Duke Men Rally to Upend North Carolina, 14-13, in Battle of the Blues

Saturday, November 1

Chapel Hill, NC

Duke University

North Carolina

Duke Men Rally to Upend North Carolina, 14-13, in Battle of the Blues

11/1/2025 6:28:00 PM | Fencing

Men's Results Women's Results Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Duke sophomore Guilio Pech won the final bout of the afternoon to lead the Duke men's fencing team to a thrilling comeback 14-13 victory over North Carolina Saturday afternoon in the Loudermilk Center.

The Duke women opened the Battle of the Blues, falling to the Tar Heels by a 16-11 score. On the men's side, the Blue Devils trailed 9-5 and 13-11 before winning the final three bouts at épée for the one-point team victory.

Women | North Carolina 16, Duke 11

The Blue Devils garnered a 5-4 victory in foil, but North Carolina victories in saber (7-2) and épée (5-4) gave the host Tar Heels the team win.
Duke lead 5-4 after the opening round of all three weapons as the Blue Devils emerged with 2-1 victories in both foil and épée.
North Carolina evened the score to 9-9 in the second round, winning the matches at saber and foil. The Tar Heels closed strong, going 7-2 in the final bouts of the morning.
Freshman épée Meera Desai went 2-1 on the day with the one setback being by a single point, 5-4. Sophia Chen and Skylar Knight also compiled 2-1 records for the day at foil.

Men | Duke 14, North Carolina 13

The Duke men got off a slow start, trailing the Tar Heels 5-4 after the first round of fencing. The Blue Devils won foil in the first set of bouts with Owen Li and Dayaal Singh emerging victorious.
The Tar Heels went ahead by as many as four, 9-5, before Duke rallied to pull it back to 10-8 with one set of bouts remaining.
North Carolina won all three bouts at saber in the final round, but 3-0 sweeps at foil and épée clinched the comeback win.
Trailing 13-11 heading into the épée bout, Kyran Lin pulled Duke within one with a thrilling 4-3 victory. Ethan Boroditsky rode the energy, grabbing a heart-stopping 5-4 win to tie the match and get the Duke fans on their feet. With the match on the line, Pech remained calm and pulled out the rivalry victory.

Quotes
"Overall, it was a positive experience for our team. It provided us with high-pressure competition early in the season, which is excellent preparation for our athletes. I was pleased to see our fencers—especially our freshmen, since it was their first NCAA dual—manage that environment well at UNC. The highlight was coming back to win the overall match on the men's side. We'll make a few adjustments and continue building from here as the season progresses. Go Duke!"