PHILADELPHIA- After the dust settled from a long day of fencing, the Bulldogs emerged victorious in five of their six matches. Yale defeated Penn State 14-13, Notre Dame 15-12, Ohio State 15-12, Johns Hopkins 19-8 and Air Force 21-6
 
The Bulldogs began the morning with a tough opponent: Penn State University. Last season, the Nittany Lions ended the NCAA Championships ranked second in the nation. After over an hour of grueling bouts, the Bulldogs were up 13-12, but needed one more bout to clinch the victory. In his debut on the circuit, first year Allan Ding rose to the occasion and pulled out a commanding 5-2 victory against his opponent. His teammates cheered and leapt from their seats to celebrate, patting the rookie on the back and congratulating him on his victory. Ding and fellow first year Maxwell Yee went undefeated against the Nittany Lions, along with returning fencers Cameron Allen and Nicolas Del Vecchio. Never in recent memory has Yale beaten Penn State.
 
After their first exciting victory of the morning, the Bulldogs immediately faced off against another formidable opponent: Notre Dame. The Irish are a perennial powerhouse and finished third in the country last year, but the Bulldogs fought hard and came away with a 15-12 win. Epeeists Safi Haider and Malcolm Miller both went undefeated and the epee squad as a whole was instrumental in the team's victory, winning eight of their nine matches.
 
Yale next went toe-to-toe with the team from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The Bulldogs suffered their first and only defeat of the day at the hands of the Highlanders. Captain Isaac Shelanski managed to go undefeated as he helped the epee squad win two thirds of their bouts.
 
Hungry for more victories, Yale was next matched up with Ohio State University. The Buckeyes ended last season ranked sixth in the nation but that didn't faze the Bulldogs, who managed a cool 15-12 victory. Sophomores Earnest Chen and Cameron Allen both went undefeated against the Buckeyes, helping to solidify Yale's victory.
 
The Bulldogs next fenced against the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. Yale was victorious, 19-8, with Earnest Chen, Safi Haider, Malcolm Miller, Isaac Shelanski, and Maxwell Yee all going undefeated.
 
Yale wrapped up the day with a handy 21-6 victory against the United States Air Force Academy. Though it was late in the day, the Bulldogs were still fencing at the top of their game and Earnest Chen, Jonah Cho, Nicolas Del Vecchio, Safi Haider, Isaac Shelanski, Jayson Thompson, and Andrew Zhang all went undefeated.
 
Captain Isaac Shelanski is proud of how the team did at its first meet of the season and hopes to see the Bulldogs continue to earn victories during what is already looking to be a promising season.