The men's fencing team kicked off its season on Saturday at the Fall Invitational (The Big One) at Smith College, posting respectable performances in the epee, foil and saber events.
The men's saber event was the most successful of the day for the Jumbos, as senior Tyler Mingalone and sophomore Eli Kohlenberg placed ninth and 10th, respectively, in a field of over 80 competitors.
Mingalone impressed in his first two bouts, winning 15−2 and 15−11. In a back−and−forth affair in his third−round matchup, Mingalone came up short against Brandeis' Jess Ochs−Willard, 15−13.
Kohlenberg achieved similar success, posting a shutout in his first−round match and taking a 15−9 second−round victory before falling to Sacred Heart's Sean Vilar, 15−12. Junior Derrick Kane also represented the Jumbos in the men's saber event, dropping his first−round contest and placing 63rd.
Amid a competitive field of 88 fighters in the men's epee, Tufts sophomore Greg Jones and senior Derek Reedy finished in 53rd and 54th place, respectively. Reedy fell 15−1 in his first match to MIT's Joey Rafidi, the eventual winner. Jones dropped a closely contested fight, 12−9, against Brown's Ben McDonald.
The men's foil brought mixed results as well for the Jumbos. Junior Mike Newman placed 19th, handily defeating Hampshire College's Scott Barish in his first contest before dropping a second−round tilt against Boston University's Cameron Gebhard, 15−12. Sophomores Randy Tesser, Evan Moulson and Taylor Malone also competed, but came up short in their first round matchups.
"We knew going into the tournament that it was going to be a very competitive field," senior Mark Eisenberg said. "We went up against some of the best teams in the region so overall I think we did Tufts proud and it was a good start to our year."
