The transition from club sport to varsity program is not easy, but the Denison men’s fencing team has a coach experienced at making the jump and delivering sustainable success.
Men’s fencing will become the 28th varsity sport in the Big Red athletics department starting in the 2026-27 season. The promotion comes just months after Denison announced it was adding women’s water polo to its varsity lineup in the fall of 2026.
Peter Grandbois will coach the men’s and women’s fencing teams, with Hector Florencia serving as an assistant coach for both.
Grandbois restarted the Big Red club fencing program in 2012, and within seven years helped elevate the women to varsity status. That squad has thrived under Grandbois’ guidance, winning the 2025 Eastern Women’s Fencing Conference championship and finishing the season as the nation’s top-ranked Division III team for the first time in school history.
The Denison men will join the women in the Central Collegiate Fencing Conference.
“It’s an exciting moment for fencing at Denison,” said Matt Tanney, associate vice president and director of athletics. “Both existing and prospective Denisonians are eager to compete in a varsity setting. Coach Grandbois’ leadership and development of our nationally-ranked women’s program the last seven years is a great roadmap for the men’s program. Elevating our men’s club team to immediately compete in 2026 is the logical next step for the sport.”
It’s a proud moment for the Denison men’s fencing community, which includes numerous alumni. Its roots trace back to at least 1941, when it competed in the inaugural NCAA Fencing Championships as a club team. The student-run iteration of that program fizzled out, and archival records are sketchy in terms of how many years men’s fencing has competed at the club level.
The modern Denison program began under Grandbois, a former U.S. National Foil Team member who won the 2014 USA Fencing National Championship and helped the Men’s Veteran Foil Team earn a silver medal at the 2024 Veteran Fencing World Championships.
Peter Grandbois working with a member of the men’s club team in 2016.
Grandbois, an English professor, arrived at Denison in 2010 and began circulating flyers to start a club fencing program a year later. He supplemented equipment he found on campus with some of his own gear.
Fencing consists of three disciplines: foil, epee, and sabre. Proper technique was in short supply in those early practices, with competitors whacking each other like they were on the set of Braveheart or Kill Bill.
The progress of both programs has been impressive. Grandbois is thrilled the men are finally joining the women at the varsity level.
“At the end of every season, they asked, ‘Is next year the year?’” the coach said. “They really wanted this to happen. The men have worked so hard and deserve this moment.”
Discussions about a varsity men’s team grew serious in the fall of 2025. Now that the news is official, Grandbois confessed to almost spoiling the surprise.
He recently compiled a timeline of the men’s achievements as a club team and under the 2026 heading wrote: “Men’s team becomes varsity.” Eager to read about their program’s history, the fencers asked if they could see the timeline. Forgetting his last line of text, the coach emailed them a copy.
The author of 15 published books and several plays, Grandbois scrambled for an alternative ending.
“I almost blew it,” he said, laughing. “I started getting these responses — ‘Is this true? Is this true?’ I was like, ‘Sorry guys, this was just me dreaming of what someday might happen.’ They were so disappointed. I can’t wait for them to get back on campus after the break. They’re going to be so excited. The same with the alumni, who helped build the program.”
The current men’s squad has 12 members. Ideally, Grandbois wants both the men’s and women’s teams to field rosters between 15 to 18 competitors.
Grandbois and Florencia, who’s coached the men’s club program the past two years, have much work to do before the start of next season. Their recruiting responsibilities will double, as will the need for individual private lessons. But Grandbois said the nature of training and scheduling will make the task manageable.
“Fencing is probably the most integrated of all sports,” said Grandbois, the 2024-25 Division III Women’s Team Head Coach of the Year. “Fencers often train together. They share the same facilities, the same coaches, the same equipment. Both teams will be on the same road trips. It’s a win-win.”
Grandbois believes the men’s program can follow a similar trajectory to the women’s team and become a Division III power within a few years. The men’s promotion to varsity status comes as USA Fencing continues its behind-the-scenes work with campus leaders to grow opportunities in the sport — from feasibility and program guidance to long-term strategic planning.
“It’s hard to find another athletics program in the country with such growth and dynamism at their institution as Denison,” Tanney said four months after adding women’s water polo. “We’re grateful for the support of USA Fencing as we make this transition.”
