The Temple University fencing team was represented by three freshman fencers at the November North American Cup in Milwaukee, Wisconsin over the weekend. The competition featured 230 fencers from around the United States and Canada.
Zoe Turner competed in sabre while Sarah Park and Margherita Calderaro competed in the Junior Women’s epee bracket.
Calderaro and Park were the first two fencers to compete at the Cup on Friday.
Park fenced in two rounds of direct elimination bouts, defeating Ariana Ahuja, 13-11, before falling 14-10 to no. 17 seed Claire Beddingfield, who finished second in epee.
Calderaro advanced to the round of 32 after fencing in three bouts. The three wins awarded Calderaro a first-round bye and the eighth seed.
Calderaro fell in the round of 32 to Columbia University fencer, Ariana Mangano. Mangano finished first in the Women’s Epee bracket at the Temple Open last week.
“[Calderaro] was undefeated in pools which was fantastic,” coach Nikki Franke said. “It was a tough bout for her in the round of 16, but she still went 15-10 with her so I was pleased to see how well she handled a very strong fencer.”
Turner was the last of three Owls to compete Saturday night. Turner fell in the round of 64 to Alexis Anglade, 15-10. She finished in 47th place out of 214 fencers in the Junior Women’s Sabre bracket.
“Zoe had a good day, it was all a learning experience with her being a freshman,” Franke said. “She lost in the second DE to a girl who finished sixth so it was a tough bout against a good fencer and she held her own, so I was very pleased to see her hang in there with a very strong fencer.”
After the cup, Franke was impressed with the way the freshmen competed over the weekend.
“It’s good for them to get more competition to get back into a competitive mindset,” he said. “Some of the girls hadn’t competed in a tournament since the spring before our season started so the more competition they have, the more prepared they’re going to be for the season.”
The Owls will compete in their first team match of the season on Saturday at the Elite Meet at Penn.
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