UPDATED April 2, 2025
- Coached 11 Academic All-GLIAC honorees on the men's team (2024, 2025) and eight recipients on the women's team (2024, 2025) in his two seasons at WSU.
- Selected to serve as the Collegiate Director of the USFCA (United State Fencing Coaches Association) in 2024
Andy Tulleners was selected as the seventh head coach of the Wayne State University fencing program in October of 2023. He joined Bela de Tuscan (1932-1957), Istvan Danosi (1957-1982), Aladar Kogler (1982-1983), Gil Pezza (1983-1991), Jerzy Radz (1991-2020), and Slava Zingerman (2021-2023) as head coaches at Wayne State University.
His first season in Detroit was a successful one, as Tulleners received the Central Collegiate Fencing Conference (CCFC) Men's Team Coach of the Year. He led the Green and Gold to an 11-10 season record and a second-place finish in the Men's Team event at the CCFC Championships in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, the Warriors placed second in the Men's Epee and third in the Men's Foil categories at the conference championships. Five members of the men's team finished in the top eight for the individual event held inside the French Field House.
Following the CCFC Championships, Wayne State, under the guidance of Tulleners, then hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional on March 9 - which was held inside the Wayne State Fieldhouse for the first time. Prior to 2024, the Green and Gold had not hosted the regional since 2017 when it was conducted inside the Matthaei. At the end of the campaign, Eyad Marouf qualified for the 2024 NCAA Fencing Championships in Columbus. It was the second consecutive season that Marouf had received a bid to the national championship. Under Tulleners' tutelage, the junior advanced to the national semifinals in the men's sabre and won 17 total bouts (17-6 with a +31 touch differential, 97-66) inside the French Field House to place tied-for-third in the final standings. The women's team was represented at the national championships by foilist Ludovica Mancini.
WSU sent five fencers to the 2025 NCAA Championships, with freshman Mahmoud Elsayed earning First Team All-America honors with a third-place finish (14-8 record). Elsayed was also selected Epee Newcomer of the Year by the USFCA. Seven of Tullener's student-athletes received CSC Academic All-District recognition, while 11 of his players (six male and five female) garnered GLIAC All-Academic honors. The women's squad ranked 10th nationally according to the USFCA in GPA (3.64), while 13 student-athletes received USFCA All-Academic honors.
No stranger to coaching fencing at the collegiate level, Tulleners started as an assistant coach at Cleveland State University serving three seasons from 2005-08, before embarking on seven-year (2008-15) stint as head coach for the Vikings.
After two years (2015-17) as an associate head coach at CSU, Tulleners resumed head coaching duties in 2017 and spent more than four years (2017-2021) leading the Viking fencing program.
In the shortened season of (2020-)2021, CSU had six athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships: three men and three women. The six fencers qualifying tied the most NCAA qualifiers in a single season in program history. In addition, the program finished in the top 20 (17th with 22 victories).
Tulleners was named the 2020 Midwest Fencing Conference Men’s Coach of the Year, the second straight season he earned a Coach of the Year honor from the league.
The CSU men posted their best result at the Midwest Fencing Conference (MFC) Championships in program history in 2020, taking second place with 735 points. Both the foil and epee units claimed runner-up honors as the men improved by three places from the previous season. Freshman Lucas Bolton finished second in foil in the individual portion of the conference meet, marking the best individual finish by a Viking at the MFC Championships in program history.
The CSU women finished in sixth place at the Midwest Championships in 2019-20 with 600 points, equaling their highest-ever finish at the event. It was a six-spot bump for the Viking women from the season prior, which helped Cleveland State tie for third in combined team score with 1,335 points. The combined placing marked a 17-place improvement over the previous two seasons for Cleveland State.
Tulleners also guided 21 student-athletes to qualify for the NCAA Regional competition in 2019-20, the most Viking qualifiers in program history. He led two of those student-athletes, Bolton and Ahmad Taqi, to USFCA All-Region honors. Bolton and Taqi were two of only three student-athletes, male or female, that were named All-Midwest Region and did not hail from a Power-Five school.
Tulleners was selected as the 2019 MFC Coach of the Year as Cleveland State displayed a large jump from his first season to his second.
After the Vikings tied for 20th at the 2018 MFC Championships, Tulleners led the squad to an eighth-place finish at the 2019 event. CSU garnered 320 total points at the 2018 Championships, but more than tripled that the next year when it collected 1,005 points.
The Cleveland State men posted their best finish at the MFC’s in 15 years, finishing fifth with 635 points in 2019. The men's foil unit took second place at the conference championships, finishing only behind nationally ranked Ohio State, while the men's epee team also won three team bouts at the event.
Tulleners also guided his women's foil squad to three victories at the event as the unit outpaced its seed. This was achieved despite the fact that the team was composed of three true freshmen.
At the 2019 NCAA Midwest Regional, 11 Viking competed, the highest figure for CSU in five years.
During his first tenure as head coach at CSU, Tulleners was named MFC Coach of the Year in both 2011 and 2014. He also helped three different individuals qualify for the NCAA Championships.
As head coach at CSU, Tulleners consistently ensured his student-athletes performed well off the strip as his teams combined for nine NCAA APR Public Recognition awards. The CSU women also claimed the athletic department’s annual ‘Best of the Best’ honor, awarded to the team with the highest grade point average, in both 2017-18 and 2018-19.
At the end of the 2016-17 season, Tulleners earned USA Fencing's 'Spirit of the Sport' award. He was one of six individuals nationally chosen based on commitment to the sport of fencing, as well as commitment to his or her club, along with the sportsmanship, leadership, teamwork and character that the nominee displays.
Tulleners also played a large role in helping Cleveland State host the 2019 NCAA Fencing Championships on campus inside the Wolstein Center, the first time that CSU hosted the prestigious event.
Over the last 25 years, Tulleners has worked at various clubs as an assistant coach primarily with the foilists. He began with the Salle du Lion Fencing Club (1999-2002), followed by Kent State's Club Team (2002-2004), Caldera Fencing Club (2007-2011), Two Ravens Fencing School (2016-2021) and Cleveland Fencing Academy (2022-2023).
On the international stage, he coached the Jamaican National Team at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games after previously serving as a coach with the Jamaican National Team in 2021.
A member of the United States Fencing Coaches Association, Tulleners spent six years (2014-2020) as the Secretary for the Midwest Fencing Conference. He also served on the NCAA Fencing Committee in 2014-15.
A native of Urbana, Ohio, Tulleners earned a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Dayton in 1999.
| Year |
NCAA Combined Finish |
National Champions |
| 2023-24 |
18th |
N/A |
| 2024-25 |
17th |
N/A |
