Matt Stearns Class: Senior Hometown: Minnetrista, MN High School: The Blake School Height / Weight: 6-4 / 215 Event: Sabre Birthdate: 05/18/1985 Club: Minnesota Sword Club

2005 and 2006 All-American
Three-Time NCAA Participant

Three-year veteran of NCAA Tournament who turned in All-America finishes as a sophomore and junior ... combines with fellow senior Patrick Ghattas and sophomore Bill Thanhouser to give the Irish one of the nation's top three-man sabre units ... a fiery competitor who has continually proven his ability to knock off the nation's top fencers ... his 10th-place finish at the 2005 NCAAs helped secure the national team title ... looking to continue developing his tactical preparation as he gains experience ... could develop more consistency as he learns to channel his energy while improving mental toughness ... has made good progress despite limited experience from Minnesota fencing system ... boasts a 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame that provides tremendous wingspan and reach ... makes good tactical use of long attacks ... compiled a 109-28 record in regular-season bouts during his first three seasons with the Irish ... has served past two years as men's fencing team's representative on Notre Dame's Student-Athlete Advisory Council ... placed eighth at the Penn State Open in the fall of 2006, improving on his #13 seed, thanks to early wins over PSU All-American Franz Boghicev (5-4) and Ohio State's Jason Paul, later adding a key win over Penn's Andrew Bielen (5-4) and a 15-13 victory over Rutgers All-American Ben Igoe (in the round-of-16), before losing rematch with Boghicev in quarterfinals (6-15).

AS A JUNIOR: Went 33-10 in regular-season bouts before tying for third at the Midwest Fencing Conference meet, placing sixth at the Midwest Regional and repeating as an All-American at the NCAAs (11th; 12-11) ... his 8-3 record at the Northwestern Duals included top wins over UCSD's Jason Runyan (5-3) and Stanford's Teddy Levitt (5-2) ... racked up several impressive wins at the NYU Duals (11-3), besting the likes of Ohio State Olympian Jason Rogers (5-3), fellow OSU standout and two time NCAA champ Adam Crompton (5-4), NYU's Andrew Magee (5-2), the St. John's trio of Nijmy Cadet (5-2), Luther Clement (5-1) and Nikita Tsukhlo (5-2), and Columbia 's James Williams (5-3) ... his limited action at the ND Duals (4-2) included a 5-0 win over Detroit All-American Jaroslaw Jelinek ...beat Stanford's Levitt again (5-1) as part of his 10-2 record at the UC San Diego Duals ... registered another win over OSU's Rogers in the MFC quarterfinals (15-8) before losing semifinal bout to Crompton (8-15) ... entered Regional in Cleveland as the #2 seed, going on to beat teammate Nico Diacou in the round-of-16 (15-7) before losing to OSU's Mike Momtselidze in the quarterfinals (10-15), followed by a narrow win over Thanhouser (15-14) and a loss to Rogers in the 5th-place bout ... opened NCAAs in Houston with an 8-6 record on the first day, with top wins over Detroit 's Jelinek (5-3), Duke All-American Peter Truszkowski (5-4; trailed 1-3) and Penn State All-American Marten Zagunis (5-2) ... clinched 11th-place, All-America finish by going 4-5 on the final day, with top wins over NYU's Magee, Columbia 's Alex Diacou and Harvard's David Jakus (all 5-4) ... took seventh at Penn State Open in the fall of '05, with early wins over OSU's Paul (5-3) and Harvard's Jakus (5-2), plus a 15-8 win over Phil Dolata of Rutgers in the round-of-16 and a controversial loss to eventual champ Tim Hagamen of Harvard in a 13-15 quarterfinal ... earlier placed 24th at 2005 USFA Summer Nationals ( Sacramento , Calif. ) and also competed at the North American Cup in Houston (45th; Jan. '06).

AS A SOPHOMORE: Compiled 41-9 record in regular season and placed fourth at Regional (7-4, at Wayne State ) before helping win national team title with his 10th-place finish at the NCAAs (in Houston ) ... received fencing program's Dan Mulligan Men's Sabre Leadership Award ... his All-America performance included a 14-9 record in the round-robin, tying for eighth (10th based on total-point indicators) ... combined with Ghattas to win 32 bouts in round-robin (second-most in men's sabre field), a +9 boost in their win total from 2004 (he tacked on four more NCAA wins) ... his first day at the NCAAs (8-6) included key wins over SJU's Cadet (5-3), Columbia 's Paul Reyfman (5-4), UNC's Wesley Newkirk (5-3) and Ghattas (5-3) ... closed on Friday with a 6-3 record that included clutch 5-0 victory over OSU's Rogers , after dropping four previous bouts to him in the 2005 college season (that two-point swing helped provide the final margin, as the Irish women completed the rally to edge OSU, 173-171) ... added key NCAA wins over NYU's Magee and Stanford's Curtis Andrus (both 5-3) ... matched #4 seed at Regional to earn spot at NCAAs ... handed Regional champ Ghattas his only loss at that event (5-2) ... started 6-5 at NYU Duals, including 5-2 win over Alexander Krul that helped Irish men top 5th-ranked Columbia (16-11) ... went undefeated (12-0) in first day of the ND Duals (24-3 at that two-day event) ... closed regular season 11-1 at the Duke Duals ... took sixth at Penn State Open in the fall of '04 (11-4; 15-14 win over OSU's Paul) ... opened 2005 with 3rd-place finish in u-20 competition at N.A.C. event in Overland Park, Kan. (36th in senior/open bouts), with top wins over PSU's Andrew Zich (15-11) and Columbia's Krul (15-14) before losing to OSU's Paul in a 14-15 semifinal ... placed 24th at N.A.C. event in Chattanooga , Tenn. (April '05).

AS A FRESHMAN: Went 35-9 in the regular season before reaching the MFC semifinals, placing fourth at the Midwest Regional (held at Cleveland State ) and narrowly missing All-America honors at the NCAAs (14th) ... his top NCAA wins came versus PSU's Zagunis (5-3), OSU's Paul (5-2), Columbia 's Krul (5-3), UNC's Newkirk (5-4), Harvard's Jakus (5-1) and Air Force's Sam Barton (5-4) ... his 4thplace Regional finish (8-3) included 5-2 win over Ghattas ... lost MFC semifinal to OSU's Crompton (11-15), who went on to repeat as the NCAA champion ... combined with Ghattas to win 85% of their regular-season bouts (71-13) ... opened with 7-0 record at the Northwestern Open ... his wins over Zagunis (5-3) and Ian Farr (5-2) helped Irish men post 14-13 win at Penn State ... 7-6 mark at NYU Duals included sweep of Stanford's Robert Owens (5-1) and Jon Pearlstein (5-4) ... beat OSU's Colin Parker (5-3) and UCSD's Jeremy Runyon (5-1) as part of 19-2 record at ND Duals ... placed fourth at Penn State Open in the fall of '03, beating Newkirk in round-of-16 (15-9) before losses to PSU's Zagunis (11-15) and Igoe of Rutgers (9-15) ... had finished 10th at '03 Junior Olympics ( Colorado Springs ) before posting 8th-place finish at the '04 JO's (in Cleveland ), beating NYU's McGee in round-of-16 (15-11) and losing to Ghattas in 9-15 quarterfinal ... placed 43rd at the '04 Junior World Cup in Poland and 10th at a 2004 JWC in Louisville , Ky.

PREP & PERSONAL: Multi-sport athlete at The Blake School, earning nine letters in fencing, football and track and field ... fourtime state fencing champ in sabre, serving as senior-year captain for coach Harold Buck's squad ... first began fencing at a Minnesota Sword Club summer camp (coached by Rich Jacobson) ... an all-conference football player and three-year letterwinner, as an offensive and defensive lineman ... lettered twice in track and field, advancing to regional shot-put competition ... son of John and Karen Stearns ... full name is Matthew John Stearns ... born May 18, 1985, in Minneapolis , Minn. ... a political science major, enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters.

Stearn's Career Record