The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's fencing team earned their ninth consecutive OUA provincial banner, clinching the overall title on Sunday (Mar. 2) in Kingston, Ont.

The Blues were dominant in claiming the 39^th overall title in program history, taking first place in all three individual disciplines, while also capturing medals in each of the three team relays. The six medal weekend led to a 358 point finish, placing them 86 points clear of second place Waterloo (272). Western rounded out the podium with 195 points earning them bronze.

Beginning with the individual epee, Leon Xiao claimed gold with a 15-8 event final victory over Oscar Hand of McMaster. Xiao went undefeated en route to epee gold, going a perfect 6-0 during pool play matches, before knocking off another McMaster opponent in the round of 16 and back-to-back opponents from Western in the quarter-finals and semifinals. Joining Xiao on the podium, first-year Varsity Blue Seraphim Jarov took bronze in the epee. Finding himself on the opposite side of the bracket, Jarov knocked off teammate Valdis Ling in the round of 16 and his opponent from Ottawa in the quarter-finals, before dropping a narrow 13-12 decision to Hand in the semis. Jarov bounced right back though earning a 15-8 win over Jonathan Chai of Western in the bronze medal match.

Shifting to the individual foil, Mike Howard earned the top step of the podium for a second consecutive season. The third-year Varsity Blue defeated Sacha Vasiliev of Ottawa 15-11 in the gold medal match. Howard also went undefeated on the day, completing round-robin matches with an unblemished 6-0 record. He then knocked off two opponents from McMaster and another Ottawa rival in his run to the event final.

Rounding out the incredible individual performances with the sabre, first-year Varsity Blue Matthew Teng captured gold with a decisive 15-4 victory over Charles Wang of Waterloo in the finals. Teng started his day placing first in Pool No. 1, earning a 4-1 record during round-robin matches. This allowed the sabre specialist to receive a bye into the round of 16 where he would subsequently earn victories over Queen's and two Waterloo opponents to advance to the gold medal match.

On Day 2, the Blues added another three medals beginning with a silver in the foil team relay. The foursome of Howard, Edward Li, Alex Lum-Debono, Jimmy Zhou knocked off RMC and TMU during the round-robin matches. From there they earned a 45-32 quarter-final win over McMaster and 45-38 semifinal victory versus Waterloo to take their place in the gold medal match. A back-and-forth event final would see Ottawa come out on top by a margin of 45-40.

In the epee team relay, the crew of Jarov, Nicholas Gutierrez-Sarabia, Valdis Ling, Dimitri Ukolov would produce a similar result, picking up silver. The path for the Blue saw them defeat Waterloo, Trent, and York during pool play. They then made quick work of Queen's with a 45-15 quarter-final win, before knocking off McMaster 45-36 in the semifinals. However, Western claimed the top step with a 45-39 victory in the event final.

The championship was then closed out by the sabre team relay where U of T claimed their sixth medal of the provincial showcase, winning the bronze medal match 45-35 over McMaster. En route to the third step, Toronto defeated Ottawa, Brock, and McMaster in the round-robin matches. The then overpowered RMC 45-26 in the quarter-finals, before being relegated to the bronze medal match following a tough 45-30 loss versus Queen's in the semifinals.

The full list of major award winners and medalists is included below.

MAJOR AWARDS
Championship Trophy (Charles Walters) – Toronto Varsity Blues
Desjarlais Trophy (Men's Epee) – Leon Xiao (Toronto)
Charles Walters (Men's Foil) – Mike Howard (Toronto)
Schwende Trophy (Men's Sabre) – Matthew Teng (Toronto)
Sportsmanship Award (George Tully) – Sacha Vasiliev (Ottawa)
Christian Vidosa Trophy (Coach of the Year) – Patricia Howes (RMC)

OUA Team All-Stars
Epee : Edward Yang (Ottawa)
Foil : Daniel Oroszlan (Ottawa)
Sabre : Daniel Manyoki (Waterloo)

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
EPEE
1. Leon Xiao, Toronto
2. Oscar Hand, McMaster
3. Seraphim Jarov, Toronto

FOIL
1. Mike Howard, Toronto
2. Sacha Vasiliev, Ottawa,
3. Jiaan Li, Waterloo

SABRE
1. Matthew Teng, Toronto
2. Charles Wang, Waterloo
3. Richard Yang, Waterloo

TEAM RELAY RESULTS
EPEE
1. Western (Jonathan Chai, Aaniss Dib, Max Dominy, Alvin Yeung)
2. Toronto (Nicholas Gutierrez-Sarabia, Seraphim Jarov, Valdis Ling, Dimitri Ukolov)
3. McMaster (Mohab Mefreh, Oscar Hand, PJ Kriemadis, Callum Williams)

FOIL
1. Ottawa (Daniel Oroszlan, Sacha Vasiliev, Julien Turk, Ian Macewen)
2. Toronto (Mike Howard, Edward Li, Alex Lum-Debono, Jimmy Zhou)
3. Waterloo (Hidde Koerts, James Li, Jiaan Li, Nolan White-Roy)

SABRE
1. Waterloo (David Li, Daniel Manyoki, Charles Wang, Richard Yang)
2. Queen's (Justin Bhatla, Luigi Burjato, Alexandre Prefontaine, Luke Steverango)
3. Toronto (Darren Chen, Frederick Liu, Kevin Shao, Weiqi Zhu)

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Toronto Varsity Blues - 358
2. Waterloo Warriors - 272
3. Western Mustangs - 195
4. McMaster Marauders - 177
5. Ottawa Gee-Gees - 167
6. Queen's Gaels - 126
7. TMU Bold - 62
8. RMC Paladins - 56
9. York Lions - 48
10. Carleton Ravens - 23
11. Brock Badgers - 15
12. Guelph Gryphons - 0
13. Trent Excalibur - 0