No. 9 Owls' Fencing wins 28th Straight NIWFA Championship

Saturday, March 2

Madison, N.J.

All Day

Temple University

NIFWA Championships

Photo by: Brayden Snyder - Drew University

No. 9 Owls' Fencing wins 28th Straight NIWFA Championship

3.2.24 | Women's Fencing

2024 NIWFA Awards (PDF)

Calderaro and Novoseltseva earn individual championships

MADISON, N.J. - The No. 9 Temple fencing team once again opened the postseason with a bang, earning its 28th straight NIWFA Championship. The Owls earned weapons titles in foil and sabre, as well as graduate student Margherita Calderaro (epee) and junior Anna Novoseltseva (foil) winning individual weapons titles.

MEET HIGHLIGHTS

The Cherry and White won the Olympians Trophy to take the team title and beat out 15 teams for the championship, with No. 1 (DIII) Johns Hopkins taking second and No. 7 (DIII) Tufts taking third.
It's the first time in four seasons the Owls weren't able to secure teams weapons championships in all three facets of the sports. The Owls' sabre and foil squads earned their fifth straight weapons championships.

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS

Margherita Calderaro took home her third career NIWFA epee championship as she started off the individual portion winning over Brenna Behensky of Drew, 15-0. In the round of eight, the Rome, Italy native defeated Rebekah Gresham of William and Mary, 15-3. Calderaro continued her momentum by defeating Karen Bei of Tufts, 15-8. The Temple graduate student clinched the title in the finals Sarah Gresham of William and Mary, 15-6.
Junior Anna Novoseltseva earned her third straight individual foil title on Saturday with a 15-4 win against Shannon Chen of Tufts open elimination play. In the round of eight, Novoseltseva defeated teammate Natalie Adams-Kim, 15-8, followed up by a semifinal victory against Rosabel Cepero of Johns Hopkins by the score of 15-9. The native of Grand Rapids, Mich. native cruised to 15-3 in the championship round against Julianna Wu of Johns Hopkins.
In sabre, freshman Lauren Johnson started individual play as she defeated Rebecca Osbaldeston of Haverford, 15-1 and then knocked off her teammate, senior Alexandra Weinberg, 15-10 to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, Johnson took on Alexia Newell, winning 15-12, but lost in the finals against Newell's teammate, Mina Chioldi, in heartbreaking fashion, 15-14.
Johnson ended the day finishing in second place (sabre), while teammate Alexandra Weinberg finished in fifth place (sabre). Other notable finishes included Adams-Kim in eighth-place of the foil and epeeist Lindsey Minor finished in eighth.
Earlier in the day junior Arwen Gormley was named to the NIWFA All-Academic Team.
All-NIWFA includes: Lauren Johnson (First Team - sabre), Alex Weinberg (Second Team - sabre), Margherita Calderaro (First Team - epee), Lindsey Minor (Second Team - epee), Anna Novoseltseva (First Team - foil), Natalie Adams-Kim (Second Team - foil)