Western Wayne Today

Four members of the Wayne State University women's fencing team took part in the 2025 NCAA Midwest Regionals held at Denison University. Competing schools included Cleveland State, Denison, Detroit Mercy, Lawrence, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.

In the women's epee category, Vika Shevchenko from Troy, Michigan; Reka Galfalvy from Budapest, Hungary; and Salma Abdrabou from Cairo, Egypt represented Wayne State. Ranked seventh in the region was Galfalvy, followed by Abdrabou at 15th and Shevchenko at 24th.

During pool play, Abdrabou achieved a 5-1 record with a +4 touch difference (26-22), winning three bouts by a narrow 5-4 margin. Galfalvy also performed well with a 4-2 record and a +4 touch difference (24-20). However, Shevchenko faced challenges with an 0-6 record and -14 touch difference (16-30).

Both Abdrabou and Galfalvy progressed to the final round of pools among the top 12 competitors. This group included four fencers from Ohio State and three each from Notre Dame and Northwestern.

In this final pool round consisting of five-touch bouts against other qualifiers, Galfalvy recorded a strong performance with a 7-4 record and +9 touch differential (47-38). Conversely, Abdrabou had more difficulty finishing with a 3-8 record and -17 touch differential (32-49). Amongst competitors were Notre Dame's Kaylin Hsieh who led with a 10-1 record (+26 / 50-24), Eszter Muhari (10-1 / +22 /54–32), Felicity Sebastian (7–4/+11/48–37), as well as Ohio State’s Gloria Klughardt who placed third (7–4/+12/47–35). Ultimately Galfalvy secured fifth place while Abdrabou finished tenth out of twenty-one participants.

For women’s foil competition junior Ludovica Mancini represented Wayne State ranked tenth overall amongst sixteen contenders using round-robin format matches against fifteen others she managed achieving ten wins offsetting five losses earning sixth position concluding +19 tally(59−40). Notable top finishers comprised Notre Dame’s Ariadna Tucker Alarcon(13−2/+44/72−28) Josephina Conway(13−2/+33/71−38) Rebeca Candescu(10−5/+28/67−39); along with Ohio States’ Alina Lee securing third place slotting eleven victories against four losses(+25)(65:40); Northwestern Yukari Takamizawa finalized fifth notch accruing identical scoreline statistics shared Mancini result posturing(+28)/65:37/.

Wayne State did not have any qualifiers for women's sabre events this time around within NCAA Regional competition settings.

The forthcoming announcement regarding selections for upcoming national championship event occurring March eleventh evening anticipates showcasing highest-ranked twenty-four fencers distributed across each gender respective weapon classifications thereby establishing broader competitive field advancing ultimate determination medalist(s).