Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencing

Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencing
First season	1934
Athletic director	Pete Bevacqua
Head coach	Gia Kvaratskhelia 11th season, 726–85 (.895)
Home stadium	Edmund P. Joyce Center
Location	South Bend, Indiana
League	Atlantic Coast Conference
Past conferences	Great Lakes Conference, Midwest Intercollegiate Conference, Midwest Fencing Conference
National Titles	14
Conference titles	42
All-Americans	41
Fight song	Notre Dame Victory March
Mascot	Notre Dame Leprechaun

Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencing represents the University of Notre Dame in collegiate fencing. The Irish compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I.

National championships

• Men: 1977, 1978, 1986
• Women: 1987
• Co-ed: 1994, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025

Individual NCAA champions

Women's Foil

• Molly Sullivan (1986, 1988)
• Heidi Piper (1991)
• Alicja Kryczalo (2002, 2003, 2004)
• Lee Kiefer (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017)
• Stefani Deschner (2021)

Women's Épée

• Magda Krol (1997)
• Kerry Walton (2002)
• Kelley Hurley (2008)
• Courtney Hurley (2011, 2013)
• Eszter Muhari (2023, 2025)

Women's Saber

• Valerie Providenza (2004)
• Mariel Zagunis (2006)
• Sarah Borrmann (2008)
• Francesca Russo (2015, 2017)
• Kara Linder (2021)
• Magda Skarbonkiewicz (2025)

Men's Foil

• Pat Gerard (1977)
• Andrew Bonk (1979)
• Charles Higgs-Coulthard (1984)
• Gerek Meinhardt (2010, 2014)
• Ariel DeSmet (2011)
• Nick Itkin (2018, 2019)
• Marcello Olivares (2021)
• Chase Emmer (2025)

Men's Épée

• Björne Väggö (1978)
• Ola Harstrom (1983)
• Jubba Beshin (1990)
• Michal Sobieraj (2005)

Men's Saber

• Mike Sullivan (1977, 1978)
• Luke LaValle (1998)
• Gabor Szelle (2000)
• Luke Linder (2021, 2023, 2024)

Year-by-year results

The following is a list of Notre Dame's all-time season records. Bold indicates NCAA championship year.

Notre Dame Fencing Results by Season

Season	Head Coach	Mens Overall Record	Womens Overall Record
1934	Pedro DeLandero	3-5
1935		7-0
1936		9-0
1937		5-3
1938		7-2
1939		7-2
1940	Walter Langford	5-4
1941		7-2
1942		5-3
1943		2-4
1947	Herbert Melton	4-3
1948		9-1
1949		8-1
1950		9-0
1951	Walter Langford	8-2
1952		9-2
1953		13-1
1954		12-1
1955		12-3
1956		15-2
1957		14-1
1958		16-0
1959		13-2
1960		14-2
1961		10-6
1962	Mike DeCicco	7-8
1963		14-2
1964		15-2
1965		15-2
1966		17-4
1967		18-0
1968		20-1
1969		16-1
1970		20-2
1971		21-3
1972		19-2	2-3
1973		15-3	3-2
1974		22-1	13-2
1975		23-2	8-5
1976		26-0	8-6
1977		23-0	35-10
1978		18-0	13-1
1979		20-0	14-3
1980		19-1	11-2
1981		21-2	16-4
1982		20-1	11-8
1983		23-2	17-6
1984		19-1	13-5
1985		23-0	12-7
1986	Michael DeCicco, Yves Auriol	26-0	23-0
1987		22-0	19-0
1988		24-1	17-2
1989		21-0	15-1
1990		24-1	22-1
1991		23-0	19-0
1992		14-0	11-2
1993		23-1	17-3
1994		21-0	35-2
1995		24-2	28-0
1996	Yves Auriol	23-2	26-1
1997		24-2	29-1
1998		25-1	24-1
1999		22-1	19-4
2000		18-2	18-2
2001		25-0	21-4
2002		18-0	20-2
2003	Janusz Bednarski	24-0	22-2
2004		24-1	26-0
2005		21-3	22-2
2006		29-1	29-1
2007		19-5	24-4
2008		27-4	29-2
2009		33-0	30-2
2010		33-0	35-0
2011		29-1	29-0
2012		29-6	25-6
2013		19-7	26-1
2014		21-6	18-8
2015	Gia Kvaratskhelia	26-6	32-2
2016		35-3	38-0
2017		30-8	35-4
2018		30-7	37-2
2019		30-5	34-2
2020		35-8	38-7
2021		11-0	16-0
2022		41-0	45-3
2023		37-4	35-5
2024		37-6	35-10
2025		36-2	33-1

The Winning Streak

From 1975 to 1980, the Irish won 122 straight regular season matches, surpassing John Wooden's 88 consecutive basketball wins to set the NCAA varsity sports winning streak record, a record not broken for over a decade. (Interestingly, UCLA lost to Austin Carr's Notre Dame team in 1971, then went undefeated until Adrian Dantley's Notre Dame team in 1974). The Irish won their first national championship in 1977 and again in 1978; Mike DeCicco led them to NCAA championships again in 1986, 1987, and 1994. The Irish now hold 13 national championships, including three consecutive championships in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Castellan Family Fencing Center

The Irish practice at the Castellan Family Fencing Center, which opened in 2012 as part of the Joyce Center. It features locker rooms for men and women, coaches' offices, a lounge area, a repair room, many fencing strips, and a conference room.