Seniors prepare for final career home meet
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Associate Sports Editor
Senior foil captain Jim Harris can vividly recall his first fencing match at Notre Dame.
As a freshman walk-on with just two prior years of training, Harris rarely got a chance to fence during the competitions. But for the last bout of the match against Cleveland State, Harris finally got to take the strip for the Irish.
With every other fencer finished for the day, Harris' bout became the center of attention.
With veteran Irish fencers like Stephane Auriol and Jeremy Siek cheering him on, Harris picked up his first win as an Irish fencer.
"I felt a little bit like Rudy with everybody cheering," Harris said about his first meet.
This weekend, Harris, along with the Irish seniors will take the home strips for the last time at the Midwest championships.
While this weekend will be emotional for the seniors, Harris said the Irish are focusing more on winning the championship and not on the close of their home careers.
"It is going to be very difficult Sunday when the individual tournament comes to a close because I know I won't be moving on to the qualifier [for the NCAA tournament]," Harris said. "But I am looking forward to it. I think it is going to be a lot of fun and I think I will worry about it when it is all over."
When the tournament is all over, the Irish hope to walk away with Midwest championships for both the men and women overall and in all three weapons. The men should have an easy road to the title as they are ranked first and cruised to easy wins against conference opponents in the regular season.
Despite not fencing in a competition for two weeks, the Irish said that they will not be rusty this weekend.
"I think we will be ready," senior epeeist Dominic Guarnaschelli. "We always gear back up at the end of the season so we will be ready to charge on in there."
The women, however, face a stiff test from Northwestern, who beat the Irish during the regular season. Because of that loss, the Irish are seeded an unfamiliar second behind the Wildcats.
"For the first time all the girls are seeded second as opposed to first but that is because of our loss to Northwestern," epee captain Kim DeMaio said. "But I think we are ready for the challenge. We are not concerned with that happening again."
If the Irish upset the Wildcats and win the Midwest Championship, DeMaio will play a key role. With No. 3 epee-starter Kiersten Ferguson out with an injury, DeMaio moves into a starting role.
Northwestern should be the only test for the women as a team, although there are several individuals who can challenge the Irish.
"There are a couple of schools with one really good fencer," DeMaio said. "There will be some tough competitors in the individuals but it is good to fence tough competition before the qualifier. There are a couple of stands outs but no one that is unbeatable."
The Irish women should be favored to win individual titles in every weapon.
At epee, freshmen Anna Carnick and Meagan Call should challenge for the individual title. Carnick led the Irish with 41 wins while Call was not far behind with 39 wins.
At foil, senior captain Magda Krol made a successful transition from epee to foil and won 33 bouts for the Irish. Freshman Liza Boutsikaris, however, led the Irish in foil victories with 36. It is possible that Boutsikaris and Krol will be seeded 1-2 in the individual tournament, setting up an all-Irish final.
At women's sabre, freshman Natalia Mazur has been practically flawless en route to a 49-4 regular season record. Not even the strong Northwestern sabrewomen should be able to stop Mazur from winning the title.
On the men's side, the biggest questions won't be if a Notre Dame fencer wins an individual title, but which Irish fencer will take home the title.
At sabre, four different Irish fencers could take first. While sophomore Gabor Szelle is the favorite, sophomore Andre Crompton, junior Andrezj Bednarksi and freshman Matt Fabricant will all give the 1999 champion a tough bout. An all-Irish semifinal would not be a surprise.
At foil, a pair of Irish freshmen are the class of the Midwest. Ozren Debic has not lost since the first weekend en route to a 42-3 record but his classmate Forest Walton could challenge him for the title.
At epee, 1999 Midwest Champion James Gaither faces a strong challenge from his teammates — sophomore All-American Brian Casas and freshman Jan Viviani. Casas and Viviani had better regular seasons than Gaither but the senior captain always seems to fence at the top of his game in pressure situations.
At the end of the weekend, the seniors hope that they will walk away with their fourth Midwest overall title. But more importantly, they will walk away with friendships that will last a lifetime.
"The best part has been the team bonding that has gone on," Guarnaschelli said. "Whether we have been traveling or at home, everyone comes together. You can especially see it at the end of the year."
All Sports Stories for Friday, March 3, 2000
