Slava Zingerman: NCAA Championship Watch

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Viacheslav Zingerman, better known simply as Slava, the three-time NCAA men’s epee champion (the second ever to “three-peat” in men’s epee history), with a fourth straight title on the line was a marked man.

The WSU electrical engineering technology senior competed at the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championship at Harvard University March 26 through 28 failed to attain his goal. “I started really good Saturday,” he says. “The second day, I just didn’t do well. It didn’t go as I expected it to. If I could compete the second day again, I would.”

Zingerman’s 14-9 overall record at the Championship earned him a spot on the Second Team All-American.

There was a lot of pressure from his competitors threatening to challenge the king’s throne. “Everybody wants to beat me,” says Zingerman. “It’s harder for me because they have nothing to lose.”

And although he tried not to think about possibly being the first to win four straight men’s epee titles, it was hard to ignore that possibility when asked about it during interview after interview whether conducted by the College of Engineering’s alumni magazine writer or the NCAA.

Zingerman now admits to the pressure weighing down on him more than ever before. “There was more pressure because people start talking about making history for the fourth time,” he says. “I tried to not pay attention to it, but I think there was some pressure.”

But he isn’t pointing his finger. “I don’t want to blame anybody…It was me fencing, and it’s nobody’s fault except mine, I guess,” he says jokingly, heartbroken, but sense of humor still intact. “But, you know, I’m fine. I’m just going to finish this semester.”

Zingerman’s collegiate career may have come to an end, but fencing goes on. He will take some time off to cool off and focus on school, and then he will get back to practicing regularly in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Most would agree that Zingerman has done pretty well for someone who wasn’t even aware of the NCAA when he came to America and Wayne State as a freshman in 2007. He knows that he has left his mark at the university and NCAA men’s epee fencing. “It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being a part of Wayne State athletics,” he says. “When I first started here, I never thought it would be like this. I never expected this gift.”

Fellow Wayne State fencers Jakub Gibczynski (junior) and Olivia Dobbs (freshman) placed 19th in the men’s sabre and ninth in women’s foil, respectively, at the fencing championship competition.