UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Graduate student, Nicole Gavrilko, completed the first day of the NCAA National Collegiate Fencing Championships in the epee weapon on the campus of Penn State. Currently, sitting in 10th place, Gavrilko went 9-6 across the fifteen bouts and has a scoring margin of +2. 

The 2023 Third Team All-American, opened the day on the wrong end of the first two bouts but recovered to finish round one at 4-3. Her four wins came against fencers from Sacred Heart, UC San Diego, Cornell and LIU. Round 2 saw Gavrilko take down three fencers from Northwestern and Columbia to bring her record to 7-4. The third round was against Ivy League fencers from Yale and Princeton, splitting the four bouts. Gavrilko opened the round with a win against Princeton fencer Leehi Machulsky who currently sits in third place. Unfortunately, one of the losses was against U.S. Olympian Hadley Husisian (Yale) to end the round.
 

What's Next

Gavrilko returns to the Multi-Sport Facility tomorrow for the final two rounds of competition for a total of eight bouts. Following the completion of the 23 bouts, the top four fencers will face off in single elimination to determine the National Champion. Live stats will be available to follow rounds four and five.

Sunday's semifinals and championship action will be broadcast on ESPN+ beginning at 1:30 p.m.