Fencing: Incoming first-years bring experience and familiarity to Evanston

Five fencers for foes to fear.

Northwestern fencing is coming off its best season in years. The team finished in fifth among women’s programs at the NCAA Championships. In doing so, the ‘Cats also qualified six fencers for the NCAAs, the maximum number for a program. With four of the six being first-years and all but graduate student Amanda Pirkowski returning this season, the future is bright for head coach Zach Moss and company.

With the fencing circuit containing so many North American Cups and international events, there are several examples of the new first-years already going head-to-head with current Northwestern fencers. In some cases, they even took down Wildcats while still in high school. This unique calendar allows fencing to have a new level of comparison among incoming athletes. Without further ado, it’s time to take a closer look at each weapon class.

The Epées

With Pirkowski’s departure, Karen Wang, a rising senior, is the only other NCAA-qualified epée on Northwestern’s roster. This leaves an opening for a breakout star in this weapon. So, who’s up next?

Natasha Lee

What better way to replace one Team USA member than with another? Lee has competed for Team USA in international competitions across the world and was a first-team All-America selection. Just days ago, Lee finished 17th at Summer Nationals after an undefeated run in pool play, stacking eight consecutive wins until a loss to Maria Casale prematurely ended Lee’s run.

Fans can expect big things out of Lee, She earned multiple top 16 placements in Division I competitions last season, with her losses mostly coming against fencers with collegiate experience like Harvard first-year and 2024 Junior Epee gold medalist Sarah Gu. Lee could very well be fencing in those big matchups against teams like Harvard and Notre Dame next season as Northwestern looks to take a major step forward.

Angelica Xiong

Xiong rounds out Moss’s newest group of Epée, and she brings nearly 400 past victories to Evanston. Another All-American, Xiong’s record has some immense highs. During Pirkowski’s silver medal NAC run, Xiong was just behind her in 11th after being knocked out by Kasia Nixon, the eventual champion. While Xiong has thrived in smaller events, largely those with under 50 fencers, her success at these competitions shows that she can be a winner. Xiong has a gold medal in each of the past three seasons, with six of them across various events in 2023-2024.

There is certainly a step up at the college level with consistent meets against these top-level fencers. But there is no room for doubt when it comes to a consistent state champion like Xiong who has national awards and recognition to her name.

The Sabres

There was a strong class of first-year sabres last season, complete with Natalie Shearer finishing as an honorable mention All-American, Alex Chen qualifying for NCAAs and Nisha Hild’s NAC victory. The biggest problem for the group was the strong presence of other first-years, especially in the case of Notre Dame.

Sophia Schiminovich

Schiminovich is coming to Evanston after many strong performances as an Oregon high schooler. She finished 10th at the Junior Olympics, right between Natalie Shearer at eight and Nisha Hild at 13. While there are some inconsistencies at North American Cups, those performances are not a source of any major concern due to the large, high-variance single elimination brackets in these fields. Schiminovich consistently shines at the biggest events of the year, notably through years’ worth of Junior Olympics and Summer Nationals, including a third place finish at the latter back in 2023.

Perhaps the most interesting as well is Schiminovich’s wide experience with one of NU’s biggest foes this season. NCAA Sabre Champion Magda Skarbonkiewicz had Northwestern’s number all season when fencing for Notre Dame. Schiminovich trained for the same club, the Oregon Fencing Alliance, and under a coach very familiar to Skarbonkiewicz — her father Adam. If the ‘Cats are looking to topple a challenging opponent, perhaps a former teammate could give them the edge.

Elaine Lu

Another new first-year that matches a similar profile. Top notch fencer from a strong club, in her case, Boston Fencing Club, who consistently performs at the biggest events of the year. These include a seventh-place finish at last summer’s Nationals. Lu also has some notably high peak performances, having nearly taken down a North American Cup before falling in second place.

Lu also has experience with other current Northwestern fencers from her years on the fencing circuit. Lu has major wins against Alex Chen and Natalie Shearer at events in Boston and Phoenix respectively, even as she entered both fights as a massive underdog according to Fencing Tracker’s strength number. Though Lu was underestimated in many of these matchups, she is certainly a top contender who has defeated Northwestern’s best. And after such successful seasons from Chen and Shearer, Lu may be destined for a similar fate as a Wildcat.

The Lone Foil

In the offseason, the foiling ‘Cats have arguably been the most impressive. Olympian Daphne Chan Nok Sze took the team bronze with Team Hong Kong at the Senior Asian Fencing Championships. With her and Yukari Takamizawa holding down the fort last season, it may be hard for the one new foilist to break out to a major national performance, but a bit of healthy competition never hurt anyone.

Bridgette Ouyang

Ouyang is the lone first-year foil joining the Wildcats, providing another top-notch performer at Junior Olympics and Summer Nationals. Since many of Northwestern’s current top performers in this weapon class competed primarily on the international circuit, there is little comparison or previous competition between them and Ouyang. This makes it unclear to what extent Ouyang will compete in major matchups. With the Wildcats sending three fencers from each weapon class into each matchup, it’s likely that Ouyang could compete against top performers. Chan Nok Sze and Takamizawa will still likely be the top two performers for the ‘Cats and fencers like Samantha Serban are still veterans to be aware of. Brianna Ho also went 26-6 in her first-year with the ‘Cats.

Ouyang is a very strong competitor who will likely be an important piece for the Wildcats during the season despite a crowded Northwestern depth chart. Fans should still expect to see Ouyang competing on the NAC circuit and likely competing in several meets as well as the Wildcats look ahead to another season of bouts.