Sacred Heart
NCAA Regionals
Aslan Highlights Pioneers at NCAA Regionals, Qualifies for Nationals in Saber
3/10/2026 6:16:00 PM | Men's Fencing
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – First year Saberist Tolga Aslan has extended the 2025-26 season for the Sacred Heart Pioneers with his selection to 2026 National Collegiate Men's Fencing Championship after finishing sixth overall at the NCAA Regional Championships this past weekend hosted by Vassar College.
Aslan, who was also named All-Region Second Team by the United States Fencing Coaches Association, earned a bye in the first round before advancing to the semifinal pool with a 4-2 finish and matched that finish to advance to the final pool where he finished 6-5 earning sixth place overall.
"This is arguably the strongest men's saber field ever this year," said head coach Khristopher White. "The top 13 athletes were all rated ahead of the top fencer in other regions. They competed not just against college athletes but NCAA Champions, World Champions and Olympians, all fighting for an NCAA qualification spot. Tolga finishing sixth among them speaks volumes of his hard work in securing his own qualification spot."
In addition to Aslan's success in Saber, Jonathan Morales and Oliver Lindholm also competed in the discipline, both working through the play in round. Both Morales (3-1) and Lindholm (2-2) advanced to the first round where they finished 2-4 and 1-5, respectively. "Jonathan showed promise against the strong fencers he had in his first-round pool and I am confident he will be able to take advantage of this experience and come back even stronger," continued White.
The Pioneers also had a pair of Pios competing in Foil with Chaissen Costello and Alexander Ligos advancing through pool play to the first round with finishes of 2-2 and 3-1, respectively. Both would finish the first round 1-5.
Rounding out the regional action for the Pioneers was Declan McAdoo in Epee where he swept his play-on round 4-0 and advanced through to the semifinal round. Among his first-round action was a strong 5-1 performance against NCAA All-American Tony Whelan from Yale while he also faced the eventual regional champion in NYU's Szymon Wojciechowski.
Aslan, who was one of 144 competitors to advance to the national championship, will return to action March 19-22 with the University of Notre Dame playing host to the championship meet where fencers will compete in a round-robin format. Following round robin, the top four finishers in each weapon will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts with the winners fencing to determine first and second place.
Players Mentioned
