Men's Fencing

Team Information

The Queen's Fencing Program is designed for competitive and recreational fencing. Experienced and beginning fencers are welcome.

First-year Athletic Scholarships
Through the generosity of fencing alumni and with the help of the BEWS Fencing Endowment, Queen's Fencing offers two first-year athletic scholarships each year which shall be dispersed at the discretion of the Head Coach.

Facilities and Competitions
The salle for Queen’s Fencing is the gym in McArthur Hall, West Campus. We have an extensive armoury, change rooms and lockers, and a coaching office. Our salle is the venue for the Queen’s Invitational, held in October, which draws over 300 fencers. The Invitational is the first competition of the Ontario University Fencing season. Other OUA events are at the Royal Military College, Brock University, and Carleton University. Queen’s Fencing supports its fencers at other provincially and nationally sanctioned competitions as further preparation for the OUA championships.

Queen’s Fencing also provides instructors for Queen’s Athletics’ fencing programs for adults and children in the Kingston Community - More..

Head Coach
Hugh Munby, Ph.D. NCCP Level 3 (Foil), Learning Facilitator (Instruction Stream), and Professor Emeritus

Assistant Coaches
Martin Busse, Sabre NCCP Level 1 (Foil), Aide-moniteur trained (Sabre), Certified (P) referee E & S
Rod Carter, Epee
Jamie MacDonald, Sabre Aide-moniteur trained (Sabre)
Joanne Ko, Epee  Aide-moniteur trained (Epee)
Zach Williams, Foil
Armourer: Robert Rundle

Student Trainer: TBA

Contact Information
Hugh Munby, Ph.D
Head Coach, Fencing
c/o Department of Athletics and Recreation
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario
Canada, K7L 3N6
Phone: 613-533-6000 ext. 77426
munbyh@queensu.ca

OUA/CIS: OUA

Schedule/Results: Click here

Eligibility Certificate: PDF file

Fencing Team News

Fencing (M/F): Gaels Qualify 14 Athletes For OUA Finals
The Queen's Golden Gaels were able to advance more than half of their individual event athletes into the OUA Finals with a fine showing at the OUA East Qualifier in Ottawa on the weekend. Dimitry Balashov of Vancouver qualified in the men's Epee and was one of seven Gaels men to claim spots in the OUA Finals with Joanne Ko of Toronto in the women's Epee as one of the seven Queen's women to advance to the conference championships at RMC. The Gaels also had four of their event relay teams advance to the finals with the men's Epee, Sabre and Foil as well as the women's Epee booking themselves spots in the February 16th-17th championships.

Fencing Opens Season With Queen's Invitational

Kingston, Ont.  (October 22, 2007) - The Queen's Golden Gaels began the season with a strong showing at their own tournament.  The 31st Queen's Invitational saw over 280 athletes compete at the West Campus gymnasium on the weekend.  On the men's side the Gaels captured two medals with Dimitry Balashov taking gold in the Men's Epee and Christian Petrozza winning bronze in the Men's Foil.  For the women three athletes had top ten performances with Joanne Ko seventh in the Women's Foil, rookie Laura Bartha seventh in the Women's Epee and Stacey McDonald achieving a personal best with a tenth place showing in the Women's Sabre.  The Gaels have this weekend off and then are entered in the RMC Invitational November 3rd and 4th.

Fencer Ryan Nelson Wins Major Trophies at the OUA Finals
Queen’s Fencers participated in the OUA finals, hosted by McMaster, on February 17 and 18.

Women’s Fencing, Saturday, opened with individual events. In women’s epee, Joanne Ko captured the bronze medal, and team-mate Sarah Babineau in her second year of fencing, took sixth place. In women’s foil, Mary-Clair Yelovich took sixth place, and Ashley Chin came in sixteenth. Women’s sabrists Stacey McDonald and Emily Maw experienced early difficulties and placed ninth and sixteenth respectively. The women faced stiff competition in the team event. Women’s Epee (Joanne Ko, Anne Keery, Sarah Babineau, and rookie Sydney Houston-Goudge) were just edged into fourth place by Western; and Women’s Foil (Ashley Chin, Beryl Pong, Nicole See-too, and Mary-Clair Yelovich) fell behind the pace to capture sixth place. Overall Queen’s Women’s Fencers placed sixth in the race to the league banner.

Men’s Fencers took up arms on Saturday, and trophies were taken. In individual men’s foil, Ryan Nelson took the gold medal and the Charles Walters trophy after a nail-biting 15-14 final; and foilist Andrew Di Lullo placed eleventh. Men’s sabrist Greg Nonato encountered unexpected strength from the west and just missed the top eight by one close 5-4 bout. In the team relay event, Men’s Foil (Ryan Nelson, Andrew Di Lullo, Matthew Dylag, and rookie Rob Murphy) captured the bronze medal. Men’s Epee (Andy Eggleton, Anton Oentoro, Adam Zelmer, and rookie Steve Betts) captured fourth spot. And Men’s Sabre (Greg Nonato, Jeff Colden, rookie Scott Bowman, and Jamie Macdonald) took fifth place. Overall, the Men’s Fencers were ranked fifth in the province.

Men’s foilist, Ryan Nelson’s performance throughout Sunday’s competition was noted by a committee of coaches and officials. As a consequence, he was awarded the prestigious George Tully Award for the male fencer “most proficient in skill, style, and sportsmanship.” A singular achievement. Congratulations Ryan!

Queen’s Fencing at the Eastern OUA Qualifiers
Kingston, ON (February 3, 2007) - On Saturday, February 3, Queen’s women’s fencing teams fought in both the individual and team relay events of the OUA Eastern Qualifiers. Qualifying for the finals in individual events were Joanne Ko and Sarah Babineau in women’s epee, Mary-Clair Yelovich and Ashley Chin in women’s foil, and Emily Maw and Stacey McDonald in women’s sabre. The women’s teams faced fierce opposition and two of them qualified for the finals: Women’s Epee (Joanne Ko, Anne Keery, Sarah Babineau, and rookie Sydney Houston-Goudge) took third place, and Women’s Foil (Ashley Chin, Nicole See-too, Mary-Clair Yelovich, and Beryl Pong) came second in the East.

Men’s fencing took up weapons on Sunday, with the men’s foilists showing particular strength. Qualifying for the finals in individual events were Ryan Nelson and Andrew Di Lullo (men’s foil), and Greg Nonato (men’s sabre). All three teams qualified in the team relay event, Men’s Foil (Ryan Nelson, Andrew Di Lullo, Matthew Dylag, and rookie Rob Murphy) qualified with a first place finish, beating RMC by one hit. Men’s sabre (Greg Nonato, Jeff Colden, rookie Scott Bowman, and Jamie Macdonald) took third place after a narrow defeat at the hands of RMC, and Men’s Epee (Andy Eggleton, Anton Oentoro, Adam Zelmer, and rookie Steve Betts) also took third, again losing to RMC.

Fencing finals are hosted by McMaster University on February 17 and 18. Queen’s fencers look forward to improving their standing and to fencing against strong teams in the West.

Improvement Seen From Fencing At Carleton Invitational
Ottawa, ON (January 15, 2007) - Queen’s Fencing participated in the Carleton Invitational, a team relay event that drew teams from Ontario and Québec. Overall, teams in each weapon improved their standings since the previous event at RMC in November, with Women’s Sabre showing exceptional fast and accurate form. The Women’s Foil A team just missed the semifinals to place 5th, with the Women’s Foil B team just behind in 9th place. Men’s Foil A followed with a strong 8th place. Women’s Epee A were without their captain Joanne Ko (ranked 8th in Canada) but managed a respectable 10th place. Women’s Epee B placed 15th. Men’s Epee A reached the direct eliminations only to be beaten by the energetic Queen’s B team finishing 19th and 15th respectively. Men’s Sabre A turned in their best performance, losing 44-45 to a U of T alumni team in a heart-stopping quarter-finals match that gave them a 5th place finish. Men’s Sabre B team fought to 15th. Women’s Sabre A were invincible throughout the day until they met the Ontario team for the Canada Winter Games in the semi-finals. But justice was served, as Queen’s Women’s Sabre handily beat the U of T A team to capture the bronze medal. Women’s Sabre B turned in their season’s best, finishing 11th. Queen’s Fencing now moves into its final phases of training for the OUA league’s Eastern Qualifiers, February 3 and 4 in the Bews gym.

Men's & Women's Fencing at Brock University
St. Catharines, On (November 11-12, 2006) - Men’s Foil led Queen’s Fencing at the 2006 Brock Invitational by seizing two medals: Ryan Nelson successfully defended his title winning the gold with a flawless performance through the direct eliminations, and team-mate Andrew Di Lullo captured the bronze (a personal best) in a field of 71 fencers. “Personal Best” was the theme of the weekend for other Queen’s fencers. Emily Maw placed 8th in women’s sabre with Stacey McDonald in 12th spot in a field of 46. In men’s sabre, Greg Nonato also placed 12th, Jeff Colden 17th, and rookie Scott Bowman a remarkably strong 21stin a field of 51. In women’s foil, Nicole See-too made 13th spot and Mary Clair Yelovich made 16th in a field of 58 fencers. For men’s epee, Andy Eggleton fenced to a 26th place and rookie Steve Betts performed well in a large field of 78 fencers. Sarah Babineau achieved her goal of reaching the second round of direct eliminations after the pools in Women’s Epee.

Queen's Fencing at the RMC Invitational
Kingston, On (November 4-5, 2006) - Queen's Fencing participated in the RMC Invitational, which drew 165 teams from Canada, the US, and the UK. Queen's Men's Foil team (Ryan Nelson, Andrew Di Lullo, Matthew Dylag, and rookie Don Lougheed) fought their way to 5th place, just losing the opportunity to reach the medal round by 6 points in a tough match with their RMC rivals. Queen's Women's foilists (Beryl Pong, Nicole See-too, and Ashley Chin) fell just short of reaching the top 8, as did the Queen's Women's sabre team of Emily Maw (winning 7 of her 9 bouts), Morgan Merchand, Daniella Ortega, and rookie Emma Arenson. Despite solid performances by Women's Epeeists Joanne Ko, Sarah Babineau, and rookie Sydney Houston-Goudge, they were overpowered by Escrime Mont Royal and placed 14th. The two remaining men's teams found themselves facing stiff opposition. Men's Epee (Andy Eggleton, Anton Oentoro, with rookies Alex Parker and Stuart Mcfie placed 22nd following a difficult match against the top-ranked Toronto Fencing Club. Men's Sabrists (Greg Nonato, Jeff Colden, Jamie MacDonald, and rookie Scott Bowman) managed an exciting 45-42 win over Brock, but suffered a 40-45 loss to the Westpoint Military Academy to close their day in 20th place.

Queen's Fencers are at Brock, November 11 and 12.

Queen's Invitational Fencing Tournament Summary, 2006
Kingston, Ont (Oct 14-15, 2006) - Queen's fencers hosted over 300 athletes at the 30th Queen's Invitational Fencing tournament in the West Campus salle this weekend. Queen's entered a record 49 fencers, with strong performances returned by some senior fencers: Nicole See-too placed 5th in women's foil, and Ryan Nelson placed 10th in men's sabre and 7th in men's foil. Particularly notable were results from rookie and second-year fencers. Second-year fencers Ashley Chin (16th in women's foil), Alicia Finan (23rd in women's foil), Morgan Merchand (15th in women's sabre), and Stacy Macdonald (22th in women's sabre) significantly improved their standings over last year, as did women epeeists Anne Keery (26th ) and Sarah Babineau (28th ). Showing particular promise among the rookies were Emma Arenson (20th in women's sabre), Sydney Houston-Goudge (21st in women's epee), Robert Murphy (36th in men's foil), and Stephen Betts (38th in men's epee). Gaels Fencers compete next at the RMC team invitational, November 4 and 5.

Photos by Michael Parkinson...

National Ranked Fencers To Compete in the 30th Annual Queen's Invitational Fencing Tournament
Kingston, Ont (October 11, 2006) - The Queen's Invitational Fencing Tournament will be held this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, October 14-15th in the Education Gym, Duncan McArthur Hall on West Campus. This nationally sanctioned event will attract over 280 fencers from across Ontario and Quebec. This is the first year that the tournament will be recognized by the Canadian Fencing Federation as a national standing points gathering event. This year's edition of the Invitational also marks the 30th year that this event has been held at Queen's. All six weapons will be fenced over the two day tournament, which begins at 9.00 am each day.

Gaels Fencer Joanne Ko Invited to High Performance National Training Camp
KINGSTON, ON (August, 25, 2006) - Joanne Ko of Toronto, a third year member of the Queen's Women's Fencing Team, has been invited by the Canadian Fencing Federation to participate in the 2006-2007 season's first High Performance Training Camp at the beginning of September. Following a successful 2005-06 season, culminating in a 7th place at the Canadian Nationals Championship, Ko enjoys an overall ranking in Women's Epee of 10th in Canada.

In the OUA finals held at Queen's in February 2006, Joanne Ko took the gold medal in Women's Epee, winning the Allan English trophy - the sixth consecutive year that the trophy has been won by a Queen's fencer.

Season Summary
Queen’s Fencing lost a large number of experienced fencers to graduation in Spring 2005 but attracted several new athletes in September. Over the year, the men’s and women’s squads improved their performance and, by season’s end, they were ranked in the middle of their respective leagues. Triumphs in the regular competitive season for the men included Ryan Nelson’s (Men’s Foil Captain) bronze at the Queen’s tournament and his gold at the Brock tournament at which Men’s Team Captain Zach Williams (Men’s Foil) took the bronze. The strength of the men’s squad was evident in its fourth place finish at the RMC team relay tournament in November and in its brilliant gold medal finish at the Carleton team relay tournament in January. The women’s squad showed increasing skill as they moved up the rankings during the regular season.

The year’s growth was reflected in the results of the OUA championship held at the Queen’s West Campus. Not surprisingly, the Men’s Foil squad won medals. In the individual Men’s Foil, Ryan Nelson won the silver, and Zach Williams the bronze, with Freddie Zhang in 10th place and Andrew Di Lullo in 12th. In the team relay event, these four fencers showed their tenacity and skill by fighting to a silver medal. In Men’s Sabre, Greg Nonato (Men’s Sabre Captain) placed 10th and Ron Chen placed 16th, contributing to the overall 4th place for Queen’s Men in the rankings for the league’s championship banner, with OUA All Star certificates awarded to Ryan Nelson and Zach Williams.

At the OUA championship, Joanne Ko (Women’s Epee Captain) led the women’s squad with a spectacular first place finish in her individual event, and won the Dr. Al English Women’s Epee trophy—the fifth consecutive year the cup has been won by a Queen’s fencer. In the same event, rookie Julia Radic (Women’s Epee) placed 14th. When joined by rookies Theresa Smith and Genna Kusch, the Women’s Epee squad managed a 5th place in the team relay event. In other individual events, Julia Hong (Women’s Foil Captain) placed 8th. In Women’s Sabre, Emily Maw (Women’s Team Captain) placed 11th, and Tonya Chu (Women’s Sabre Captain) placed 12th. With Joanna Chen and Dana Fedderson, Queen’s Women’s Sabre team came 4th in the team relay event. At the end of the day, Queen’s Women fencers placed 5th in the overall rankings for the championship. Joanne Ko was named an OUA All Star for her performance in individual epee.

Graduations this spring will again affect our strength in the Fencing Salle. We will miss the presence of Julia Hong (Women’s Foil Captain), Ron Chen (Men’s Sabre), Mike Deutschmann (Men’s Epee), Andrew Di Lullo, Dana Fedderson (Women’s Sabre), and Theresa Smith (Women’s Epee). Queen’s Fencing thanks them for their significant contributions.

“The hit is swift, the impression endures.”

2005-06 OUA Fencing Championship - Day One Recap
KINGSTON, Ont. (18 Feb. 2006) – Queen’s University hosted the 2006 OUA Men’s Fencing Championships at the Education Gym, Duncan McCarthur Hall. Toronto won the overall men’s title and the Charles Walters Trophy for the second consecutive year.

In Men’s Individual Epee, the title and Robert Dejarlais Trophy was won by national ranked Darcy Gates from the University of Toronto. Second place was secured by Hannes Leisch from Brock with Brendan Kilburn from RMC-CMR rounding off third place. All three were recognized as OUA All-Stars for their efforts.

In Men’s Individual Foil, the title and the Charles Walter Trophy was won by David Collins, a former national ranked junior fencer, from the University of Western. The silver medal was garnered by Ryan Nelson of Queen’s University while the bronze medal was won by Nelson’s team mate Zach Williams. The three medallists were recognized as OUA All-Stars.

The men’s Individual Sabre title and the Carl Schwende Trophy winner was national ranked Sandeep Kembhavi from the University of Toronto. Rounding out second place was John Im from RMC-CMR while third place was taken by Horia Puscas of Ryerson. All three medallists were named as OUA All-Stars for their efforts today.

In Team Epee, RMC-CMR went unbeaten to claim the team epee title. Western took second place while Toronto placed 3rd out of a field of six schools.

In Team Foil, Western went unbeaten to claim the foil team title. Queen’s placed second and Ryerson placed third out of six schools. Alex Prymack from RMC-CMR was recognized as an OUA All-Star for his performance in the team event.

In Team Sabre, Western went unbeaten to claim the sabre team title. Carleton took second place while Toronto placed third in a field of six schools. Justin Connoll from Carleton was recognized as an OUA All-Star in the team sabre event.

The George Tulley Trophy for Skill, Style and Sportsmanship was won by Toronto sabre fencer Sandeep Kembhavi.

The tournament continues tomorrow with the women's championship.

Full Results...(pdf file)

Men's Fencing
KINGSTON Ont. (4 Feb. 2006) - In OUA Championship qualifying action Zach Williams, Ryan Nelson, Andrew Di Lullo and Freddie Zhang, all from men's foil qualified for the OUA Individual Championship, while Greg Nonato and Ron Chen qualified for individual sabre. Both the men's foil team and sabre also qualified for the OUA Team Championship. The men's foil team went undefeated and is ranked number one in the East going into the finals. Zach Williams will go to the finals ranked number one in the East while Ryan Nelson and Andrew Di Lullo placed second and third respectively.

The OUA Sectional continues today at RMC with the women's events.

The OUA Fencing Championships will be hosted by Queen's University on February 18th (men) and February 19th (women).

Queen's Fencers Win Gold at Carleton
OTTAWA, Ont. (21-22 Jan. 2006) - Golden Gaels fencers returned from the Carleton University Invitational with gold medals won by the Men's Foil team of Zach Williams, Ryan Nelson, and Andrew Di Lullo. At the 22-hour team-relay tournament, Queen's fencers performed significantly better than they did at their previous tournament--Brock in November. Notable successes were a fifth place in Women's Foil (Julia Hong, Nicole See-too, Mary-Clair Yelovich), a fifth place in Women's Sabre ( Tonya Chu, Emily Maw, Dana Fedderson), and a sixth place in Women's Epee (Joanne Ko, Julia Radic, Sarah Babineau).

Queen's Fencing Wins Medals at Brock
St. Catharines, Ont (12-13, 2005) - At the Brock Invitational, Queen's Men's Foil dominated with Ryan Nelson winning the Gold Medal and Zach Williams (Men's Captain) winning the Bronze. In Women's Epee, Joanne Ko was 6th in a strong field of 43. In Women's Foil, Nicole See-Too was 12th, with rookie Ashley Chin in 16th place in a field of 53.

Greg Nonato led the Men's Sabre squad with a 17th place, with Women Sabre performing strongly: Dana Fedderson was 9th, and Emily Maw (Women's Captain) was 11th. Andy Eggleton led the Men's Epee squad with a hard fought 11th place in a field of 90 competitors.

Queen’s Fencing at the RMC Invitational
On Saturday and Sunday, Queen’s Fencing participated in the RMC Invitational, reputedly the largest team relay competition in North America, drawing over 170 teams.Men’s foilists, Zach Williams, Andrew Di Lullo, and Freddie Zhang placed 4th in a field of 39, and Women’s Epee captain Joanne Ko led rookies Genna Kusch and Theresa Smith to an 8th place finish in a field of 27. Men’s Sabre (Greg Nonato, Jeff Colden, with rookie Ender Robbins) battled superior forces to secure 14th in a field of 28. Men’s Epee (Andy Eggleton, Mike Deutschmann, Anton Oentoro) made 17th out of 30. Women’s Sabre and Women’s Foil found themselves battling teams of nationally ranked fencers and so placed low going into the direct eliminations despite strong performances by Julia Hong, Nicole See-Too, Ashley Chin, Tonya Chu, Emily Maw and Joanne Chen.

Queen's Invitational

KINGSTON, Ont. (15-16 Oct. 2005) - Queen’s Fencing hosted the Queen’s Invitational Fencing competition, October 15 and 16, which attracted over 300 fencers. For Queen’s, Ryan Nelson won the bronze medal in Men’s Foil, and Nithum Thain was 6th out of 81 fencers in Men’s Epee. Other top ten performances were by Greg Nonato (Men’s Sabre), and Tony Chu (Women’s Sabre).