PHILADELPHIA — Junior captain Dean Myers posted a sixth-place finish in foil to lead the Haverford College men's fencing team in its 2026-27 season opener Sunday at the Coach Nikki Franke Classic, hosted by Temple University at the Liacouras Center. Myers went 8-2 across two rounds of pool competition before advancing to the quarterfinals, where he fell by a single touch to the top seed.
The annual event featured collegiate varsity and club fencers competing individually in epee, foil and sabre, with two rounds of pools followed by direct-elimination bouts.
Epee
Sophomore Jack Richards led Haverford with a 16th-place finish in the 78-fencer epee field. Richards opened with a 4-1 record in his first pool and followed with a 3-2 showing in the second round to enter the direct-elimination tableau as the No. 21 seed.
Richards defeated Florida's Rishi Mummidi, 15-5, in the Table of 64 before meeting teammate Asher Albers in the Table of 32. Richards prevailed in the all-Haverford matchup, 15-8, to reach the Table of 16, where he fell to eventual champion Eslam Osama of Penn State, 15-7.
Albers impressed in his collegiate debut, finishing 18th overall. The first-year went 3-2 in his opening pool and 4-1 in the second round to earn the No. 12 seed. He defeated Wagner's Ayrton Sako, 15-11, in the Table of 64 before falling to Richards.
Senior Kenji Gullo posted records of 2-3 and 1-4 in his two pool rounds. He then pushed NJIT's Daniel Jeun to the final touch in the Table of 64, falling 15-14 to finish tied for 45th.
Foil
Myers delivered Haverford's top performance of the weekend, finishing sixth among 63 competitors. The junior went 4-1 in each pool round, allowing just eight touches in the opening round and 11 in the second, to secure the No. 9 seed in the direct-elimination tableau.
After receiving a bye through the Table of 64, Myers defeated NJIT's Aidan Doctor, 15-9, in the Table of 32. He followed with a 15-12 victory over eighth-seeded Boris Chen of Penn in the Table of 16 to earn a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded Yikai Lu of Boston College. Myers battled Lu to a 15-14 decision, finishing one touch shy of a semifinal berth.
Sophomore Oliver Po also reached the Table of 16, placing 14th overall. Po went 2-2 in his first pool and 3-2 in the second round before entering elimination competition as the No. 19 seed. He defeated Hunter's David Xing, 15-5, in the Table of 64 and Florida's Jose-Arnel Ortega, 15-0, in the Table of 32. His run ended with a 15-4 loss to Penn's Christian Woo.
Sophomore Conrad Seib-Levinson opened with a 4-1 pool record before going 2-3 in the second round. Seeded 25th, he defeated teammate Henry Bishop, 15-7, in the Table of 64 before falling to Chen, 15-7, in the Table of 32. Seib-Levinson finished 25th overall.
First-year Sam Lippman went 3-2 in each pool round to earn the No. 24 seed but withdrew before his Table of 64 bout against Doctor, finishing 33rd. Bishop posted pool records of 1-3 and 1-4 before his matchup with Seib-Levinson, placing 41st.
Sabre
First-year Brandon Lim led Haverford with a 32nd-place finish in the 79-fencer sabre field. Lim went 3-2 in his opening pool and 1-4 in the second round to enter the direct-elimination tableau as the No. 45 seed.
Lim defeated 20th-seeded Tim Li of NJIT, 15-7, in the Table of 64 before falling to Sacred Heart's Jonathan Morales, 15-13, in the Table of 32.
Fellow first-year Max Gerstmann opened with a 4-1 pool record and added a 2-3 showing in the second round to earn the No. 30 seed. He fell to Johns Hopkins' Noah Zeng, 15-13, in the Table of 64 and finished 35th overall.
First-year Sam Ridky posted pool records of 1-4 and 2-3 to secure the No. 32 seed. He narrowly missed advancing to the Table of 32, dropping a 15-14 decision to Penn's Ryan Cheong to finish 36th. Sophomore Stephen Yarosh went 1-3 in his opening pool and 1-4 in the second round. He fell to Wagner's Broghan Bukowski, 15-8, in the Table of 64 and placed 48th.
Haverford now returns to action Nov. 7-8 as the dual match season opens at the Drew Invitational in Madison, N.J.
