University of Detroit Mercy Athletics

The University of Detroit Mercy was represented by junior Brad Coon (Jenison, MI/Hudsonville), sophomore Michael Purdy-Sachs (Port Huron, MI/Home School) and current Titans assistant coach Craig Budzynski at the USFA North American “C” Cup Div. I tournament in Pittsburgh, PA on Sunday, Dec. 6.

The tournament, a non-NCAA event which serves as a national team and world championships qualifying event, featured a field loaded with talent.

“This was an important tournament because the strongest fencers we’ll see are there,” said head coach Todd Dressell. “We need to get used to seeing fencers of this level of fencing for our stronger NCAA competitions later in the season.”

All three entrants for the Titans competed in the men’s epee field, and Budzynski led the charge for Detroit to finish 61st. After finishing tied for third at the Istvan Danosi Michigan Open Saturday, Budzynski posted a 4-2 mark in pool action and won his first direct elimination bout, but was unable to pull out a victory in his second direct elimination bout.

Purdy-Sachs, who won the foil competition at Istvan Danosi Saturday, went 3-3 in his pool, but was stopped in his first direct elimination bout and placed 90th.

“Michael (Purdy-Sachs) dominated the competition at Istvan Danosi and just controlled every match he was in on Saturday,” said Dressell. “But he was very inconsistent on Sunday. He’s very good physically but he needs to control himself mentally.”

Coon rounded out the Titan contingent in Pittsburgh with a 135th-place finish. After a 2-4 showing in pool action Coon was unable to advance past the first round of direct elimination.

“Brad (Coon) has an excellent skill set but tends to over think things,” said Dressell. “He just freezes up sometimes and needs to be more aggressive.”

Dressell would have liked better results out Coon and Purdy-Sachs in Sunday’s competition, but is confident that the experience will benefit them over the course of the season.

“Yeah, I’m a little disappointed. We could have and should have done better, but they’re putting themselves in a position so that we know what we need to work on and get better at for our big meets down the road,” Dressell said.

The Titans will be out of action for over a month as the holidays draw near before continuing action on Jan. 17 when they compete in the Detroit Invitational in Calihan Hall, the fencing team’s only home meet of the season.