PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The MIT men's fencing team opened the 2025-26 season by competing at the Coach Nikki Franke Classic hosted by Temple University on Sunday. Formerly known as the Temple Open, this was the Engineers' first appearance at the event since 1992-93. Zachary Tong captured 10^th place in sabre, just one spot shy of tying the program's best finish in any weapon in program history. Henry Zhang claimed 12^th place in foil while Rishi Shiv tied for 23^rd place in epee.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED - Epee:

• Shiv compiled an 8-1 record in pool play and after a bye during the round of 128, he defeated Tyler Cho of NYU, 15-11. However, he lost to Jamie Knox of Johns Hopkins, 15-5, in the round of 32, to tie for 23^rd place.
• Corey Zhao ranked 53^rd as he had a 3-5 performance following two rounds of pool play, earned a bye in the round of 128, and lost to Jorge Gana of Johns Hopkins, 15-7.
• Alec Zhang finished four spots behind Zhao as he went 3-6 in pool play, received a bye in the round of 128, and fell to Nick Jin of Penn, 15-10.

HOW IT HAPPENED - Foil:

• Henry Zhang won seven of eight bouts in pool play. He topped David Belluomo of Sacred Heart, 15-6, in the round of 64 and outlasted Yikai Lu of BC, 15-14, before being edged out by a 15-13 decision to Elijah Onik of BC in the round of 16. Zhang's 12^th place finish ranks as the best for foil in program history.
• Andy Zhang placed 23^rd overall as he posted a 5-3 mark in pool competition, defeated Alexander Ligos of Sacred Heart (15-9) in the round of 64 and fell to Nicholas Baumstein of UNC, 15-12.
• Niles Liu was next in 25^th place. He had a 5-3 showing in pool play, defeated Dev Badlani of Stevens (15-12) in the round of 64 but lost to Abdelrahman Tolba of Duke (15-9). 

HOW IT HAPPENED - Sabre:

• After a 2-3 performance in the first round of pool play, Tong won five of six bouts in the second round. He posted victories against Sean Gleason of Florida (15-0) and Nalby Varoqua of Drew (15-11) in the rounds of 64 and 32, respectively, before falling to Luca Berman of BC (15-12) to rank 10^th in the final standings. Mark Hurst '94 recorded the best showing for MIT at the event as he placed ninth in sabre in 1991-92.
• Rohan Dalal claimed 27^th place as he had a 7-3 ledger in pool play, a 15-7 victory over Eric Wang in the round of 64, and a loss to Flavio Vinci of Wagner (15-9).
• Wang was next in 39^th place. He went 6-3 in pool play but lost to Dalal, 15-7, in the round of 64.
• Surya Sakhamuri rounded out the Engineers in 42^nd place as he had a 5-5 mark in pool play and fell to Adrian Figueredo of NJIT, 15-4, in the round of 64.

UP NEXT:

• MIT returns to action on Saturday, November 1 when it travels to Smith College for The Big One Invitational.

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