Eszter Muhari, Magda Skarbonkiewicz, Siobhan Sullivan carry Notre Dame to 14th NCAA fencing title

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — Notre Dame’s Eszter Muhari defended her title in women’s épée, Magda Skarbonkiewicz beat teammate Siobhan Sullivan to win the sabre title and Notre Dame won its 14th NCAA fencing championship on Sunday on the campus of Penn State University.

The Fighting Irish returned to championship form after Harvard ended their three-year reign last season.

Notre Dame finished with 183 points, 11 in front of runner-up Columbia/Barnard. Harvard and Princeton tied for third with 141 points. St. John’s was fifth with 95.

Muhari trailed early before coming back to beat Columbia/Barnard’s Tierna Oxenreider 15-13 in the final. Muhari beat Princeton’s Leehi Machulsky 15-2 in an earlier semifinal. Oxenreider advanced with a 15-11 victory over Hadley Husisian of Princeton. Muhari is the sixth Notre Dame fencer to win multiple individual titles.

In a battle between freshmen, Skarbonkiewicz topped Sullivan 15-8 in the sabre final. Skarbonkiewicz advanced with a 15-8 win over Princeton’s Alexandra Lee in the semifinals. Sullivan moved on after a 15-9 victory over Natalia Botello of Ohio State.

Stanford sophomore Arianna Cao edged Harvard sophomore Jessica Zi Jia Guo 15-14 in the final of foil. Cao advanced with a 15-13 victory over Columbia/Barnard’s Zander Rhodes in the semifinals. Guo beat CB’s Carolina Stutchbury 12-9 in the other semifinal.

Chase Emmer won the men’s foil championship for Notre Dame on Friday.

The fencing team’s 14 national championships is the most for Notre Dame, whose teams have won 36 national titles overall.

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