Northwestern’s first stab at the 2024-25 season was a very successful one.
After a brilliant 2023-24 campaign that saw Northwestern fencing put up a 36-12 record, including a perfect 10-0 at home, the Wildcats closed the year strong in the April North American Cup (NAC). The ‘Cats finished third in Division 1 Team Sabre and ninth in Division I Team Epee and six different Northwestern fencers posted top 25 finishes in individual play. But after that successful run, it’s been over five months since the ‘Cats have had any action on the strip. They finally got back in action for the first time of the 2024-25 campaign this past weekend at the October NAC.
Northwestern started the meet off hot on Friday, finishing with three fencers in the top 30 in individual Women’s Sabre. First-year Kira Erikson led the way with a 17th-place result in her first collegiate meet. Nisha Hild and Xiaohan Chen were close behind her, finishing in 24th and 27th, respectively. Natalie Shearer, Kailing Sathyanath and Megumi Oishi also participated in the event.
The Wildcats competed in Junior Women’s Foil as well with Brianna Ho and Junior Women’s Epee with Ava Wade-Currie, Emma Ning and Christina Liu. But it was Saturday’s midday event, Junior Women’s Sabre, in which Northwestern really made its mark. After a top-30 finish in her first career event, Hild erupted with a big-time performance in her second. She came within a whisker of finishing on the podium, ending up in fifth.
And Hild wasn’t the only first-year Wildcat to find success in Junior Women’s Sabre. Natalie Shearer joined her in the top 20 with a 17th-place finish, showcasing the excellent recruiting job head coach Zach Moss has done over the past year. Xiaohan Chen and Amy Lu also participated in Saturday’s main event.
On Sunday, Northwestern struggled mightily in Division 1 Women’s Foil. Despite four Wildcats participating in the event, not a single Northwestern fencer ended up in the top 65. Samantha Serban led the way with a 67th-place finish, and Brianna Ho, Rowan Park and Amy Jia also couldn’t find their way into the top third of the finishers. If the Wildcats wanted to feel great about their first meet of the season, they’d have to put up some big finishes in Division 1 Women’s Epee.
And goodness, did they put up some big finishes. Amanda Pirkowski, a graduate transfer from Notre Dame, put up a massive result in her first meet in purple with a ninth-place finish. A pair of other Wildcats also slapped up top 25 finishes, with Ning and Athina Kwon ending their days in 15th and 21st, respectively. Four other Northwestern fencers — Karen Wang, Anna Damratoski, Ava Wade-Currie and Christina Liu — also participated in the event, making it the biggest of the weekend for the Wildcats.
After a successful start to the season, Northwestern will be right back in action this weekend. As mentioned earlier, the ‘Cats had a perfect 10-0 home record last season, and they’ll look to continue that streak this weekend. Northwestern will host the Remenyik ROC/RJCC at Ryan Fieldhouse on October 12 and October 13.