March 4, 2006

CLEVELAND - By Wojciech Dudek,
WSU Sports Information Student Assistant

Wayne State University sophomore Justyna Konczalska (Innsbruck, Austria) won an individual title (women's epee) at Saturday's NCAA Midwest Regional Championship hosted by Cleveland State University. The competition was the last stepping-stone to qualify for the NCAA championships later this month. Teams competing at the NCAA Regional could qualify no more than two fencers from each weapon category (epee, foil and sabre) per gender.

The WSU fencing teams qualified seven (five automatic qualifiers and two at-large bids) fencers for this year's NCAA Championships, which will be held March 16-19 in Houston, Texas.

Konczalska won the NCAA Midwest Regional title defeating teammate Anna Garina, 15-13, in the title bout. Konczalska and Garina earned automatic qualification to NCAA National Championships. Sophomore Alyse Schneider placed 15th. She had a 1-4 record in pool play (-8 in touches/16-24).

Konczalska defeated Northwestern's Courtney DuBois, 15-12, in the quarterfinals, and Notre Dame's Madeleine Stephan, 15-10, in the semifinals before her win over Garina. Garina reached the finals with a 15-14 win over Notre Dame's Amy Orlando in the quarterfinals, and a 15-11 victory over Northwestern's Sharon Sullivan in the semifinals.

In sabre, WSU's lone competitor, sophomore Kasia Kuzniak, finished fourth to earn an automatic bid to nationals. Kuzniak went 6-0 in pool play (+20 in touches/30-10). After defeating Northwestern's Mai Van Vu, 15-10, in the quarterfinals, Kuzniak suffered back-to-back setbacks against Ohio State's Siobhan Byrne (15-14) and Notre Dame's Valerie Providenza (15-2).

In the foil, junior Lindsey Howard placed ninth to qualify for NCAA national Championships. Howard went 2-4 in pool play. After a 15-12 loss to Notre Dame's Emilie Prot in the first bout of round three, Howard defeated Ohio State's Marguerite Plekhanov, 15-6, and Cleveland State's Leigh Pendergrass, 15-11.