Two Islanders among six newcomers to Wagner College women's fencing roster

Staten Island, NY - First-year head women's fencing coach Carter Bartram has announced the completion of his roster for the 2018-19 season, which will include six newcomers, including two Staten Islanders, and seven returners. Joining the Seahawks and providing valuable depth at all three weapons are Carolyn Quoka, Caecilia Thuermer, Natasha Novikov, Cleo Burton and Islanders Abini Mahalingam and Hallie Tiburzi. "I'm very excited to get to work with our incoming class," said Bartram. "These six girls perfectly address our needs and will help us field a balanced roster this season while also giving us a solid amount of competition within our own squad." The incoming class includes two local fencers from right here on Staten Island in Mahalingam and Tiburzi, as well as student-athletes from Connecticut, Alabama, Colorado, and Germany. With four incoming foil fencers and two epee fencers, the Seahawks will now have at least three student-athletes competing in all three of the weapon categories, with most of Wagner's returnees competing in the sabre weapon. Here's a close look at each of the six incoming Seahawks. Carolyn Quoka Madison, CT | Daniel Hand High School | Foil

Before Wagner: Four-year foil fencer at Daniel Hand High School ... Named First-Team All-State by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association as a senior ... Led the Tigers to a third-place finish in the All-Team State Championships in 2017 ... Finished her senior season with a 43-6 record, placing among the top-25 fencers in the state ... Placed second in the St. Patrick's Day JV Tournament as a sophomore ... Member of the Fencers School of Connecticut ... Plans to major in Bio Psychology at Wagner. Caecilia Thuermer Tauberbischofsheim, Germany | Matthias Grunewald-Gymnasium | Foil Before Wagner: Trained at Germany's premier fencing school in Tauberbischofsheim ... Represented Germany in the 2017 and 2018 World Cup competitions, placing among the top 200 both times ... Competed in the U23 European Circuit, earning a top-25 finish in the foil competition in Moedling, Austria. Abini Mahalingam Staten Island, NY | Tottenville | Foil Before Wagner: A Staten Island native who competed for Tottenville's varsity fencing team for three years as a foil fencer ... Won the PSAL Championships with the Pirates in 2014-15 ... Also competed on the club level at the Staten Island Fencing Center, along with fellow Seahawk Hallie Tiburzi ... Logged 116 touches as a senior while registering more than 250 touches throughout her varsity career. Hallie Tiburzi Staten Island, NY | Notre Dame Academy | Foil Before Wagner: Attended Notre Dame Academy right down the road from Wagner's Grymes Hill campus ... Competed at the Staten Island Fencing Center at the club level, where she joined forces with fellow Seahawk Abini Mahalingam ... Also competed as a swimmer at Notre Dame, where she broke multiple school records as part of the Gators' relay teams ... Recipient of Notre Dame's President's Award for Educational Excellence as a senior. Natasha Novikov Mobile, AL | University of Nebraska Online High School | Epee Before Wagner: Qualified for the Summer Nationals as an Epee fencer from 2014-2018 ... Three-year varsity fencer at the high school level ... Multi-sport athlete, earning All-State honors in gymnastics ... Competed for Planet Fencing ... Her father, Vladimir, won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games in gymnastics. Cleo Burton Arvada, Colorado | Early College of Arvada | Epee

Before Wagner: Competed in club fencing at the Denver Fencing Center as an Epee fencer ... Placed 12th at the 2018 NAC competition, in addition to placing 16th at the 2017 Summer Nationals ... Also competed in the Junior Olympics and Summer Nationals in 2016 ... Born in China ... Plans to major in Business Management. Last season, In just its second season of existence, Wagner sent two student-athletes to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional competition in freshmen Abby Buckborough and Dove Sinclair, who qualified through their performances throughout the regular season. Buckborough, Wagner's leading fencer on the season, placed 24th in the regionals while Sinclair checked in with a 32nd-place finish. After delivering an early-season ninth-place effort at the Penn State Open, Buckborough turned in a dominant performance at the LIU Post Invitational, winning 17 of 18 bouts on the day, in leading the Seahawks to a win over Yeshiva. Sinclair, meanwhile, provided Wagner with additional firepower in the sabre weapon, finishing second on the team in victories during the season. Her best finish of the season came at the NIWFA Christmas Invite, hosted by Drew University, where the first-year Seahawk placed 20th overall.

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