Eagles Add 12 Newcomers

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College fencing head coach Brendan Doris-Pierce announced the addition of 13 first-year fencers to the 2019-20 roster today.

The addition of seven new student-athletes on the men's side creates a diverse new roster, from Carl Berggen, who has fenced throughout Europe and his home country of Switzerland, to Brian Wang, who is a Massachusetts State Champion. The women's team adds five new fencers, looking to support upperclassmen such as Christina Ko, who recently finished third at the Hong Kong Junior Nationals, and Brooke Solsky, who competed at the Summer Nationals.

Carl Berggren
Weapon: Foil
Hometown: Basel, Switzerland
Club: Göteborg, Basel and Belfort Fencing Clubs
Before BC: Berggren fences at the Göteborg, Basel and Belfort Fencing Clubs under Martin Roth-Kronwall, Jean-Marie Grubo, and Chimed Mfoungouo … finished 71st at the 2017 European Championships in Bulgaria … Finished in the top 32 at the Nordic Championships in Denmark in 2018 … enrolled in the Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences to study biochemistry.

Michael Corban
Weapon: Epee
Hometown: Sharon, Mass.
Club: Olympia Fencing Center
Before BC: Trained at the Olympia Fencing Center under Daniel Hondor … placed in the top 64 at the Division I December NAC in 2018 … placed in the top 64 at the Under-20 at the Junior Olympics in 2019 … enrolled in the Carroll School of Management.

Zachary Westen
Weapon: Epee
Hometown: Denver, Colo.
Club: South Denver Fencing Academy
Before BC: Named a 2019 USA Fencing Academic All-American … fenced for South Denver Fencing Academy under Jeffrey Miller and Matthew Jordan … finished in the Top 32 of Juniors at the 2019 January Nationals and the Top 16 Juniors at Anaheim SJCC … also played football in high school.

Bin Huang
Weapon: Foil
Hometown: Concord, Mass.
Club: Marx Fencing Academy
Before BC: Fenced for the Marx Fencing Academy… finished top 32 at the Division I North American Cup in 2019… took second place at the 2018 Division 1A National Championships… placed seventh at the 2017 Division 1A National Championships.

Nate Mange
Weapon: Foil
Hometown: Long Valley, N.J.
Club: Manchen Academy of Fencing
Before BC: Attended West Morris Central… third-ranked New Jersey high school foil fencer … two-year captain of the fencing team and three-time most valuable fencer … also captained the soccer team as a senior and was named most valuable teammate … was the first fencer to win both the county and district individual championships in the same year (2018-19) … named first-team all-state in 2018-19 … three-time first team all-conference … helped team to three county and two district titles.

Will Smith
Weapon: Epee
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Club: Alliance Fencing Academy
Before BC: Attended The Woodlands High School where he received an academic letter all four years, and was an AP Scholar … fenced for Alliance Fencing Academy under Andrey Geva … placed 16th in Junior in the 2018 Junior Olympics… finished 12th in Junior at the El Salvador World Cup in 2017.

Brian Wang
Weapon: Foil
Hometown: Westford, Mass.
Club: Marx Fencing Academy
Before BC: Massachusetts State Champion… fenced for the Marx Fencing Academy under Ralf Bissdorf … finished 15th at the 2018 Division I Championship … finished 29th at the 2018 Thailand Junior World Cup … currently 24th in the U.S. Junior National rankings.

Samantha Davidson
Weapon: Foil
Hometown: Redding, Conn.
Club: Fairfield Fencing Academy
Before BC: Was honored to the 2018-19 Connecticut All-State team … member of the 2017 All-State Second Team … finished in the top 16 at the Division III Women's Foil North American Cup in 2017 … placed in the top 64 at the 2018 Division III Summer Nationals … attended the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering.

Gianina DiDonato
Weapon: Epee
Hometown: Brookline, Mass.
Club: Bay State Fencers
Before BC: Captain of the epee squad from 2015-17 and co-captain from 2017-19 … finished in the top 64 at the 2016 Junior November NAC … had a top 64 finish at the 2018 Division 1A National Championships … finished fourth at the 2017-18 State Championships … fenced at the club level for the Bay State Fencers under Ilyia Mechkov.

Katarina Hone
Weapon: Saber
Hometown: Arlington, Va.
Club: The Virginia Academy of Fencing
Before BC: Captain of the fencing team at Culver Academies from 2017-19 … won the Carol Nelson (Lineback) Most Valuable Fencer award for the 2017-18 season … Most Improved Player in 2016-17 … named to the 2018-19 USA Fencing All-Academic Second Team … was a 2018-19 USA Fencing All-American First Team honoree … also fenced for the Virginia Academy of Fencing under Matt Cameron and TJ McNally … finished second in the 2018 December NAC Division II competition.

Cosima Martus
Weapon: Epee
Hometown: Boulder, Colo.
Club: Denver Fencing Center/Chelsea Fencing Club
Before BC: Named to the 2017-18 Fencing All Academic First Team and the 2018-19 Fencing All Academic First Team… fenced at the Denver Fencing Center under Nathan Anderson and the Chelsea Fencing Club under Vladimir Meshkov … finished in the top eight at the 2018 Cadet Pan American Championships … finished in the top 32 at the Cadet European Championships in Poland … won the 2017 and 2019 Division 1A ROC of the Rockies.

Jessica Muzzi
Weapon: Foil
Hometown: Westwood, Mass.
Club: Marx Fencing Club
Before BC: Fenced for the Marx Fencing Club under Michael Marx as well as the International Fencing Club under Cesar Morales … placed in the top 128 at the Cadet Junior Olympics in 2017… finished in the top 64 at the 2018 Division III Summer Nationals … also participated in soccer and horseback riding.

Boston College Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Carl Berggren

Michael Corban

Samantha Davidson

Gianina DiDonato

Katarina Hone

Bin Huang

Christina Ko

Nate Mange

Cosima Martus

Jessica Muzzi

Will Smith

Brooke Solsky

Brian Wang

Zachary Westen

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