March 24, 2004

UNC Freshman epee fencer Courtney Krolikoski and Junior sabre fencer Wesley Newkirk will compete for the National Title in their respective weapons at the NCAA fencing championships being held on the campus of Brandeis University beginning March 25th and continuing through the 28th. The women's competition will be held on Thursday and Friday and the men's competition will follow on Saturday and Sunday.

Krolikoski, a native of Stratham, New Hampshire, had 43 wins and 18 losses on the season and was one of two national at large selections to the tournament.

Newkirk, a Charlotte native, will compete in his third consecutive NCAA tournament. He had 36 wins and 9 losses on the season and was a direct qualifier for the NCAA Championships.

"I am excited," states Krolikoski. "I have been doing this for a long time. This is the end of my seventh year of fencing. It's very exciting. It's a big deal. It's nice to be able to represent my school and to have a really big conclusion to a season that began in November." Krolikoski adds, "most of the fencers that will be participating in the championship, I fenced during the season. The ones that I didn't fence I know from the National circuit that I was involved with while I was in high school."

According to UNC assistant fencing coach Josh Webb, the format for both the men's and women's competition is as follows: "there are 24 fencers which means Wes and Courtney will both fence 23 bouts. On the second day after the round robin of 24 is finished the fencers will be seeded on their performance. The top four fencers will be put into a bracket and will fence a final four. The final four is direct elimination that consist of bouts that go to 15 touches with three periods of three minutes (with a one minute break between) if necessary. The first 23 bouts that are fenced in the round robin are 5 touch bouts with one period of 3 minutes."