Gia has been amazing as you note
But she inherited a pretty great program already.
Michael DeCicco was the one that put fencing on the Notre Dame map. He won 2 championships before Yves Auriol joined him. Together they won 3 more (2 split, one combined). Janusz Bednarski won 3 in his 12 seasons following. That's when Gia took over and really elevated the program to new heights. But those predecessors really laid a lot of groundwork.
RIP Luke LaValle.
Complete thread:
- Notre Dame Fencing - Build Gia A Frickin' Statue on Campus -
NDJuban,
2026-03-22, 14:27
![[*]](themes/default/images/complete_thread.png "Open whole thread")
- Gia has been amazing as you note -
Domer99,
2026-03-23, 08:57
- Mike DeCicco was not only the Knute Rockne of ND fencing -
Jack,
2026-03-23, 12:04
- I never had the pleasure of meeting him. But I damn well -
Grantland,
2026-03-24, 07:14
- Almost forgot - he also taught the fencing rotation in PE
![[ [ No text ] ]](themes/default/images/no_text.png "Empty posting / no text")
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Jack,
2026-03-24, 10:09
- Almost forgot - he also taught the fencing rotation in PE
- Yep, he started ND’s famed academic tutoring program -
Mark,
2026-03-23, 12:14
- When I was in grad school at ND in the early 80s, - oviedoirish, 2026-03-23, 12:51
- I never had the pleasure of meeting him. But I damn well -
Grantland,
2026-03-24, 07:14
- Do we need a group statue? - Chris, 2026-03-23, 10:52
- RIP - Greg, 2026-03-23, 10:46
- +1 - Mark, 2026-03-23, 10:08
- Man, Yves was awesome. -
domer.mq,
2026-03-23, 09:02
- “Auriol, like the cookie” -
Jeff (BGS),
2026-03-23, 10:54
- Also a professional rugby player - Greg, 2026-03-23, 14:00
- The greatest athletic achievement of my life... -
domer.mq,
2026-03-23, 11:27
- We had a young lady that had trained as a -
Mark,
2026-03-23, 12:06
- I think I've mentioned before - Jay, 2026-03-23, 13:48
- We had a young lady that had trained as a -
Mark,
2026-03-23, 12:06
- “Auriol, like the cookie” -
Jeff (BGS),
2026-03-23, 10:54
- Mike DeCicco was not only the Knute Rockne of ND fencing -
Jack,
2026-03-23, 12:04
- Interesting insight - Greg, 2026-03-23, 08:44
- Why are we so good at Fencing? -
Grantland,
2026-03-23, 06:23
- We were already good, but the facilities (est. 2012) help -
Aaron (Shakespeare),
2026-03-23, 09:24
- From the archives..... - Domer99, 2026-03-23, 17:54
- It's a lot like the success of Mendoza - South Shore Line, 2026-03-23, 09:19
- We were already good, but the facilities (est. 2012) help -
Aaron (Shakespeare),
2026-03-23, 09:24
- Tremendous work. -
San Pedro,
2026-03-22, 17:54
- yes! -
KGB,
2026-03-23, 14:06
- yes!
- NW corner of the Joyce seems like a great spot. -
Chris,
2026-03-22, 17:21
- incredible -
KGB,
2026-03-22, 14:40
- Gia has been amazing as you note -
Domer99,
2026-03-23, 08:57