Eastern Wayne Today

The Wayne State University men's and women's fencing teams are set to compete in the Northwestern Duals in Evanston, Illinois, on February 3 and 4. Head coach Andy Tulleners expressed anticipation for the event, stating, "This will be the toughest competition we have had this season. The team is looking forward to it and ready for it."

Coach Tulleners recently celebrated his 250th career win as a collegiate fencing head coach during last weekend's DeCicco Duals at Notre Dame. His milestone victory came in a closely contested match against Cleveland State.

Seventeen programs will participate in the Northwestern Duals, including notable teams such as Northwestern, Temple, UC San Diego, Detroit Mercy, Boston College, Air Force, Cleveland State, Denison, Incarnate Word, Fairleigh Dickinson, Cornell, Penn State, Wayne State itself, Ohio State, Stanford, Lawrence and Notre Dame.

The United States Fencing Coaches Association released its Mid-Season Coaches Poll on January 31. On the men's side of the rankings are Notre Dame with 125 points leading followed by Columbia with 117 points. For the women’s rankings Columbia leads with 165 points while Notre Dame follows with 158 points.

Wayne State's recent performance at Notre Dame's DeCicco Duals saw both squads finishing strong. The men's team ended with a record of 5-1 while the women's team finished at 4-3. Eyad Marouf led the men’s team with an impressive record of 16-1 in sabre. For the women’s squad Reka Galfalvy achieved a standout performance in epee with a record of 17-2.

The schedule for this weekend's event includes several matches for both teams across Saturday and Sunday against various opponents such as UC San Diego and Ohio State among others.