The ATENEO Blue Eagles took home the overall second place trophy in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 82 Men’s Fencing Tournament on Friday, February 14, at Paco Arena in Manila City. This came after they earned a silver medal in the Men’s Team Foil event in the final UAAP Season 82 Men’s Fencing matchday.

At the end of the Tournament, Blue Eagle epéeist Miggy Bautista was awarded the UAAP Season 82 Men’s Fencing Tournament Rookie of the Year.

Men’s Team Foil

Jolo Viceo, Anton Alianan, Trino Montinola, and Michael Heraldo donned the blue and white for  the Men’s Team Foil event. The Blue Eagles, who were seeded first, had De La Salle University (DLSU) standing in their way from a finals ticket. DLSU trounced the University of the Philippines in the preceding round, but this time around, they were comfortably brushed aside by Ateneo, 45-24.

In the finals, Viceo was called up first to fence against the University of the East (UE) and pulled his side ahead, 5-2. Sam Tranquilan quickly stole the lead from Ateneo until Montinola regained it with back-to-back points, 20-18.

Later in the event, the Red Warriors found themselves in front by as many as six points, 35-41, before Viceo managed to outscore Tranquilan by four. However, making a comeback proved to be too tall of a task for the Blue Eagle team captain as the UE Red Warriors clinched the Men’s Team Foil gold medal, 42-45.

Despite the finals loss, Ateneo Coach Ryan Janeo was proud of his team’s performance. “The performance of the team was above par. They really played well but sometimes, it’s just the breaks of the game,” he said.

He also expressed his optimism regarding the direction and future of the foil team. “We are in a rebuilding process and we are in the right track [with this result],” he shared. “We are going to get the gold next year and hopefully, the overall also.”