2018 All-America leads All-ACC Academic Team
Greensboro, N.C. (theACC.com) — Notre Dame senior Jonah Shainberg, who led the Irish to the 2018 national championship, has been named the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Fencing Scholar-Athlete of the Year and heads up the sport’s 10-man All-ACC Academic Team, the league announced Friday.
Shainberg, from Rye, New York, is a senior majoring in Management Consulting. He finished fifth in the NCAA Championship in sabre as Notre Dame won its second consecutive NCAA team championship. He also captured the ACC individual title in the sabre and finished sixth in the NCAA Midwest Regional, posting an overall 38-18 record for the year.
He earned his fourth selection to the All-ACC Academic Men’s Fencing team, joining teammate Jonathan Fitzgerald and Duke’s Pascual Di Tella, in becoming the first fencers to be named to the ACC Fencing All-ACC Academic team four times.
The All-ACC Academic fencing teams began in 2015, when the ACC added the sport.
“At Notre Dame, we strive to excel on the strip and in the classroom,” head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia said. “As such, when our students are recognized by the ACC for their academic accomplishments, it is a great honor — especially when you consider the caliber of our fellow conference schools.”
“I am thrilled that Jonah has been named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Spend any time around him, and you'll see that the passion and work ethic he demonstrates in his fencing is matched by that he puts into his academic and professional life. He will be a success in any endeavor he chooses, and I can't think of a more worthy recipient of such a prestigious award.”
The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters. To be eligible for All-ACC Academic Team consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a minimum 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a minimum 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.
A total of four members of this year’s 10-man All-ACC Academic Fencing Team are All-Americans in Shainberg, Duke’s Di Tella, who was a third team All-America in sabre; Notre Dame’s Axel Kiefer, who was a first-team All-America in foil and Notre Dame’s Nicholas Hanahan, who was a second-team All-America in epee.
Di Tella, the 2017 ACC Fencing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was named the 2018 ACC Fencer of the Year in sabre and was one of three fencers from Duke, including Eoin Gronningsater, chosen as ACC Championship Most Outstanding Fencers.
Notre Dame and Duke led all schools with four student-athletes each, followed by Boston College and North Carolina with one each.
The ACC Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.0 for the current academic year, will be released in July.
2018 All-ACC Academic Men’s Fencing Team
| Name |
School |
Year |
Weapon |
Major |
Hometown |
| ****Pascual Di Tella |
Duke |
Sr. |
Sabre |
Political Science |
Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| ****Jonathan Fitzgerald |
Notre Dame |
Sr. |
Sabre |
Arabic |
East Brunswick, N.J. |
| **Eoin Gronningsater |
Duke |
So. |
Foil |
Political Science |
Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| **Nicholas Hanahan |
Notre Dame |
Sr. |
Epee |
Finance |
Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Jacob Henkels |
North Carolina |
So. |
Epee |
Public Policy/ Economics |
Cleveland, Ohio |
| ***Axel Kiefer |
Notre Dame |
Jr. |
Foil |
Science, Pre-Prof. |
Lexington, Ky. |
| Cameron Meyer |
Boston College |
Jr. |
Foil |
Finance |
Newton, Mass. |
| Brycen Rushing |
Duke |
Fr. |
Foil |
Undeclared |
Carrollton, Texas |
| ****Jonah Shainberg |
Notre Dame |
Sr. |
Sabre |
Mgt. Consulting |
Rye, N.Y. |
| **Agoston Walter |
Duke |
So. |
Sabre |
Biomedical Eng. |
Framingham, Mass. |
** - Two-time honoree
*** - Three-time honoree
**** -Four-time honoree
ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Jonah Shainberg, Notre Dame
ACC Fencing Scholar-Athletes
2014-15—Ariel DeSmet, Notre Dame
2015-16—Garrett McGrath, Notre Dame
2016-17—Pascual Di Tella, Duke
2017-18—Jonah Shainberg, Notre Dame