Bill Thanhouser Class: Junior Hometown: Portland, OR High School: Oregon Episcopal Height / Weight: 5-8 / 150 Event: Sabre Birthdate: 03/18/1986 Club: Oregon Fencing Alliance

2007 All-American
Academic All-America Candidate (3.63)
U.S. Junior National Team (2006)
Men's Sabre Team Captain

Leader of young men's sabre squad who could emerge as one of top contenders for 2008 NCAA individual sabre title, after tying for 4th-place (ended up 6th) at the 2007 NCAAs ... brings excellent leadership skills and focus on team goals to his new role as the sabre team captain, replacing four-time All-American Patrick Ghattas (who has returned as an intern assistant coach with the Irish) ... entered his junior season listed 22nd on the USFA national men's sabre "rolling" rankings (as of Oct. 23, 2007) ... lefthanded battler who has style similar to the righthanded Ghattas, with excellent technique and effective creation of speed to go along with keen reaction skills ... an emotional competitor and vocal leader who thrives in big bouts ... combines great footwork with strong will to win ... hails from Oregon Fencing Alliance elite sabre academy that also has produced three current freshmen on the Irish squad (Avery Zuck, Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett), plus recent four-year All-Americans Ghattas and Valerie Providenza (in addition to 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mariel Zagunis) ... has strong drive to reach his own Olympic dream in the upcoming years ... could benefit from daily battles with Ghattas during team training this season ... was rated third in the U.S. junior-level men's sabre rankings (Under-20) during 2005 ... matched that ranking on the international level with an impressive 3rd-place finish at the Junior World Cup held in Logrono, Spain (Jan. '06) ... joined Notre Dame classmate Adi Nott (women's foilist) and future ND teammate Kelley Hurley (epee) as members of U.S. contingent that competed at Junior World Championships in Taebek City, South Korea (April '06) ... had one of the top U.S. individual finishes in Korea (14th) while also combining with Stanford's Teddy Levitt, Penn's Matthew Zich and current PSU sophomore Andrew Bielen for 10th-place team finish at 2006 Junior World Championships ... turned in a 6th-place finish amidst an elite field at the North American Cup held in Tucson, Ariz. (April '07), placing behind Olympians Ivan Lee and Jason Rogers, current Ohio State standout Mike Momtselidze, Columbia's James Williams and three-time NCAA champion Adam Crompton (who fenced at OSU) ... his other recent international events have included various Junior World Cups: 6th in Sosnowiec, Poland (summer '05); 23rd in Dormagen, Germany (Nov. '05); 67th in Budapest (Jan. '06); and 126th in Dourdan, France (Feb '06) ... could emerge as a top candidate for Academic All-America honors, after compiling a 3.63 cumulative grade-point average during his first two years at Notre Dame ... an invited participant in the Notre Dame athletics department's Academic Honors Program (faculty mentoring) ... placed 12th at the annual Penn State Open, in the fall of 2007.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Finished the 2007 regular season with the 10th-most wins (51-12) ever by a Notre Dame men's sabre fencer ... went on to have a strong postseason, placing fifth at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships, second at the NCAA Midwest Regional and sixth at the NCAAs (good for second team All-America honors) ... opened with 24-3 at the Notre Dame Duals, highlighted by wins over several All-Americans and NCAA Tournament veterans - such as Ohio State's Jason Paul (5-4), Stanford's Levitt (5-3), UC San Diego's Jason Runyan (5-1) and Detroit's Jarek Jelinek (5-3) ... his 10-5 record at the NYU Duals included similar noteworthy wins over Columbia's Williams (5-4), Luther Clement of St. John's (5-3), OSU's Paul (5-2) and Yale's Christopher Peterson (5-4) ... kept rolling at the Duke Duals (10-2), with more top wins over Air Force's C.J. Baran (5-0), North Carolina's Will Randolph (5-4) and Peter Truszkowski from the home team (5-0) ... topped his club teammate Ian Farr (from Penn State; 5-2) as part of his 7-2 record at the Northwestern Duals ... lost to OSU's Paul in the MFC quarterfinals (12-15; placed 5th) but avenged that loss the next day in the MFC team final (with a 5-3 win over Paul) ... entered Midwest Regional (at ND) as the #4 seed but had to overcome early upset loss to OSU's Dexter Wilde (9-15) ... battled back to reach the Regional semifinals, beating Sergey Smirnov (15-13) but losing the final to his OSU teammate Momtselidze (10-15) ... opened NCAAs in Madison, N.J., with 10-4 record on day-1 - featuring top wins over Columbia's Alexander Krul (5-4) and Detroit's Jarek Jelinek (5-2) ... added 7-2 record on day-2 of NCAAs, tying for 4th-place (17-6; ended up 6th, based on total-point indicators) ... that strong finish included his first career wins over OSU Momtselidze (5-4) and another All-American, Ben Igoe of Rutgers (5-3), plus other noteworthy victories over OSU's Smirnov (5-0), SJU's Torian Brown (5-3), Stanford's Levitt (5-1) and PSU's Farr (5-4) ... he and Ghattas (18-5) had the most combined wins in the 2007 NCAA men's sabre field ... their 35 combined wins are third-most ever by an ND men's sabre duo in NCAA action (since current format started in '95) - behind the 2000 pair of Gabor Szelle (20) and Andrzej Bednarski (17), and the 1997 duo of Bill Lester (21) and Luke LaValle (15) ... combined with Ghattas to win 18 straight bouts at one point during the NCAAs, spanning the two days ... went 3-1 in one-touch bouts during the NCAAs ... entered Penn State Open in fall of 2006 as #8 seed and placed 12th, with pair of early wins over OSU's Paul (5-2; 5-3) before losing in round-of-16 to Momtselidze (9-15) ... placed eighth in his final event of 2006, the North American Cup in Richmond, Va. - finishing behind some top names in U.S. men's sabre fencing (former NCAA champs Keeth Smart, Crompton and Lee, plus Harvard's Tim Hagamen, RU's Igoe, Penn's Matt Kolasa and national-teamer Tim Morehouse) ... gave Smart a battle in the Richmond N.A.C. quarterfinals before falling, 12-15.

AS A FRESHMAN: Turned in a solid first season with the Irish, going 41-10 in regular-season bouts before 12th-place finish at the MFCs and 8th-place showing at Midwest Regional (leaving him just shy of spot in NCAAs) ... opened with 13-3 record at Northwestern Duals that included top wins over Stanford's Levitt (5-4), UCSD's Bret Martin (5-2) and the UNC duo of Robert Ziechmann (5-4) and Randolph (5-1) ... posted several impressive wins at NYU Duals (8-6), including comeback from 0-4 deficit versus Columbia's Krul (5-4) and win by same score over two-time NCAA champion Crompton of Ohio State (5-4), plus victories over Columbia's Alex Diacou (5-2) and SJU's Nikita Tsukhlo (5-4) ... did not compete in ND Duals (Jan. '06) due to Jr. World Cup event in Spain, where he placed third ... closed regular season 6-0 at OSU Duals and 14-1 at UCSD Duals, with top wins over Stanford's Curtis Andrus (5-2), Air Force's Baran (5-1), and the UCSD duo of Martin (5-1) and Runyan (5-1) ... finished 12th at MFCs, after loss in round-of-16 to OSU's Paul (13-15) ... headed to Cleveland as #3 seed for Regional but dropped to #7 seed for direct-elimination (4-2 in pool bouts) before losing to Paul in quarterfinals (10-15), followed by losses to his ND teammate Matt Stearns (14-15) and then Detroit's Jelinek (12-15) in 7th-place bout ... reached round-of-16 (10-15 loss to Ghattas) at Penn State Open in fall of '05 ... his 2005-06 USFA events included placing 16th at N.A.C. in Overland Park, Kan. (Jan. '05), a 3rd-place showing in U-19 bouts at 2005 Summer Nationals (Sacramento, Calif.), a 5th-place finish at the Albuquerque N.A.C. (Nov. '05), placing 11th in U-20 bouts and 24th overall at the Houston N.A.C. (Jan. '06), and finishing 15th at 2006 Summer Nationals in Atlanta.

PREP & PERSONAL: Attended Oregon Episcopal School (as did Ghattas) while training at Oregon Fencing Alliance, coached by former ND assistant Ed Korfanty ... nationally-ranked throughout youth fencing career ... undefeated in bouts with OFA as junior and senior (team captain both years) ... his 2004-05 national and international results included: 22nd at Jr. Olympics, 14th at Summer Nationals, 19th at Louisville (Ky.) Jr. World Cup and 63rd at Dormagen (Germany) Jr. World Cup ... member of U.S. cadet-level (U-17) men's sabre national team in 2003 ... won cadet and junior-level men's sabre title at 2003 Pan-Am Championships (in Guadeloupe) ... placed 13th at 2003 Jr. World Championships (Trapani, Italy) ... other top 2003 results included: winning U-17 title, taking 3rd-place in U-20s and helping junior men's sabre team post 4th-place showing at Summer Nationals (Austin, Texas); and placing 10th in Columbus, Ohio, 12th in Palm Springs, Calif., and 19th in Overland Park, Kan. (all as a d-I competitor in those N.A.C.'s) ... selected for Nov. 24, 2003, issue of Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" ... his top 2002 events included winning U-17 title at N.A.C. in Orlando, being runner-up at similar event in Greenville, S.C., and pair of 8th-place cadet finishes at World Cup in Godollo, Hungary, and Jr. World Cup in Louisville ... lettered as midfielder on OES soccer team during junior year ... served as student body vice-president ... son of Ned and Anne Thanhouser ... full name is William Lloyd Thanhouser ... born March 18, 1986, in Portland, Ore. ... a Program of Liberal Studies major, in the College of Arts and Letters.