Cover Photo Credit: Nathan Crowley-Peters
UNB Fencing hosted the first annual Duel of the Hill fencing tournament dubbed “Residence vs Residence” on September 26, 2026.
Eight resident buildings participated in the event: Bridges, Neville-Jones, Harrison, Mackenzie, Aitken, Tibbits, Elizabeth Parr-Johnson (EPJ), and Lady Beaverbrook Residence (LBR).
The day began with the different residents meeting up at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym for their training sessions before the tournament. As none of the residents had prior experience, UNB Fencing Director Dhomas and other event-runners disclosed that each building would have an hour to prepare and train with them. Once they had time to prepare, all residents would face their fellow residents from the same house to determine who would be participating in the final bracket.
Annabelle Thiebaud, a tournament participant representing Bridges, shared her personal desire to join the tournament:
“When I first heard it, it was at the UNB Club Fair. I saw their booth, the fencing club. I didn’t join it at first, but it kind of stuck in the back of my mind. Then I saw the Duel of the Hill posters and stuff like that. I’m like, okay, this seems like something I could do with my free time. Then it just interested me, so I’m like, why not give it a shot?”
Riley McDonough, a participant in the competition representing Harrision, shared his opinion on the event and why he participated:
“Well, I’m already kind of in the club itself, but I haven’t had a lot of experience, so they let me do it, you know, participate … I just thought it would be a nice, you know, fun little starter event to the year.”
Riley also expressed his reaction to passing through the first round, humorously recalling that:
“… I made my roommate come and do it, so my first round was against him, and he’s not the most energetic person, but it was still fun to get him to come out and do this with me.”
After a few hours and a dinner break, the tournament began! Viewers gathered along the stadium in support of their friends and residents, as well as to enjoy the matches themselves. Mackenzie House earned their spotlight, being the loudest viewing section and going as far as creating their own shield poster to celebrate their house!
The tournament style was made as such: the gym would be split into two sides, orange and green. The orange side would be for those who lost a game, the green would be for those who won. If a person lost twice, they were eliminated. Eventually the winner from both sides would face each other in the finale.
After many different battles and great playing from all participants, the finale came down to Neville-Jones and Tibbits. Due to Neville-Jones’ Samuel Foulem being undefeated, the anonymous Tibbits resident would’ve had to beat him twice. Unfortunately, he wasn’t successful, and Samuel Foulem won undefeated, a flawless victory.
He was celebrated amongst his fellow Neville-Jones residents, having his photo taken with his building’s flag and his friends that supported him through the tournament. Dhomas also presented him with a champion shirt. This, as well as the promise for his photo on hang the wall, marks the beginning of many future fencing fights and victories.
After his victory, Samuel expressed his excitement and joy for winning, saying “it was awesome” and commenting on how he may also join the club.
Finally, Dhomas, getting emotional, shared his future aspirations for the tournaments, and the results of everything that occurred:
“I think it’s pretty awesome. I’m, uh, a little teary. The, um, just the caliber of the skill, I think, like, just the whole way the thing played out… I think we put on a great show… It’s pretty amazing how quickly they picked it up. I think that really says something amazing about fencing that doesn’t really exist in other sports.”
If you’re interested in fencing, head to the UNB Fencing Club website and sign up today!
