Home sweet home.
For the first and only time during the 2025-26 season, Northwestern fencing competed at the Ryan Fieldhouse, and it sure made the most of it.
At this past weekend’s Schiller Duals, the fifth-ranked Wildcats finished with an 11-1 record, including ranked wins over No. 14 Temple, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 11 Stanford. The only loss it suffered came at the hands of No. 2 Notre Dame, the reigning NCAA champions.
“There’s not a better facility in the country,” Northwestern head coach Zach Moss said of Ryan Fieldhouse. “There’s a little bit of different pressure for the athletes, especially having their friends come, having their families come. But at the same time, they also get to highlight their sport and showcase what they’re capable of in a way that’s a little different when you’re away.”
Northwestern opened play against Temple at 8:15 a.m. Saturday morning, coasting to a 19-8 ranked win. It then repeated that result against Wayne State an hour later, where an 8-1 Sabre run propelled the Wildcats to a repeat 19-8 score-line.
Notre Dame was the only opponent that Northwestern truly struggled against. The Fighting Irish, manned by fencers like 2025 NCAA Sabre runner-up Siobhan Sullivan, made each category an uphill climb for the Wildcats. They narrowly beat the Wildcats 5-4 in Epee and defeated them 6-3 in both Sabre and Foil for a 17-10 overall score.
That said, Northwestern fencers like Karen Wang (Epee), Yukari Takamizawa (Foil) and Natalie Shearer (Sabre) still performed well, each winning two of their three bouts against the Fighting Irish. And the Wildcats overall improved from their last contest against the defending champs in November 2025, when they lost 22-5 at the Elite Invitational.
“They’re someone we’re chasing down,” NU Sabre coach Dennis Kolakowski said of Notre Dame. “Last time it was 22-5, and this time it was a lot closer. Even the bouts that we lost were all 5-4, 5-3, very close, contentious moments. If we keep pushing, we’ll get there.”
After that one loss, the rest of Saturday was smooth sailing. After a mid-day break, the Wildcats began their afternoon with a dominant 24-3 win over Lawrence, during which both their Sabre and Foil teams completed 9-0 sweeps. They then beat Incarnate Word 20-7, before ending the day with 27-0 and 25-2 victories over Detroit-Mercy and Wheaton, respectively. In Northwestern’s last two matches on Saturday, it only conceded a combined two bouts, both recorded in Foil against Wheaton.
Sunday started with some close battles in the morning, but Northwestern prevailed in all of them. It first faced an unexpected challenge in unranked UC San Diego, which the Wildcats only beat 5-4 in Sabre and 6-3 in Foil and Epee.
The Wildcats’ closest opponent on paper at Schill was Ohio State, arguably the team’s biggest rival. And while they struggled in Epee, falling 7-2 to the Buckeyes in that category, a lopsided 8-1 Sabre victory and a 7-2 win in Foil made up for it to clinch their highest-ranked win (17-10) of the weekend. The scorelines were much more consistent against Stanford, with Northwestern winning 5-4 in Sabre and Foil, as well as 6-3 in Epee, to defeat the Cardinal 16-11.
Across Sunday’s two ranked matches, Shearer (Sabre) and Karina Vasile (Foil) were standouts, both combining for five bout wins against the Buckeyes and Cardinal. Stanford was another repeat opponent for Northwestern, which clinched a victory against the Cardinal in the final bout (14-13) when they last competed in November 2025 at the Western Invitational.
“They clearly were circling us this weekend, so beating them beven by a better score than we did at Westerns just is an indication of the team’s sharpness and readiness and competitive ability,” Moss said of beating Stanford.
The rest of the competition was smooth sailing for the Wildcats, who beat Farleigh Dickinson 23-4 before wrapping up the competition with a 24-3 victory over Cleveland State.
Before the Farleigh Dickinson match, Northwestern honored its senior class, which included Allison Lee, Anna Damratoski, Annie Wang, Juliana Hung, Megumi Oishi, Karen Wang and Samantha Serban. Moss credits this group for elevating Northwestern to a national contender.
“Everyone, in terms of work ethic, camaraderie, support, team culture, like top to bottom, just set a new standard for the program,” Moss said.
Next up, Northwestern will head to the CCFC Championships in Granville, Ohio, from Feb. 21 to 22. The competition serves as a conference championship and a qualifier for the NCAA Midwest Regionals in March. NU finished second in the CCFC last season, but won the title in the 2023-24 season.
Category: General Sports
