Men's Fencing

The Illinois fencing team competed from 1910 through 1993 and won two national championships during that time. With 30 Big Ten titles (and 37 overall conference titles), Illinois fencing is tied with Illini baseball for the most Big Ten titles in Illinois history through the 2017-18 school year (men's track has 50 titles, divided between outdoor (29) and indoor (21) championships. During a large part of this run of dominance the Illini were coached by Max Garret, a member of Helm’s Fencing Hall of Fame. Garret coached for 27 years and led the Illini to 17 Big Ten titles and both of the fencing program’s national championships in 1956 and 1958. A key player for both championship runs was Art Schankin, who became the first intercollegiate fencer to win a national championship with an unbeaten record during his senior year of 1958. Schankin would later coach the Illini from 1973 to 1993. During that twenty-year stretch Schankin’s teams went 391-51 with seven Big Ten Championships. The fencing team produced five Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients including Ralph J. Epstein, the only fencer in Illinois history to have won three straight Big Ten titles.

National Championships

1958 Men's Fencing

Art Schankin, the Illini captain who was named the No. 1 fencer at the 1958 NCAA meet was the first fencer in the 14-year history of the event to win all 21 of his bouts in saber, taking 1st place. Abbey Silverstone finished third in the foil division, and Lee Sentman took sixth in epee. Art Schankin and Abbey Silverstone won places on the All-American first team, and Lee Sentman won a place on the All-American second team.

1956 Men's Fencing

The 1956 NCAA Championship was held at Annapolis. Individually, the University of Illinois placed second in foil (Peter Velasco), second in saber (Art Schankin), and third in epee (Larry Kauffman). All three of them made All-American on the first team.

Men's Fencing Year-by-Year Records

Men’s Fencing All-Time Letterwinners

Approximately 10,000 men and women have earned varsity letters as athletes in intercollegiate athletics at the University of Illinois from 1878. This list reflects the cumulative information contained within UI’s sports summary books for programs that have been retired. Team managers, who often earned varsity letters, have not been included due to inconsistent information. Female athletes are listed by their maiden names. As with any list of this magnitude, there could be inadvertent errors or omissions. Please contact the UI Athletic Public Relations office should you discover a mistake.