Denison Adds Men's NCAA Fencing, Building on Big Red's Championship Foundation
Published
Denison University will add varsity men’s fencing beginning with the 2026–27 season, making fencing part of an athletics program that will then count 28 varsity sports. For families in the Washington, D.C. area who are weighing whether saber can be part of a college plan, this is another data point in a trend that has been building for several seasons: NCAA fencing is adding programs, not shedding them.
Denison University will add varsity men’s fencing beginning with the 2026–27 season, making fencing part of an athletics program that will then count 28 varsity sports. For families in the Washington, D.C. area who are weighing whether saber can be part of a college plan, this is another data point in a trend that has been building for several seasons: NCAA fencing is adding programs, not shedding them.
What Denison Announced
The addition gives Denison a varsity men’s fencing team for the first time, joining the school’s existing women’s program. Denison competes in NCAA Division III and is a charter member of the North Coast Athletic Conference. According to USA Fencing’s report on the announcement, the Denison women’s team grew from a club program into the No. 1-ranked Division III women’s fencing program — the foundation the new men’s team is being built on.
That distinction matters when you read college fencing results. NCAA fencing does not separate competition by division: Division I, II and III programs meet each other at regular-season meets and at the NCAA Championships. A Division III school with a strong squad is not fencing in a sheltered bracket. It is fencing the same opponents a Division I school fences.
Why This Fits a Larger Pattern
USA Fencing has been publicly pushing collegiate growth, and Denison is presented as part of that effort. The national governing body’s Director of Member Services and Growth, Brad Suchorski, welcomed the addition in the announcement. Rather than paraphrase him loosely, the fair summary is simply this: USA Fencing framed Denison’s decision as evidence that its work with athletic departments is producing new varsity opportunities.
The same USA Fencing report cites other recent program additions — Fairleigh Dickinson, Arcadia and Wheaton (Massachusetts). Denison lands in that same wave.
The Numbers Behind the Opportunity
With Denison included, the source counts roughly 37 NCAA men’s fencing programs and roughly 45 women’s programs. Those are small numbers compared with sports like soccer or basketball, and that is exactly why each addition moves the needle. Every new varsity roster is a set of spots that did not exist a season earlier, plus coaching staff, recruiting travel and the admissions attention that follows a varsity designation.
For a saber fencer, the practical reading is about roster math. Fencing teams carry all three weapons. A new men’s program needs sabreurs, not just epeeists and foilists, which means each announcement like this one creates saber-specific openings.
What It Means for Families Here
If your athlete is in middle school or early high school and college fencing is on the table, the useful takeaways are modest and concrete:
- The list of schools worth researching changes from year to year. A list you built two seasons ago is already out of date.
- Because divisions mix in NCAA competition, do not rule out Division III schools on the assumption that the fencing is weaker. Look at results, not the division label.
- New programs are often the most open to hearing from recruits early, because they are building a roster from nothing.
None of that replaces the basic requirement: consistent training, national tournament experience where it makes sense, and a record that a coach can evaluate.
Training for the Long Path
College fencing decisions are made years before an application is filed, and they are made on the strip. The work that shows up in a recruiting conversation is the ordinary work — footwork that holds up in the fifth minute, distance control under pressure, a bladework repertoire that is not just one favorite action.
Saber Nation is a saber-only club at 4701 Sangamore Road, Suite LL2, Bethesda, MD 20816. Group lessons run Monday and Wednesday from 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. and Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m., with private lessons available for fencers building toward competition. If your family is thinking about a multi-year path in sabre, that is the training rhythm it starts with. Reach us at (301) 200-1853 or info@sabernation.com.
Official Source
USA Fencing, “Denison Adds Men’s NCAA Fencing, Building on Big Red’s Championship Foundation,” published Jan. 6, 2026: https://www.usafencing.org/news/2026/january/06/denison-adds-men-s-ncaa-fencing-building-on-big-red-s-championship-foundation
Everything above comes from that announcement. Confirm current roster plans, tryout policies and recruiting contacts directly with Denison athletics.
Training options
Continue with USA Fencing's college growth team or Trinity College adds varsity fencing or More USA Fencing news or Saber fencing classes in Bethesda, MD.