Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
NCAA Championship
Yergler Wins Silver Medal in Epee at NCAA Finals
March 25, 2011 | Men's Fencing, Women's Fencing
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Princeton sophomore Jonathan Yergler captured the silver medal in epee at the NCAA finals Friday as the Princeton men's fencing team wrapped competition.
Yergler's finish is the best for a Princeton fencer since senior Graham Wicas won a silver medal in epee in 2009.
The Floridian sophomore picked up 16 of a possible 23 round-robin wins, tying him with Marat Israelian of St. John's for the most among epeeists and gaining him a berth in the direct elimination competition that decides the individual medalists. Israelian, however, won the tiebreaker to gain the top seed by having a +27 touch differential over his 23 bouts, just two touches in front of Yergler.
With the second seed, Yergler defeated Marco Caneveri of Ohio State in the semifinal 15-9 to set up a gold medal bout with defending champion Israelian, who got past Peter Cohen of Yale 15-4.
Yergler won the round-robin bout against Israelian 5-4, but Israelian won the gold medal bout 15-10 to capture the title.
As a team, Princeton stands in sixth place with the women's competition to come Saturday and Sunday. Notre Dame is in the driver's seat for its first NCAA title since 2005, leading with 90 victories, ahead of two-time defending champion Penn State's 84 and 71 from third-place St. John's. Princeton is part of a tight pack of teams between fourth and sixth, as Harvard and Ohio State are tied with 65 wins and Princeton has 63. So far, fencers from 24 schools have picked up a win.
Yergler wasn't the only Tiger turning in an impressive individual performance, as junior foilist Alexander Mills joined him in receiving All-America honors. Both have finished in the top 12, which brings with it the All-America honor, in each year they have been at Princeton, with Mills getting the honor for a third time and Yergler for a second time. Mills placed eighth of 24 foil fencers, winning 13 bouts.
Saberist John Stogin placed 13th of 24 in his weapon with 11 victories, while fellow saberist Philip Dershwitz placed 18th. Foilist Robert Malcolm placed 22nd with seven wins, while epeeist Mike Elfassy placed 19th with nine victories.
The first four of seven rounds of women's round-robin competition will get underway Saturday at 10 a.m. and continue Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Princeton's women are ranked No. 2 in the nation in the latest USFCA poll behind Notre Dame.