The meet was divided into six groupings, with foil, sabre and epee groups for the men's and women's teams.
Dartmouth's effort was highlighted by a particularly strong performance from the men's epee team headed by David Seliger '12, Scott Brookes '14, Peter Horak '14 and alternate Ryan Smith '14 which won 5-0 in competition.
Dartmouth fared particularly well in the competition, as four of the five other competing teams are NCAA varsity squads. Tufts, like Dartmouth, was the other non-varsity team at the meet.
The NCAA varsity status allows for certain advantages, according to co-captain Tan Chen '11. After losing its varsity status in the 1970s, Dartmouth's team became a club sport.
"As a varsity school, they have all these different coaches helping them out and helping them hone their techniques and there is more skill there to help [them] improve," Chen said. "For men's epee to go undefeated this Saturday is quite a feat considering we're club."
Epee squad members said they do not dwell on any deficiencies stemming from the sport's delineation as a club sport.
"Fencing is a very individual sport, so when you get up on the strip it's just you and the other guy," Brookes said. "If I fence someone who is 6'7'', that's a little bit more intimidating than knowing he has a coach."
Seliger acknowledged the differences between Dartmouth and other NFC teams but downplayed their significance.
"The fact that we can do this well without a coach seems to surprise just about everybody," Seliger said. "As we've shown this past conference meet, we can certainly hold our own."
The competition experience of epee team members helped key the team's performance. Although as freshmen they have competed in relatively few team meets for the Big Green, both Horak and Brookes said they have had a significant amount of practice in individual competition prior to matriculating at Dartmouth.
"I've fenced an Olympian before," Brookes said. Brookes competed against fencer James Carpenter, who was on the 1996 U.S. team that competed in the Olympic games, during an individual tournament through the Unites States Fencing Association.
Co-captain Stephanie Han '11 added that Dartmouth's other weapon squads also train talented younger team members.
"I think we got a really great group of '14s this year," she said. "They've already shown a lot of improvement in the past term that they've practiced."
Han is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.
The women's foil team went 4-2 in Saturday's competition, but the women's epee, women's sabre and men's foil squads were defeated. Although the men's foil team struggled to fight its opponents and ended with a 1-4 record, three of its losses were by narrow 4-5 margins.
The women's team also faced Smith College at the competition on Saturday.
Chen, a member of the men's foil squad, said he is optimistic about the squad's future success. The team will compete at the New England Club Championship tournament on Feb. 19 at the University of New Hampshire.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we brought home at least three to four golds," Chen said. "Last year we brought home two golds, a silver and two bronzes and this year I think we'll have more golds for sure."
Seliger echoed Chen's confidence in the team's potential.
"In the past few years, the men's team, especially the epee squad, has been getting much, much stronger," he said. "My freshman year we did okay at New England championships. Last year we did rather well and this year it's looking like we're going to dominate."
