Fencer Max Wieder knew exactly what was on the line this past weekend at the NCAA Regionals; the senior only needed to win seven more bouts to break the school record for most career wins in Sabre.
“I knew coming into Regionals that I was only a few wins away, and while a trip to the NCAA championships was also on the line, it was really important to me to get that record,” Wieder said.
In this spirit, Wieder secured his seventh victory of the day against UNC, and tacked on one additional win, to solidify his place in Hopkins fencing history. For his career, Wieder finished with 322 wins, breaking the previous record of 320 — a mark which had stood for 31 years.
“My parents were there and when I won the bout I threw my mask off and ran around giving everyone hugs,” he said. “I always love beating UNC and so the fact that the record-breaking bout came against them was the icing on the cake.”
Although Wieder narrowly missed out on securing a trip to the NCAA championships, he finished his career with a laundry list of accomplishments. He broke the school’s single season wins record during his sophomore season when he won 106 bouts and is one of just ten fencers in the 71-year history of the program to eclipse 100 wins in a season, in any weapon, and one of just five to surpass 300 career wins. He led the team in wins in each of his four seasons and won 66.4 percent of his career bout — 19th in Hopkins history in Sabre.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be setting these school records,” he said. “I wanted to fence in college, but my priority coming to Hopkins was school and then fencing came second. I knew good Sabre fencers who went to Hopkins prior to me but they all either failed out or got out of shape. I had no idea how competitive the school actually was until I got here.”
Indeed, coaches are not entirely surprised by his success.
“Max came into the program with very strong technical skills and over the past four years he has brought up both his physical and mental game,” graduate assistant coach Ian McCue said. “Starting all four years has allowed him to grow tremendously as a fencer, and he has shown an innate ability to coach himself.”
Wieder began fencing when he was around eight years old at summer camp. From there it progressed into competitive fencing when his instructor at the camp founded a club program. Although his high school did not have a fencing team, he trained six days a week and competed in national tournaments. Even after he arrived at Hopkins as a freshman, he would go home every other weekend to train for national competitions — reaching as high as 32nd on the Olympic point list (the top four make the Olympic team). But for all of Wieder’s natural talent, a lack of fitness threatened his pursuit of the school’s win record.
“Olympic coaches would tell me I had the fencing arms and brains of an Olympic gold medalist but that I needed to lose weight,” he said. “I never had that push in high school, but during my sophomore year my fraternity had a biggest loser competition and I lost a ton of weight. After that my fencing did get a lot better. We picked up a much heavier schedule the past two years, and if it hadn’t been for the weight loss I would not have been able to break this record.”
Wieder also served as team captain in both his junior and senior seasons, and since arriving to Hopkins has become more open and outgoing.
“I don’t mess around at practice, I go all out and am very vocal and try to lead from the front. As a captain I push through and encourage people to work harder, and coach will often let me come up with drills and exercises.”
The mechanical engineering major is a brother in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and for the past two years has been the lead coordinator for SigEp’s Dorm Wars. He’s also popular with the ladies — during his sophomore year he was featured in The News-Letter’s “Hot at Hopkins” section.
“I’ve definitely had fun at Hopkins. I’ve made some great friends and have tons of great memories.”
Wieder is still undecided on a post-college route yet, although one option would be to train full-time with the hopes of making the 2012 Olympic team. In any case, his name will stand out in Hopkins fencing history for decades to come.
