PHILADELPHIA, Penn. — The Wagner fencing teams took part in the Coach Nikki Franke Classic over the weekend. The women's team competed on Saturday, and the men's team competed on Sunday.

The women's epee bracket got things started on the first day of the event. Freshman Pietra Campos earned a spot in the 48-person bracket after winning three of five bouts in the qualifying round. Her run ended in the first round, after losing 15-13 to Army's Worship Akpan. 

Freshman Alisa Ivanushkina did not qualify for the knockout stage of the women's epee tournament, but she made up for it by sweeping the consolation round. She won all six bouts in her consolation pool, then defeated FDU's Ima Gossin to finish her tournament with a win.

The women's foil tournament started alongside the epee tournament, and the Seahawks sent three fencers into the knockout stage. Senior Renata Ziganova earned a first-round bye, and sophomore Alyssa Cullen defeated Army's Jennifer Jung 15-11 to advance to the second round. 

Neither fencer made it past the second round, but freshman Kristin Naranjo defeated Hunter's Julia Stenger 15-7 to reach the round of 16. Her tournament would end there, giving Naranjo a 10th-place finish in the final standings, one of two Wagner women fencers to accomplish the feat.

The other fencer was sophomore sabrist Louann Perrier, who was one of four sabrists to qualify for the knockout stage. While her three teammates earned first-round byes, Perrier faced FDU's Victoria Van Tassel in the first round and won 15-12. She then won consecutive bouts to earn a spot in the quarterfinal, where she lost to Boston College's Lydia Johnson. 

Perrier's eighth-place finish was the highest on the women's team for any weapon.

On the men's side, all six epeeists earned spots in the knockout stage, and four of them moved onto the second round. Sophomore Caleb Mathes earned a bye, junior Toyohm Djonouma defeated Stevens' Niklas Breiling 15-8, junior Daniel Ojeda took down Stevens' Donovan Aggeler 15-7, and senior Isaac Oden eliminated Stevens' Riley Parker 15-13. 

None of the epeeists would make it past the second round, and Mathes earned the highest finish among them, earning the 17th spot in the final standings. 

In the men's foil bracket, sophomore Jakub Vrtilek won three straight bouts to reach the quarterfinal. Despite losing in the quarterfinal bout to Boston College's Elijah Onik, Vrtilek finished eighth in the final standings, joining Naranjo and Perrier as the only Wagner fencers to earn top-10 finishes up to that point.

To finish the day, senior sabrist Flavio Vinci earned the highest finish of any Wagner fencer, when he reached the men's sabre final after five straight victories in the knockout stage, including a 15-13 win against the No. 1 seed in the bracket, Penn State's Enes Kalender. Vinci came into the bracket as the 2025 Franke Classic men's sabre champion, but he lost in this year's championship bout to Penn's Antonio Heathcock, finishing the tournament in second place. 

The Seahawks will return to the strips on Sunday, Nov. 1, as they travel to Manhattan to participate in the NYU Invitational.