The North Carolina fencing teams cooled off after a fast start at the Northwestern Duals this past weekend.
What happened?
Both the men's and women's teams had great showings in their first day of competition. Each team collected wins against high-quality opponents.
The women started their day strong with a dominant 20-7 victory over Lawrence in Round One. After another convincing win against Fairleigh Dickinson, the ladies topped a talented California-San Diego team, 16-11. The Tar Heels followed that with another great win against Wayne State, a top Division II school, 22-5. The women finished the day 5-0.
The men also had a terrific start. UNC earned an opening round victory against Wayne State. The Tar Heels more than doubled their score, winning 19-8. They went on to win three straight bouts, including one against the host school, Northwestern. They ended the day facing Ohio State. Despite a strong performance from the foil team, the Tar Heels lost a close contest, 14-13, to finish the day 4-1.
The men's and women's teams did not have the same success on the second day. The squads picked up multiple losses on Sunday.
The women collected a victory against Stanford, 15-12, to get Sunday’s competition started. UNC also picked up quality wins against Incarnate Wood and Caltech, before suffering its first loss against Air Force, 18-9. The Tar Heels were unable to rebound, losing their next game, 19-8, to Temple. The team was able to salvage its day by beating Detroit Mercy, 23-4, in the final match, completing a 4-2 record for the day.
The men also won their opening match against Lawrence. However, they lost their following match to California-San Diego, 14-13, in a contest that went down to the wire. Just like the women, the men lost a second in a row against Stanford. After a win against Caltech, the men lost again, 15-12, to Air Force. They were able to end the day on a high note, by defeating Detroit, 24-3, taking their record for the day to 3-3.
