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Wayne State University Athletics

TBTC Women's Fencing 1982-89

Women's Fencing Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

TURN BACK THE CLOCK - Women's Fencing Three-Time NCAA Champions

As we continue our Turn Back the Clock feature, we will look back at some of the most significant events in Tartar/Warrior history.

In this segment of "Turn Back the Clock," we highlight the early days of women's fencing being an NCAA sponsored sport.

In the first eight years, the NCAA sponsored a women's fencing national championship, the Tartars won three national titles (1982, 1988 and 1989).  Starting in 1990, the "combined" team championship was awarded utilizing all three men's weapons, plus the women's foil.  WSU did, however, won the women's foil team title in 1990.
 
In 1982, Maestro Istvan Danosi led the women's team to a 7-0 record at the national championships, including a victory over host San Jose State to win the inaugural women's fencing NCAA title.  The following year, WSU was second behind host Penn State.
 
Under head coach Gil Pezza, the Tartars won back-to-back national championships in 1988 over Note Dame and in 1989 over Columbia.  Yasemin Topcu was the individual national champion in 1989.  Yale won two team titles (1984, 1985), while Penn State (1983), Pennsylvania (1986) and Notre Dame (1987) each won one national title before the change in format.


 
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