Ghafoor emerged as one of the team's star talents, and won a heart-pounding match against Brown University. Up 14-12, he stuggled to get one more touch against his opponent. With the score tied and seemingly stuck 14, Ghafoor said he gave everything he had to get his 15th point.
"When he won the whole team piled on top of him in excitement," men's captain David Seliger said. "He was exhausted, but was able to come through with the final touch."
Dartmouth placed 13 fencers in the top 32 of their respective divisions. A total of 485 fencers competed at the event, and each division contained approximately 80 athletes.
Stern and Seliger both said the competition was a good start for the team's freshmen. Dartmouth boasts the biggest fencing team in its history this year, approximately double the size of last year's squad.
"This was a great weekend for us," Seliger said. "We have around 30 freshmen on the team, many of whom have only been fencing for one month. However, many of them were still able to go 50-50 in their first rounds. It's fantastic to see how much progress they've made so far and it really shows how dedicated they've been."
Stern and Seliger stressed the importance of the team's weekly practice, since it can be difficult for such a new and large team get to know one another's skills and weaknesses.
"We've really just been trying to focus on the basics of fencing," Seliger said. "But since this the first competition for many people on the team, the upperclassmen have been working with the younger fencers, teaching them strategies and skills to win."
Stern said the team has been working hard as a group to prepare the underclassmen for competitions.
"We've really been trying to focus hard on drills in practice in order to build confidence and improve weaknesses, especially regarding the new fencers," she said. "I'm really glad about the way the weekend went. It seemed like each individual improved in each bout."
The main focus in practice last week was to teach inexperienced team members how to strategically fence, Seliger said.
"We taught the younger fencers to focus more on defensive actions rather than offensive in their first bouts," he said. "The most important thing is being able to defend and protect from hits."
Seliger also said it is challenging to sustain such a large squad since it is difficult to teach so many inexperienced fencers at one time.
"It's very different this year," Seliger said. "We're trying to figure out how to teach three people at a time now as opposed to just one at a time in the past. It's a learning experience for me just as it is for them."
Omar, who had fenced for five years prior to his rookie season at Dartmouth, said the team's support helped him reach the fifth round.
"We had to wake up at 4 a.m. that day, we are all tired, but everyone was very supportive and helped push me to finish out strong," Omar said.
Omar said the team has bonded well and has supported each other in its initial competitions.
"I think once everyone gets a little more accustomed and masters their technique, we can achieve at our maximum potential."
The Big Green competes next at Boston College in late January.
