Foilist Julian Cardillo '14 finished 19th out of 24 foil fencers in the 2012 NCAA Fencing Championships at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio last Sunday.

Cardillo, the sole representative from the men's and women's fencing squads to qualify for the NCAA Championships, finished 7-16 in the two-day tournament.

"Obviously, it's never fun to win less than you lose, but with that said, a lot of the bouts I lost, six of them actually, were 5-4," he said. "So, on a different day, I could probably have snatched victories in all of those matches."

Although Cardillo finished 17th in last year's NCAA Championships as a first-year, he acknowledged that he was more satisfied with his fencing this time around.

"Last year, I had a terrific first day, and it actually was my tournament to do poorly at, and that's exactly what I did," he said. "I fenced really, really poorly the second day. Even though this year I have a worse result, I am actually happier because I was very consistent and fenced well throughout the entire thing."

Of Cardillo's seven victories, two came against top-seven fencers. In his second bout, Cardillo scored a 5-2 win against No. 5 University of Notre Dame senior Reggie Bentley.

In his last contest on Sunday, Cardillo defeated Yale University senior Shiv Kachru 5-3. The upset victory put Notre Dame senior Enzo Castellani in the top four.

"Obviously, being from Yale, [Kachru's] from my region, so we go back and forth, so there's a little bit of a rivalry there," Cardillo said. "That was my last bout of the day, and I beat him. I beat him good, so I'm happy with that."

With his fencing season now over, Cardillo has his eyes set out on becoming an All-American, which is awarded to the top 12 finishers in the NCAA Championships.

"I am still waiting for that All-American result," he said. "I think I am worthy to be an All-American, which means I deserve to be here. I still have two years to do that, and I expect to be back here by junior and senior year. I expect that before I graduate, I will be an All-American."

In order to become an All-American, Cardillo said he must be more disciplined, especially in close matches.

"A lot of it comes down to my own discipline," he said. "I am not the best fencer in the room. There are people here who are just as good as me or better. A lot of it is just skill, and unfortunately, desire isn't enough. The desire is very important to want that goal, but in the future, I think I need to be a little more disciplined; be able to close the matches that are 4-4 and get that fifth touch and get that win."