for the Sabre squad. Ethan Insler and older brother Gabe, combined for four wins, with Ethan clinching the Epee squad's 5-4 win. In the Foil, Zheng earned the lone point for the Blue Jays in an 8-1 loss.
 
Hopkins closed out the day with a tough 14-13 loss to Brandeis, ranked third in Division III. Dao and freshman Ayan Bhatnagar won two bouts each and Dao clinched a 5-4 win for the Epee squad. Sophomore Larry Cai led the Sabre squad with two wins in a 5-4 loss. Sha won two of his three bouts in a 5-4 loss in the Foil.  
 
Hopkins returns home on Sunday, February 11 for the annual JHU Invitational. JHU will kick off the day against William & Mary at 10:00 am.
 
Notes: Zheng is now tied for 10^th in JHU history with 218 career Foil wins • Gabe Insler moves into 12^th place with 175 career Epee wins • Dao is tied for 25^th with 128 career Epee wins • This is Hopkins' first win over Duke since February 21, 2016.