Banner Season: Defending champ Blues lead after first day of men’s championship

St. Catharones, Ont. - Steel clashed during an action-packed day of individual competition on Day 1 of the 2020 OUA Men’s Fencing Championships at Brock University’s Ian D. Beddis Gymnasium on Feb. 1.

The Toronto Varsity Blues lead the team standings with 143 points after the first day of competition followed by the RMC Paladins (120) and the host Brock Badgers (71).

No. 1 seed Gareth Marks of Waterloo captured the Charles Walters Trophy as individual foil champion by defeating Ethan Haines of Ryerson by a score of 15-10 in the final. Malcolm McLeod of the Brock Badgers held on to defeat Toronto’s David Chen-Li 15-13 to win bronze for a second consecutive year.

In the individual men’s sabre final, No. 2 seed Garrett Whelan of the RMC Paladins outlasted No. 1 Alex Sun of Queen’s 15-12 to win the Schwende Trophy. Brock’s Aaron Olmstead claimed bronze by upending RMC’s Hugo Clements 15-8.

Ben Mucsi of Toronto won the Desjarlais Trophy in the individual epee final. Mucsi overcame an ankle injury to beat Brock’s Logan Wilford 15-12. In the bronze-medal match, Kim Byoungchan of RMC dispatched Kyle MacKinnon 12-11.

Individual Men’s Results (Day 1):

Foil Individual

Gold (Charles Walters Trophy): Gareth Marks, Waterloo

Silver: Ethan Haines, Ryerson

Bronze: Malcolm McLeod, Brock

Sabre Individual

Gold (Schwende Trophy): Garrett Whelan, RMC

Silver: Alex Sun, Queen’s

Bronze: Aaron Olmstead, Brock

Epee Individual

Gold (Desjarlais Trophy): Ben Musci, Toronto

Silver: Logan Wilford, Brock

Bronze: Kim Byoungchan, RMC

Overall Men’s Standings (Day 1)

Toronto, 143

RMC, 120

Brock, 71

Queen’s, 58

Western, 49

Ryerson, 37

Carleton, 36

Waterloo, 35

Guelph, 7

McMaster, 3

Trent, 0

York, 0