A pair of top 20 performances from senior
Doug Sollman (Sterling Hts., MI/Stevenson) in the sabre and sophomore
Michael Purdy-Sachs (Port Huron, MI/Home School) in the foil led the way for the UDM men's fencing squad during individual competition at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at the University of Notre Dame on Saturday.
Sollman improved on his previous best showing at the MFC Championships, a 26th-place finish in 2008, to finish the day in 19th. After going 5-1 in pool fencing, Sollman received a first round bye before facing senior teammate
Dan Bingham (St. Clair Shores, MI/Fraser) in the second round. Sollman topped Bingham 15-8 before falling 15-11. Bingham posted a 2-4 pool mark and finished in 47th place.
Purdy-Sachs, who nabbed 13th place in 2009, went 4-2 in pool action and earned a first round bye. He then won a pair of direct elimination bouts by scores of 15-8 and 15-5, but dropped a tough 15-13 decision in the Table of 16.
Juniors
Tom Lorenzo (Avon, OH/St. Ignatius) and
Brad Coon (Jenison, MI/Hudsonville) also ended the day with winning marks. Lorenzo wound up tied for 35th in the sabre field, earning a bye after a 4-2 record in his pool, but falling 15-11 in his first direct elimination bout. Coon, competing in the foil, went 4-2 in pool, but suffered a 15-8 loss in the third round of direct elimination following a first round bye and second round 15-5 victory.
A pair of Titan rookies,
Jared Sivec (Macomb, MI/Dakota) and
Tim Nelson (Riverview, MI/Gabriel Richard), had solid outings at their first MFC Championships. Sivec placed 59th in the foil, rebounding from a 1-5 mark in pool fencing to post a 15-12 win in his first direct elimination bout before bowing out in the second round. Nelson, the Titans only representative in the epee, received a first round bye after going 2-4 in pool bouts, but was setback by a score of 15-4 in the second round of direct elimination.
Detroit will take to the strip early once again at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, competing in the team weapons competition.
