Fencing returned to the strip in the Brian Palestis Memorial Meet on Sunday at Wagner College. The Lions swept the meet with a 6-0 combined record from the men’s and women’s squads.

With both teams earning 3-0 records and winning more than double the number of bouts the opposing team won in each matchup, the Lions look to be in good shape ahead of the Ivy League championship this weekend.

Columbia took on Vassar College in the first round. The men’s team dominated the Brewers, with foil winning all nine bouts of its match and never conceding more than 2 points each from its opponents. Men’s épée fought a tough match against Vassar, tying early with the Brewers before regaining their initial lead with senior Ethan Kushernik’s crucial win in the fifth bout of the match.

From there, the Light Blue maintained its lead, winning the match with a final score of 6-3. The men’s sabre squad produced a similarly impressive result, only dropping one bout during the entire match and winning with an impressive final score of 8-1. Overall, the men’s team won its first-round matchup against Vassar with a total score of 23-4.

Women’s fencing also faced off against Vassar in the first round. Like the men’s team, women’s foil dominated in its opening matchup, winning all nine bouts and not receiving more than 1 point from its opponents per bout. The women’s sabre team pulled off a similar result, winning all nine of its bouts against the Brewers and only receiving at most 4 points in any bout of the match.

Women’s épée earned an early lead against Vassar, taking the first two bouts of the match; however, the team dropped two close bouts, one being a nail-biting 5-4 contest early in the match. Despite this, the Lions maintained their lead and finished victorious with a final score of 7-2. Overall,the women’s team ended with a 25-2 win against Vassar.

In their second matchup of the meet against St. John’s University, both Columbia squads won once again with dominant performances.

The men’s squad stumbled early on with a 4-5 loss for the sabre team. However, the épée squad made up for this lost ground with a strong 6-3 win, highlighted by an undefeated 3-0 run from junior épéeist Skyler Liverant. The foil squad firmly secured the win with an excellent 8-1 performance, courtesy of the twin sophomore foil fencers Ethan and Enoch Xiao, who both went undefeated. These performances secured the 18-9 win for the Light Blue.

The women’s squad performed slightly better with a 20-7 win despite a tough 3-6 loss for the épée squad during the bout. The foil team had a commanding 8-1 victory thanks to the 3-0 runs of first-year foil fencer Carolina Stutchbury and junior foil fencer Alanna Xue. The sabre squad, composed of senior Chloe Gouhin, junior Tamar Gordon, and sophomore Chloe Szeto, particularly stood out with an impeccable 9-0 win to help clinch the overall team victory.

Both teams then delivered commanding performances in their final matchup, securing dominant victories over Wagner.

The men’s team clinched a 21-6 victory despite early struggles from the épée squad, which fell 3-6. The sabre and foil teams, however, were unstoppable, shutting out their opponents to seal the decisive win.

On the women’s side, the Lions asserted their dominance with a 20-7 triumph. The sabre squad set the tone with a 7-2 victory, followed by an impressive 8-1 performance from the foil team, highlighted by shutout bouts from junior Evelyn Cheng and sophomore Rachael Kim. The épée team capped off the match with a tight 5-4 win, rounding out a commanding display by the Light Blue.

The Lions will return to the strip Saturday in Philadelphia at Penn for the Ivy League Round Robin championships.