March 2, 2008

DETROIT - Three members of the Wayne State University men's fencing team competed on Sunday at the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by the University of Detroit.

The top-five finishers will receive automatic bids in both the sabre and epee, while the top-four finishers in foil will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championship March 13-16 at The Ohio State University.

In addition to the automatic bids, several at-large bids will also be available. Selections for the NCAA Championship are based on two primary criteria: power ranking (40%) - which determines the regional seeding - and regional finish (60%). The at-large bids will be announced on Tuesday, March 4.

The NCAA regional featured a direct-elimination stage following pool rounds. The competition will feature preliminary pool rounds (if needed) to seed for the 16-fencer double-elimination tournament, with the first eight spots being fenced out.

In the men's sabre, freshman Jakub Gibczynski placed fourth to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

Defending NCAA Champion Slava Zingerman finished fourth in the men's epee to secure his automatic bid, while Joe Fresard placed 14th.