A team from the University of Connecticut’s Fencing Club won first place in the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference championship against multiple varsity teams.
The competition was hosted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Schools were separated into men’s and women’s teams for each of the three types of fencing weapons: épée, saber and foil. UConn students Adin Jennings, Edward Russell and Matthew Pezzino made up the men’s épée team from UConn, who won their category.
Jennings, who is also the president of the Fencing Club, said that the tournament included very prestigious fencing programs with better funding and more practice.
“It’s a chance for us to fence some of the better schools in the region, which is really great for us,” he said.
The men’s épée team from UConn won first place in the competition over notable varsity teams such as MIT and Vassar College. Jennings explained that a club defeating varsity teams is uncommon due to the greater resources that varsity teams receive.
“Top three is almost always three varsity teams. Every year there’s maybe one or two club teams that might break into the top, but it’s pretty rare, and it’s even more rare that they take first place,” Jennings said.
The expectation when we show up to these tournaments is we’re the club team, we fence the varsity teams, and we expect to beat the club teams and we expect to lose to the varsity teams.
Fencing Club President Adin Jennings
He added that although they knew they were one of the better club teams, they were not expecting to come in first in their entire category.
“The expectation when we show up to these tournaments is we’re the club team, we fence the varsity teams, and we expect to beat the club teams and we expect to lose to the varsity teams,” Jennings said.
Jennings recalled his coach stopping him from removing his equipment after his matches were over because he would have to fence again to determine the first-place winner if MIT managed to win all of their other matches. He said that he was in disbelief, as he had not even realized they were in a position to come in first. MIT did not go on to win all of their matches, and UConn was declared the winner of the men’s épée category.
Pezzino, a fourth-semester journalism major, recalled in an emailed statement the advice that his former coach, Drew Page from Sword in the Scroll Fencing Academy, shared with him: “pointy end, other guy.”
“Drew was the first coach who cared about me and my improvement. That stupid piece of advice gets me through every tournament,” Pezzino wrote. “He said that to us at my last tournament with him before he passed away in the summer of 2022.”
Jennings said that an important part of the sport was striking a balance between believing you can win the match and not becoming overconfident. He also emphasized the importance of the team supporting one another during the competition and encouraging their teammates.
“There were some matchups where one of us wasn’t doing as well but the other two were able to pick up the slack, and so we really did make a good team out of it,” Jennings said.
The fencing club will compete in the Northeast Fencing Conference on March 16 and the Club Nationals, which includes club teams from across the country, on April 12 and 13.