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The Denison Men's Fencing Club provides all equipment and training in foil, epee, and sabre. No previous experience is required. The club welcomes fencers ranging in ability from beginners to competitive fencers. The club meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Rec Gym in Mitchell. The club is coached by Hector Florencia, a former Ohio State Fencer and a former member of the Mexican National Fencing Team. This club aims to provide new and experienced students with a place and opportunity to further their skills in the sport of fencing.Â
This club aims to provide new and experienced students with a place and opportunity to further their skills in the sport of fencing.
Contact Coach Hector for more information at florenciah@denison.eduÂ
News from 2017-18
Denison knocks off D-I foes at Cleveland State
Jan. 23, 2018
CLEVELAND- On Saturday, January 20th, the Denison fencing team traveled north to take part in the Cleveland State duals hosted by Cleveland State University. Denison took on five NCAA Division I opponents (Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State) as well as Division III Case Western Reserve.
Unphased by competing against much larger schools, the Big Red came away with three victories on Saturday. Denison defeated Detroit Mercy in a 28-25 nailbiter for their hardest-fought victory of the day. The Big Red also added decisive victories against Cleveland State and the University of Indiana's club team, 36-18 and 37-17, respectively. The Big Red finished the Duals with a record of 3-3, suffering defeats to Case Western Reserve, Michigan, and Michigan State.
Head Coach Peter Grandbois praised his club for their efforts on Saturday. "All in all, (it was) an extraordinarily successful day in a field of tough competition. There's no doubt the Midwest Conference is starting to take notice!"
The Big Red is back in action Saturday, February 10th, as they travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to compete in the Xavier Duals against Xavier, Bowling Green, Toledo, and McKendree University.
News from 2016-17
Nov. 16, 2016
Denison places in Midwest Fencing Conference
GRANVILLE, Ohio—Denison University's fencing team, the Swashbucklers, took a giant stride forward this year as they joined the Midwest Fencing Conference, a conference that includes club, Division I, Division II, and Division III varsity teams.
Competing in the first duals of the season, Denison beat all expectations, placing fourth out of an extremely difficult eight-team field. After beginning the day with a hard-fought 10 -17 loss to Oberlin, team captains George Malloch Brown, Daniel Timmins, and Will Ackermann rallied the Swashbucklers to successive victories over Bowling Green State (20-7), Xavier University (22-5), host school, Case Western Reserve (16-11), and finally Oakland University (24-3).
The winning streak ended with losses to the University of Michigan and Cleveland State—two of the best teams in the conference. Some of the highlights of the day include the epee squad's nail-biter over Case Western—a victory that was especially sweet because of the double threat, junior Robert Templehoff, in true team spirit, stepped onto the epee squad, after training in foil all season, scoring eight victories on the day.
Other highlights included freshmen Gavin Thomas and John Fernow winning five and four bouts respectively after only two months of experience. Also with only two months experience, junior Mattie Shepard proudly represented the Denison women's team with four victories on the day.
Coach and English Professor Peter Grandbois said, "Denison's team is off to a fantastic start. I really didn't expect us to win this many at our first meet. I'm really proud of these athletes."
News from 2015-16
Denison's double-threat, George Malloch Brown '19 qualified for the Junior Olympics in two events with a gold medal in epee and silver in the foil competition at the Columbus division qualifying event this past weekend of December 13. This remarkable achievement represents the first time a Denison fencer has qualified for this prestigious event where the nation's top under-20 fencers will compete.
In speaking about George, Coach Peter Grandbois commented "He is such a pleasure to have on the team. Not only is he immensely talented in both foil and epee (two of the three weapons in fencing), he is an ideal role model of sportsmanship. I'm looking forward to seeing how he measures up to the nation's best fencers at the Junior Olympics in Cleveland in February."
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At their first tournament of the season, the Denison Swashbucklers slashed through opponents at Ohio University last Saturday, November 15th. George Malloch Brown led the mostly-freshman squad by placing 2nd (out of 14) in the foil event and 2nd (out of 26) in epee. Charlie Lu led the Swashbucklers by placing 5th out of fifteen in sabre. Other fine performances were turned in by Peter Bulford who took 6th in sabre, Dennis Lu (11th  in foil), Logan Smith (24th in Epee), and Daniel Timmons and Edwin St. Hilaire, the two iron men of the Swashbucklers, who competed in all three events—Daniel placing 11th in Sabre, 12th in foil, and 20th in Epee, while  Edwin placed 7th in sabre, 14th in foil, and 23rd in epee. After the tournament, Coach Grandbois said, "If they do this well when most of them have only been fencing a few months, there is every reason to think that Denison will be a powerful fencing force in the future."
