The men’s fencing team ended competition for its fall season on Sunday with a dominant performance at the Brandeis Invitational in Waltham, Mass.

In a long day of bouts against six other schools, the Bulldogs posted a 5–1 record that included victories against Johns Hopkins, Boston College, UNC, Brandeis and MIT. The team surpassed the 4–1 performances it produced in each of its past two trips to the annual tournament.

“The team had a lot of energy going into the tournament,” team captain Cornelius Saunders ’14 said. “Everyone fenced to his best ability, especially in the beginning.”

The Bulldogs topped Johns Hopkins, 15–12, to start the day, but fell to St. John’s for the third year in a row with a 12–15 loss in their next competition.

Sabreur Hugh O’Cinneide ’15 saw a silver lining in the loss. The team improved from last year’s 9–18 loss.

“We really kept the energy up [and] they were definitely the hardest team out there,” he said.

The Elis rebounded in their next two matchups against Boston College and UNC, winning by 20–7 and 16–11 margins, respectively.

In each of the past two years, Yale and five other teams have traveled to the tournament, but this year Johns Hopkins was added to the tournament roster, stretching the Elis to six matches in one day. Even after hours of bouting, Yale continued to topple its opponents. In a close matchup with their Brandeis hosts, the Elis pulled through with a 14–13 victory. They then finished up the tournament with a decisive 17–10 win over MIT.

While the team’s loss to St. John’s foiled any hopes for a Yale sweep, the Bulldogs were able to score individual successes in their contest against the Red Storm. Given the opportunity to face Race Imboden, a 2012 U.S. Olympian and St. John’s foilist, Bryan Wang ’16 demonstrated the promise of the freshman class with a 5–1 sweep.

“I tried not to even think that [Imboden] was an Olympian,” Wang said. “I just did my best and gave it my all … I’m really excited since this is my first college tournament.”

Hugh O’Cinneide ’15 added that the transition from an individual sport in high school to a team setting in college is sometimes difficult but the freshmen all stepped up to the challenge and performed well.

With fall competition behind them, the Bulldogs are officially on break until they return to the strip on Jan. 19 to host Sacred Heart in Payne Whitney.