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On a landmark March weekend in 2026, the University of Notre Dame turned its own campus into the epicenter of college fencing history. Inside the Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Indiana, the Irish fenced their way into a new era, sweeping the first-ever separate NCAA women’s and men’s team championships and cementing a dynasty that already ranked among the sport’s elite.
Over three days of competition, Notre Dame first captured the NCAA Women’s Fencing Championship on Friday, March 20, then followed with the NCAA Men’s Fencing Championship on Sunday, March 22. Those back-to-back wins did more than thrill a partisan home crowd. They made Notre Dame the first program to win both standalone titles in the same year and pushed the Irish to 16 team national championships in fencing and 38 team NCAA titles across all sports in school history.
For head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia, who has guided the Irish to eight of those fencing team championships, the weekend validated years of building parallel powerhouses in both the men’s and women’s programs. For the NCAA, it was the launch of a new format that split the long-running co-ed team championship into distinct three-weapon titles for women and men, a structural shift designed to shine a brighter spotlight on each side of the sport.
For decades, NCAA fencing crowned a single co-ed team champion each year by combining points from men’s and women’s squads across epee, foil and sabre. Under that format, Notre Dame flourished, claiming 14 national team titles and six of the last eight before 2026 with Kvaratskhelia at the helm. But as the sport grew, especially on the women’s side, pressure mounted to elevate women’s fencing with its own officially recognized team championship.
The NCAA’s decision to create separate men’s and women’s team titles for 2026 represented a pivotal evolution for the sport. Instead of one combined leaderboard, the championships shifted to two parallel, three-weapon team events, each a full national title in its own right. According to the NCAA’s own championships pages and coverage from outlets such as the Atlantic Coast Conference, the move was aimed at increasing visibility, expanding competitive opportunities and more accurately recognizing the depth of modern collegiate fencing rosters.
The NCAA awarded hosting duties for this first edition of the new format to Notre Dame, a school that had invested heavily in facilities, coaching and recruiting. The Joyce Center and the adjacent Castellan Family Fencing Center provided a ready-made showcase for the sport, with multiple competition strips, spectator areas and a campus community willing to pack the seats for a sport that often flies under the radar nationally.
External coverage from sources such as the ACC and USA Fencing highlighted the significance of the decision to host at Notre Dame, noting both the university’s competitive pedigree and its infrastructure for staging a major national tournament. For fans in South Bend, it meant a rare chance to experience a championship-caliber fencing environment in a setting more commonly associated with football Saturdays or basketball in Purcell Pavilion.
The breakthrough started with the women. Their championship opened on Thursday and concluded Friday, March 20, with Notre Dame chasing another blue banner in front of its home fans. After the first day of pool bouts across all three weapons, the Irish found themselves a single point behind Columbia/Barnard, setting up a tight, high-stress race for the inaugural NCAA Women’s Fencing Championship.
On day two, every touch mattered. The turning point came from the sabre squad. Notre Dame’s pairing of Siobhan Sullivan and Magda Skarbonkiewicz delivered a flawless, undefeated round that included multiple head-to-head victories over Columbia/Barnard fencers. Those bouts erased the early deficit and flipped the momentum firmly in Notre Dame’s direction.
With sabre providing the spark, the Irish built out their advantage in foil and epee:
By the end of 24 bouts per weapon over two days, the math was final: Notre Dame 102 points, Columbia/Barnard 99. Princeton and Harvard lagged behind in third and fourth place, respectively, underscoring just how much the women’s race had become a two-team contest between the Irish and the Lions.
Notre Dame’s women were not just deep; they also had one of the sport’s brightest individual stars. In epee, senior Eszter Muhari added to an already decorated collegiate résumé by capturing her third NCAA women’s epee title and her second in a row.
Muhari’s dominance peaked in the final bout, where she overwhelmed Princeton’s Hadley Husisian 13–1, a scoreline that underscored the gap between the Irish senior and even the nation’s best challengers. Her title helped cap a remarkable overall performance: all six of Notre Dame’s women’s fencers finished inside the top eight of their events, earning All-America honors across epee, foil and sabre.
While the team trophy officially counted as Notre Dame fencing’s 15th national championship, it held a unique place in program history. It was the first women’s-only team title since the NCAA abandoned the combined format, a validation that the Irish women could carry a championship load on their own and a public testament to the depth of the roster across all three weapons.
With the women’s banner barely in the rafters, focus shifted to the men’s competition. Over the next two days, the Notre Dame men’s squad methodically built on its early lead and then slammed the door on Sunday, March 22, to complete a sweep of the first standalone NCAA men’s and women’s team championships.
The Irish men finished with 91 points over two days, pulling clear of another strong Columbia/Barnard team that ended with 81. St. John’s, Harvard and Penn rounded out the top five, but the podium picture came down to the same two programs battling on the women’s side. For Notre Dame, the formula mirrored that of the women: a blend of top-end individual talent anchored by depth across the depth chart.
The signature highlight of the men’s run came in sabre, where Notre Dame sophomore Ahmed Hesham fenced his way to an NCAA individual title on home ground. In the semifinals, Hesham took out Harvard’s Colin Heathcock 15–10, then delivered in the final against St. John’s standout Adham Moataz, closing out a 15–12 victory in front of a loud Purcell Pavilion crowd.
Hesham’s gold-medal performance gave the Irish a crucial punch at the top of the podium and fired up a fan base that had begun treating fencing like a marquee event. But his success was one piece of a larger puzzle. Notre Dame also got runner-up finishes in two weapons:
Sabre fencer Radu Nitu and foilist Ziyuan Chen rounded out the Irish’s All-America cast with top-eight finishes of their own, ensuring that all three weapons contributed meaningfully to the team total. Once the last touches were tallied on Sunday, the men’s championship trophy joined the women’s on the Notre Dame sideline, confirming an unprecedented sweep to kick off the NCAA’s new format.
With the men’s title secured, Notre Dame’s fencing program ascended to another tier historically. The weekend’s results pushed the Irish to 16 team national championships in fencing, the most of any sport at the university. Coupled with national championships in sports like football, women’s basketball and soccer, those fencing crowns brought Notre Dame’s overall total to 38 team national titles.
Individually, head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia’s résumé reached rare air. After taking over a proud but hungry program, he has now led Notre Dame to eight fencing team titles, more than any other head coach in the school’s history across all sports. Under his direction, the Irish have evolved into a recruiting powerhouse, drawing top international and domestic talent while building depth deep down the roster in every weapon.
On the national stage, the 2026 sweep had broader implications. According to USA Fencing’s championship coverage, Notre Dame’s latest wins lifted the program into a tie with Columbia for the all-time lead in NCAA fencing team championships. That shared perch at the top formalized what the 2026 weekend made obvious on the strips: the modern era of collegiate fencing is, in many ways, defined by a rivalry between Notre Dame and Columbia.
For prospects, parents and coaches tracking the sport, that context matters. Athletes looking at top-tier Division I fencing opportunities now see Notre Dame not just as a strong option, but as one of the central dynasties in the sport, backed by facilities, fan support and a track record of converting elite talent into championships.
While the titles and statistics will live in record books, the atmosphere inside the Joyce Center and nearby Castellan Family Fencing Center may be what many in South Bend remember most. The 2026 NCAA Fencing Championships looked and felt like a major collegiate event, with packed seating areas, fans tracking every touch, and a home crowd that rallied behind the Irish as if it were a big football Saturday or ACC basketball showdown.
Hosting the first year of the new format allowed Notre Dame to showcase a mature fencing infrastructure: multiple competitive strips, visible scoreboards, warmup areas and support spaces tailored for a high-level championship. For a sport often confined to smaller venues or shared gym space, that kind of dedicated environment sends a powerful message about institutional commitment.
For NCAA fencing as a whole, it was the type of stage the sport has long needed. External reporting from the ACC and USA Fencing emphasized how well the event translated to a bigger platform, reinforcing the idea that fencing can thrive in an arena setting when schools invest in visibility and fan engagement.
For high school fencers considering college options, the story of Notre Dame’s 2026 sweep goes beyond headlines. It offers a practical case study in what a fully committed Division I fencing program looks like in the new NCAA landscape.
Several takeaways stand out:
For coaches, the 2026 NCAA Championships highlight the importance of building rosters that can compete in a format where men’s and women’s titles stand on their own. Depth at each weapon, clear development pipelines and strong recruiting on both sides are now table stakes if you hope to challenge programs like Notre Dame and Columbia at the top of the standings.
If you are an athlete or parent starting to explore fencing programs across all levels, tools like the Pathley Fencing Hub can help you quickly see which colleges sponsor the sport, how they compare, and where a program like Notre Dame fits relative to other options that might suit your academic and athletic profile.
Not every recruit will land at a national champion, but understanding what makes programs like Notre Dame successful can help you identify schools that align with your goals. Depth in your weapon, coaching stability, academic fit and campus environment all play key roles.
To explore the wider landscape:
As you compare options, keep in mind that the NCAA’s move to separate men’s and women’s fencing championships may open more opportunities across divisions, as programs respond to the increased visibility of the sport. Following how schools like Notre Dame, Columbia and others staff their rosters and schedule competitions can give you clues about where the sport is headed and where you might fit best.
For students drawn to the Notre Dame area specifically, the region offers more than one college experience. Just across town from the Irish’s main campus sits Holy Cross College, a smaller institution that shares the Notre Dame, Indiana, community and offers its own tight-knit campus environment.
While Holy Cross does not carry the same national-profile athletics pedigree as Notre Dame, it can appeal to recruits and students who want a different academic pace or campus size while staying connected to the broader South Bend ecosystem. For some athletes, that might mean exploring club or intramural opportunities, cross-registration possibilities or simply choosing a school where the surrounding sports culture is part of campus life, even if fencing is not a varsity offering.
Comparing schools like University of Notre Dame and Holy Cross College side by side can help you clarify what matters most: academic programs, campus size, cost, competition level or a combination of all four. Tools such as Pathley’s Compare Two Colleges feature make it easier to weigh those factors without losing track of the details.
Looking beyond the banners, Notre Dame’s dual titles in 2026 are likely to shape the conversation around college fencing for years to come. When future athletes and coaches talk about the sport’s shift from a combined co-ed championship to separate men’s and women’s titles, the 2026 championships in Notre Dame, Indiana, will be a central reference point.
The Irish proved that a single program can invest deeply in both the men’s and women’s sides of fencing and see that investment pay off at the highest level. They showed that a campus willing to treat fencing as a marquee event can turn a normally niche championship into a loud, visually striking spectacle. And they underlined how fierce the top of the sport has become, especially in the ongoing battle with Columbia for all-time supremacy.
For recruits, that means opportunity and challenge. The bar for elite Division I programs is higher than ever, but the visibility and support for fencing are also trending upward. Whether you hope to compete in front of thousands at a place like Notre Dame or to build a more individualized path at a smaller college, the growth of the sport at the top can ripple through all levels of collegiate competition.
Stories like Notre Dame’s 2026 sweep are inspiring, but they can also feel overwhelming when you are trying to decide where you fit in the broader college landscape. That is where smart tools and structured guidance can make the process easier and more efficient.
Pathley is building an AI-powered recruiting platform designed to help athletes and families cut through the noise and focus on realistic, high-upside options. With tools such as:
Whether you dream of fencing for a national champion like Notre Dame or simply want a college home where your weapon, your academics and your campus preferences all align, leveraging these tools can help you move from inspiration to action.
The 2026 NCAA Fencing Championships in South Bend showed what is possible when a university goes all-in on the sport. With thoughtful planning, smart research and the right support, you can chart your own path in this evolving college fencing landscape and find the school where your story fits best.
