Upcoming Event: Fencing versus Coach Nikki Franke Classic on October 25, 2025
Fencing
vs Coach Nikki Franke Classic
Saturday, October 25
Philadelphia, Pa.
Duke University
vs
Coach Nikki Franke Classic
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Duke Opens 2025-26 Campaign at Coach Nikki Franke Classic
10/24/2025 9:43:00 AM | Fencing
DURHAM, N.C.— Duke fencing opens its 2025-26 season this weekend at the Coach Nikki Franke Classic hosted by Temple. The action takes place Oct. 25-26 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
The women are the first up, starting with women's foil at 8 a.m. Women's épée is set for a 9:30 a.m., opening bout and the day concludes with saber at 12:30 p.m.
The men follow the same schedule Sunday. Live results of the event can be found here.
Ten Blue Devils will be making their debuts in a Duke fencing uniform with eight freshmen hitting the piste and a pair of graduate student transfers in Yeva Mazur for the women and Jeff Basalyga on the men's squad.
Dayaal Singh and Rachel Koo lead the Blue Devil men and women, respectively, at foil after both garnered All-America honors last season. Overall, Duke welcomes back each of its four NCAA qualifiers – Joseph Glasson, Charlotte Koenig, Koo and Singh – all foilists.
Led by captains Kunling Tong (women's sabre), Koo and Kozmo Rhyu (men's épée), 32 Duke fencers will compete overall.
Last season at the same event, Duke collected four top-10 performances from the men and eight on the women's side. Koenig highlighted the weekend with a first-place showing, going 4-0 before winning the final match by a 15-9 score. The top returning finisher on the men's side as Rhyu in seventh.
The Blue Devils will compete at North Carolina next Saturday, Nov. 1, in a dual with the Tar Heels at the Eddie Smith Field House.
Weekend Lineups
Women's Sabre: Kunling Tong, Hava Stone, Vicky Gorman, April Zuo, Kalina Atanasova
Women's Foil: Rachel Koo, Skylar Knight, Sophia Shen, Zizi Newhard, Abigail Lau, Isa Cheng
Women's Epee: Vanessa Lin, Eiry Du, Meera Desai, Dani Barg, Yeva Mazur
Men's Sabre: Justin Morrill, Lev Ermakov, William Holz, Justin Glozman, Zach Shoman, Ethan Huang, Jeff Basalyga
Men's Foil: Dayaal Singh, Owen Li, Aidan Lee, Abdelrahman (Biko) Tolba
Men's Epee: Kozmo Rhyu, Isaac Lief, Giulio Pech, Ethan Dennis, Kyran Lin
To stay up to date with Blue Devils fencing, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeFEN".
#GoDuke
The women are the first up, starting with women's foil at 8 a.m. Women's épée is set for a 9:30 a.m., opening bout and the day concludes with saber at 12:30 p.m.
The men follow the same schedule Sunday. Live results of the event can be found here.
Ten Blue Devils will be making their debuts in a Duke fencing uniform with eight freshmen hitting the piste and a pair of graduate student transfers in Yeva Mazur for the women and Jeff Basalyga on the men's squad.
Dayaal Singh and Rachel Koo lead the Blue Devil men and women, respectively, at foil after both garnered All-America honors last season. Overall, Duke welcomes back each of its four NCAA qualifiers – Joseph Glasson, Charlotte Koenig, Koo and Singh – all foilists.
Led by captains Kunling Tong (women's sabre), Koo and Kozmo Rhyu (men's épée), 32 Duke fencers will compete overall.
Last season at the same event, Duke collected four top-10 performances from the men and eight on the women's side. Koenig highlighted the weekend with a first-place showing, going 4-0 before winning the final match by a 15-9 score. The top returning finisher on the men's side as Rhyu in seventh.
The Blue Devils will compete at North Carolina next Saturday, Nov. 1, in a dual with the Tar Heels at the Eddie Smith Field House.
Weekend Lineups
Women's Sabre: Kunling Tong, Hava Stone, Vicky Gorman, April Zuo, Kalina Atanasova
Women's Foil: Rachel Koo, Skylar Knight, Sophia Shen, Zizi Newhard, Abigail Lau, Isa Cheng
Women's Epee: Vanessa Lin, Eiry Du, Meera Desai, Dani Barg, Yeva Mazur
Men's Sabre: Justin Morrill, Lev Ermakov, William Holz, Justin Glozman, Zach Shoman, Ethan Huang, Jeff Basalyga
Men's Foil: Dayaal Singh, Owen Li, Aidan Lee, Abdelrahman (Biko) Tolba
Men's Epee: Kozmo Rhyu, Isaac Lief, Giulio Pech, Ethan Dennis, Kyran Lin
To stay up to date with Blue Devils fencing, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeFEN".
#GoDuke
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