Wayne State University Athletics

Bryce Heim was one of four Warrior fencers to compete at the Remenyik Open.

Men's Fencing 10/15/2023 10:05:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Four Men's Fencers Compete at Two-Day Remenyik Open

WSU's representatives put in several strong efforts over the weekend.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Four Wayne State University men's fencers kicked off their 2023-24 campaign by competing at Northwestern's Remenyik Open. Representing the Warriors were Mitchell Gatrell (Livonia, Mich. / Churchill), Ethan Leung (Hong Kong / YCIS), Sam Garrett (San Francisco, Calif. / S.F. School of the Arts), and Bryce Heim (Oconomowoc, Wis. / Oconomowoc).

Northwestern University served as the host for the annual event, with action taking place at Ryan Fieldhouse in Evanston, Ill. Several division of competition were on the docket as the Remenyik Open is an event on the Regional Junior Cadet Circuit (RJCC) and Regional Open Circuit (ROC).

The Warriors' foursome put in some strong season-opening efforts across the two-day event on Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15.

Saturday
Gatrell, Leung, and Garrett all competed on the first day of fencing from Evanston.

Gatrell and Leung battled in the Div. 1-A Men's Foil event, which began at 8 a.m. In pool play, Gatrell went 4-2 with a +11 touch differential (26-15) and was slotted in 25th following the opening pool round. Leung, the freshman in his first competition as a Warrior, recorded a 2-3 ledger and a +2 touch differential (19-17). That put him 42nd following the first round.

Next up for the duo was the elimination table, and both members of the Green and Gold received a bye in the Round of 128. In the Round of 64, Leung fell in a tight 15-14 battle vs, Maxon Edwards. Gatrell went on a run in posting victories during the Round of 64 (15-11 over Jayden Choe) and Round of 32 (15-6 over Douglas Miller), but lost in the Round of 16 by a score of 15-3 against Jack Oursler. Oursler, ranked ninth after pool play, lost in the semifinals.

The overall winner of the Div. 1-A Men's Foil competition was Yikai Lu. Gatrell, the sophomore, finished 13th out of 80 fencers with a 6-3 record, while Leung was 43rd at 2-4.

Garrett was the lone Wayne State member in the Junior Men's Epee, which began at 10:30 a.m. The sophomore had a perfect 5-0 mark in pool play with a +14 touch differential (25-11), putting him fifth following the first round.

Following a Round of 64 bye in the elimination table, Garrett collected four consecutive wins to advance all the way to the final round. He had a 15-6 win over Milan Mishra (R32), a 15-10 victory vs. Leon Dhal (R16), a 15-8 triumph against fourth-seeded Fritz Micko (R8), and a narrow 15-14 win over Jovan Jovanovic (semifinals).

Garrett lost to third-seeded Andy Zheng 15-6 in the final round. He officially ranked second out of 54 with a 9-1 total record.

Sunday
The same three Warriors from day one also participated on the second day, with Heim also added into the WSU contingent.

Garrett and Heim were the first to compete in the Div. 1-A Men's Epee event, which began at 8 a.m. from Ryan Fieldhouse. In pool play, Garrett was 4-1 with a +11 touch differential (21-10), while Heim had an even 3-3 mark with a positive touch differential as well (+4, 25-21). They were 19th and tied-for-37th, respectively, after pool action.

A day after his run to the finals, Garrett did not quite make it that far on the second go-around, but still won two more bouts in the elimination bracket. He earned a first round bye and then had wins in the Round of 64 (15-8 vs. Timothy Gillham) and Round of 32 (15-10 vs. William Wang). However, the sophomore's weekend ended with a 15-8 defeat to Maciek Zmyslowski in the Round of 16 -- who eventually fell in the semifinals.

Heim had to battle in a Round of 128 bout against David St. George, and was victorious by a 15-8 decision. The sophomore followed that with a 15-9 loss to DeMario Steele in the Round of 64.

Jovan Jovanovic was the overall winner of the event, with Garrett receiving 16th (6-2 overall) and Heim 41st (4-4 overall) out of 92 fencers.

In the other event WSU was in, Gatrell went 4-1 in Junior Men's Foil pool play (+13 touch differential, 24-11) and Leung garnered a perfect 6-0 record (+18 touch differential, 30-12). Those results placed them 15th and sixth, respectively.

Both won two bouts after receiving a first round bye. Gatrell had a dominant 15-2 win vs. Timothy Wakeham (R64) and close 15-14 victory over Kostiantyn Shevchenko (R32). Meanwhile, Leung won 15-8 against Zachary Findler (R64) and 15-6 vs. Salvatore Sorrentino (R32).

Their runs ended in the Round of 16 -- a 15-5 loss for Gatrell to Alexander Fortune and a 15-11 defeat for Leung to Phillip Nunnink. For the Junior Men's Foil event, Leung was 11th overall in the field of 68, which included an impressive improvement to an 8-1 record after going 2-4 on day one. Gatrell was 15th at 6-2. Liam Reeves was the overall winner.

Weekend Totals
Mitchell Gatrell: 12-5 overall (6-3 and 6-2 in the foil).
Ethan Leung: 10-5 overall (2-4 and 8-1 in the foil).
Sam Garrett: 15-3 overall (9-1 and 6-2 in the epee).
Bryce Heim: 4-4 overall in the epee.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Garrett: Epee; 6' 3"; Sophomore

Mitchell Gatrell: Foil; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Bryce Heim: Epee; 6' 3"; Sophomore

Ethan Leung: Foil; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Sam Garrett
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: Epee

Mitchell Gatrell
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: Foil

Bryce Heim
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: Epee

Ethan Leung
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: Foil