Men's Fencing Coaching Records & Program Facts
First Match: 1925 — exact date unknown (vs. Syracuse) Updated following 2024-25 season
All-Time Record: 842-381-2 (.688)
Head Coaching Register:
| W | L | T | Pct. | |
| F.G. McPherson (1925-26) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 |
| M. McPherson (1926-27) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.167 |
| Joe DeVos (1927-32) | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0.500 |
| H.H. Pirotte (1932-43) | 31 | 47 | 1 | 0.392 |
| Stan Sieja (1946-82) | 258 | 133 | 1 | 0.658 |
| Michel Sebastiani (1982-2006) | 213 | 89 | 0 | 0.705 |
| Zoltan Dudas (2006-present) | 360 | 110 | 0 | 0.766 |
Ivy League Championships (18): 1959, 1960, 1966, 1969, 1975, 1980, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2024, 2025
Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) Championships (4): 1969, 1979, 1998, 1999
NCAA Championship (2): 1964, 2013
Quick Facts:
• The 1964 team won the NCAA championship three years after the squad was the national runner-up. It was the last NCAA championship for a Princeton squad until the men’s lacrosse team brought home the 1992 title. Nine Princeton fencers have won NCAA individual titles: Chambless Johnston ’51 (1951, sabre); Henry Kolowrat ’54 (1954, epée); Kinmont Hoitsma ’56 (1956, epée); Bill Hicks ’64 (1964, foil), Harald Winkmann ’95 (1994 épée), Max Pekarev ’99 (1996, sabre), Soren Thompson '05 (épée), Jonathan Yergler '13 (épée) and Tristan Szapary '24 (épée). In addition, five Princetonians have received the Illinois Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the “Fencer of the Year” at the NCAA championships: Chambless Johnston ’51 (1951), Fleet Johnston ’56 (1956), Frank Anger ’61 (1961), Bill Hicks ’64 (1964) and John Nonna ’70 (1969).
• Beginning in 1990, the NCAA Championship was a combined men’s and women’s event. In 1993, the men’s epeé and foil squads combined with the women’s foil team to lead Princeton to a fifth-place finish, its best in 10 years. In 1994, the men’s epeé and sabre squads combined with the women’s foil to take fourth place at the championships, while the Tigers earned a national championship in epeé. Princeton won the combined NCAA Championship for the first time in 2013, finishing ahead of Notre Dame 182-175 in bout wins, and has finished in the top four in 11 of the last 13 times the program has competed in the NCAA Championships through 2025.
• Stan Sieja, who coached Princeton for 37 seasons, finished his career as the team’s most successful mentor. The fencers’ home venue in Jadwin Gym is named for the legendary coach.
• Both Henry Kolowrat ’54 and Lee Shelley ’78 won United States championships in epee.
• Two Princeton men's fencers won medals in the Olympics. Henry Breckinridge ’07 won a bronze in team foil in 1920, and Tracy Jaeckel ’28 earned a bronze in team epee in 1932.
• Other Princetonians have competed internationally. Mohamed Hamza '23 reached the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics competing for Egypt, Soren Thompson '05 reached the quarterfinals of the Athens Olympics, and Dan Nowosielski ’90 appeared in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona as a member of the Canadian fencing team, competing in both the foil and epee team events. Lee Shelley '78 represented the United States in team epee. Previous Olympians include John Nonna ’70, Kinmont Hoitsma ’56 and Henry Kolowrat ’54.
• Harald Winkmann ’95 became Princeton’s first national champion in fencing since 1964 when he won the 1994 epeé title with a 16-15 decison in sudden-death overtime.
• In 1994, Princeton won its first outright Ivy League title ever with a 4-0 record in league matches. The team repeated as the undefeated Ivy champion in 1995, 1997 and again in 2000. Princeton returned to undefeated Ivy status in 2010 and 2012.