WALTHAM, MA – The Vassar men's fencing team returned to competition for the first time in 2022, facing five teams in the Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) Multimeet #2 hosted at Brandeis University. Despite going 1-4 on the day, the Brewers had strong individual success.

The Brewers opened the day with a dominating 23-4 victory over Dartmouth in the first round. Foil swept the Big Green fencers 9-0, while both the Vassar saber and epee squads fielded 7-2 results. Sophomores Benjamin Lee (Tacoma, WA) and Frank Ryan (Winnetka, IL) topped the foil team with 3-0 marks, while sophomore Liam Inchoco (Fairfield, CT) posted a 2-0 record. Senior Caleb Klein (Chappaqua, NY) subbed in and won his bout as well.

At saber, junior Conor Travaglione (East Northport, NY), sophomore Wolff Gilligan (New York, NY), and first-year Justin Lederer (Short Hills, NJ) combined to go 7-2. Both Gilligan and Travaglione swept their opponents 3-0, while Lederer added one victory. The epee squad went 7-2 over Dartmouth behind 3-0 performances from junior Jack Plumer (Bel Air, MD) and first-year Eli Weise (Seattle, WA). Senior Nishay Bhatnagar (Livingston, NJ) went 1-1.

Vassar fell 8-19 to Boston College in the second round, with saber losing 2-7 and epee dropping the 1-8 decision. Foil edged the Golden Eagles 5-4, with Lee winning 3-0 for six straight victories. Klein and Ryan each had a win too. Travaglione provided a 2-1 round, while Alexander Moyse (Montclair, NJ) provided the sole epee win.

The Brewers lessened the gap against Brown but still fell 11-16. The epee squad bounced back with a 6-3 win over the Bears, and Bhatnagar posted a 3-0 record. Weise also had a solid bout, going 2-1. Lee saw his winning streak snapped but still managed to go 2-1 at foil, while Travaglione was 2-1 at the saber.

Host Brandeis downed Vassar 21-6 in the fourth round. The Brewers fell 1-8 in saber and epee and were close at foil at 4-5. Lee recorded his third 3-0 sweep of the day, while first-year Alex Yim (Orlando, FL) picked up his first victory of the meet.

MIT claimed the final round victory over the Brewers, winning 21-6. Foil and epee both dropped 3-6 decisions, while saber was swept by the Engineers. Lee, Klein, and Ryan had a win at foil, while Weise, Moyse, and Bhatnagar had wins at epee as well.

Vassar travels to Wellesley next on Sat. Feb. 5 for the NFC Multimeet No. 3.