EVANSTON, Ill. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's fencing team fell in four matches on the second day of the Schiller Duals hosted by Northwestern University at Patten Gymnasium in Evanston, Ill.
The Lyons began their day with an 18-9 defeat at the hands of University of California San Diego, before dropping a 25-2 outing to The Ohio State University. Wheaton cracked double digits in a 17-10 loss to Cleveland State University, before closing the day with a 25-2 loss to Stanford University.
The Lyons won four sabre bouts and four bouts in foil against UC San Diego. Sophomores Phillip Nunnink (Kansas City, Mo.) and Grant Smith (Oakland, Calif.) each recorded a pair of wins in foil. Nunnink shut out junior Zander Vazquez (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and registered a 5-3 win over senior Lucas Zeng (Sunnyvale, Calif.). Smith also picked up wins over the same pair for Wheaton. Smith dropped three points to Vazquez and nipped Zeng, 5-4. First year Jun-Ho Chen (Middletown, N.Y.) scored the final point for the Lyons with a 5-3 decision over Kevin Kim (Gwangju-si, South Korea) in epee.
Sophomore Oliver Smink (Rochester, N.Y.) and Nunnink accounted for both points against Ohio State. Smink blanked James Schardine (Cincinnati, Ohio), 5-0, in sabre, while Nunnink nipped junior Albert Bagdány (Szigetszentmiklós, Hungary), 5-4 in foil.
The Lyons won six of nine foil matches against Cleveland State, led by Nunnink, who steamrolled the competition for a 3-0 record. Nunnink shut out junior Sal Sorrentino (Dyer, Ind.), 5-0, after a pair of 5-2 wins over sophomore Jack Miller (Charleston, S.C.) and first year Marcus Strugar (Beaverton, Ore.). First year Solomon Taylor (Evanston, Ill.) earned two wins over Sorrentino and Miller by the same 5-2 count. Smith surrendered just one point in a 5-1 win over Miller. Smink won two of three sabre matches and did not drop a point in both of his victories over senior Conner Bailey (Beecher, Ill.) and first year Jamison Horne (Overland Park, Kan.). First year Demani Howard (Clinton, Conn.) posted a 5-4 win over junior Simon Caisse (Cameron Park, Calif.). First year Nick Allario (Westerly, R.I.) picked up a win in epee to give Wheaton at least one win in every weapon. Allario outlasted first year Trent Chemezov (Leesburg, Va.), 5-4.
The Lyons closed out the weekend with three points against Stanford, scoring one point in all three weapons. Smink nipped first year Carson Bosita, 5-4 in sabre. Chen also went to the final point in epee to defeat first year Kushal Patel (Memphis, Tenn.). Smith cruised to a 5-0 result over sophomore Renzo Fukuda (San Francisco, Calif.).
Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, February 28 when it travels to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to compete in Northeast Fencing competition at Boston College.
