Banner Season: Saturday Gold Rush Keeps Varsity Blues Championship Streak Alive

Kingston, Ont. (via RMC Paladins) - Once again, the Toronto Varsity Blues are OUA men’s fencing champions. The Blues continued their dominant run over the weekend accumulating 358 points, 86 points clear of second place, Waterloo.

The Blues built up a big lead on Saturday, claiming all three gold medals in the individual events. Rubio Xiao (épée), Mike Howard (foil) and Matthew Teng (sabre) each earned gold. Also taking part in Toronto’s medal push was Saraphim Jarov, who won bronze in épée.

Also having a big day on the podium during individual play were the Waterloo Warriors. Showing their strength in sabre, the Warriors accounted for three of the four semi-finalists, with Charles Wang and Richard Yang bringing home silver and bronze, respectively. The Warriors would also claim bronze in foil thanks to the performance of Jiaan Li.

In team play, it was the Western Mustangs (épée), Ottawa Gee-Gees (foil) and Waterloo Warriors (sabre) all winning gold. Much like the day before, the Varsity Blues were once again in the mix as well. Reaching the podium in all three weapons, earned silver in both épée and foil, while securing bronze in sabre. Waterloo would be the only other school to reach the podium at least twice in team competition, as they took home bronze in foil.

The recipient of this year’s George Tully award was Gee-Gees foil specialist, Sacha Vasiliev. Vasiliev played a key role in Ottawa winning the foil team gold, while nearly claiming gold in individual foil. Vasiliev came up just four touches short of gold, earning silver following a 15-11 defeat to Toronto’s Howard.

Being named the Christian Vidosa Trophy recipient as the coach of the year was RMC’s Patricia Howes.

Award Winners

Desjarlais Trophy (Men’s Epee) – Ruibo Xiao (Toronto)

Charles Walters (Men’s Foil) – Mike Howard (Toronto)

Schwende Trophy (Men’s Sabre) – Matthew Teng (Toronto)

Sportsmanship Award (George Tully) – Sacha Vasiliev (Ottawa)

Christian Vidosa Trophy (Coach of the Year) – Patricia Howes (RMC)

OUA Team All-Stars:

Épée - Edward Yang (Ottawa)

Foil - Daniel Oroszlan (Ottawa)

Sabre - Daniel Manyoki (Waterloo)

Final Team Standings

1^st – Toronto Varsity Blues - 358

2^nd – Waterloo Warriors - 272

3^rd – Western Mustangs - 195

4^th – McMaster Marauders - 177

5^th – Ottawa Gee-Gees - 167

6^th – Queen’s Gaels - 126

7^th – TMU Bold - 62

8^th – RMC Paladins - 56

9^th – York Lions - 48

10^th – Carleton Ravens - 23

11^th – Brock Badgers - 15

12^th – Guelph Gryphons - 0

13^th – Trent Excalibur - 0