Wayne State University Athletics

Wayne State University junior Ziad Elsissy (Alexandria, Egypt) upended Ohio State's Fares Arfa, the No. 2 seed, 15-7 in a semifinal bout on Friday afternoon at the 2017 NCAA Collegiate Fencing Championships being held at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.  Elsissy, the No. 3 seed for the championship rounds, then had to face top-seeded Eli Dershwitz of Harvard.  After falling behind early, Elissy rallied but eventually fell 15-10 to Dershwitz.

Dershwitz was ranked No. 1 in the United States, and No. 10 in the world, as of the summer of 2016.  He took off the 2015–16 school year to train full-time for the Olympics.  After representing the United States at the 2016 Olympics, Dershwitz returned to Harvard just a week after the closing ceremonies in Brazil.

Elsissy was the first Warrior to compete in a gold medal bout since former three-time national champion Slava Zingerman claimed his third consecutive national title in the men's epee in 2009.