For the ninth consecutive season, the Varsity Blues secured the OUA provincial championship banner. The team finished with 358 points — over 80 ahead of the second-place Waterloo Warriors. This year’s OUAs took place at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, from March 1–2.
Fencing is divided into three weapon styles: épée, foil, and sabre. Épée is the slowest-paced, with the entire body as the target. Foil follows priority rules — a system that determines which fencer is awarded a point if both competitors land a hit simultaneously — but unlike épée, only the torso is a valid target. Sabre is the fastest style, allowing fencers to score with the edge or tip of the blade while targeting everything above the waist.
The beginning of the weekend started with individual events. The Varsity Blues were all-rounded in the day, claiming gold in all three weapons.
In sabre, despite a few close matches throughout the elimination rounds, Varsity Blues rookie Matthew Teng defeated Charles Wang from the Waterloo Warriors 15–4 in less than five minutes. The Varsity Blues also had strong individual finishes, with Weiqi Zhu taking sixth place and Kevin Shao finishing seventh.
In the foil competitions, Mike Howard defended his OUA champion title, defeating Sasha Vasiliev from the Ottawa GeeGees in a close 15–11 final match. Edward Li finished seventh, securing his position after a 15–4 win against the Warriors’ Anthony Pozharskiy.
The épée fencers also achieved incredible results. Varsity Blues Leon Xiao dominated his elimination matches, winning each with more than five-point leads. He secured gold in a 15–8 win against Oscar Hand from the MacMaster Marauders. On the other side of the bracket, Seraphim Jarov advanced smoothly throughout the elimination rounds, finishing third after defeating Western Mustang Jonathan Chai 15–8. Nicholas Gutierrez–Sarabia finished in sixth after moving into the top eight following a 15–12 win.
On the second day, all three Varsity Blues teams claimed a spot on the podium, with the foil and épée teams placing second after hard-fought matches.
Although the Blues foil team were leading in the first few bouts, the gap between them and their opponents began to narrow as the final match unfolded. Unfortunately, by the start of the final bout, the GeeGees had gained a four-point lead, eventually leading to their 45–40 win and a silver-place finish for the Blues.
Similarly, for épée, the Blues and the Mustangs were evenly matched throughout most of the match. Unfortunately, the Mustangs increased their lead in the second-last bout, leading to their 45–39 win.
Shortly after a tough semi-final loss to the Queen’s Gaels, the sabre team bounced back to defeat the Marauders, securing bronze with a 45–35 win.
The Varsity men’s team was proud of their remarkable efforts, as for many, this marked an unforgettable final OUAs. “I didn’t think that I’d be able to fence at all [in university],” Howard said in an interview with The Varsity. “I’ve never had [teammates cheering me on and giving advice],” and especially since fencing is mostly an individual sport, “being able to fence [as part of a team] felt really nice.” Howard was also named OUA Athlete of the Week.
This OUA tournament marked the end of the 2024–2025 season for fencing. With the women’s team also securing gold at provincials, the program showed their continued dominance as a household name in fencing. However, the Blues will continue training as the team will officially reconvene for their next season later this year in September.
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