Natalia Botello is a national champion.
Botello captured the 2026 NCAA saber title on Friday at the NCAA Championships at Notre Dame, becoming just the fourth individual national champion in Ohio State women’s fencing history. She joins Yelena Kalkina (epee, 1997), Katarzyna Dabrowa (epee, 2012) and Eleanor Harvey (foil, 2016) in that distinction.
A native of Tijuana, Mexico, Botello entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and lived up to it. She defeated Notre Dame’s No. 3 seed Siobhan Sullivan, 15-11, in the semifinals before dominating the Irish’s No. 2 seed Magda Skarbonkiewicz, 15-5, in the final. With the victory, Botello also secured her second career first-team All-American honor.
Gloria Klughardt added a second-team All-American finish, placing eighth in women’s epee. Marie-Frederique Millette also competed in epee, finishing 20th.
As a team, Ohio State placed seventh overall, while Notre Dame claimed the women’s national title.
The NCAA Men's Championships will be held on Saturday and Sunday. The tournament will feature four Buckeyes: Albert Bagdány (foil), Solin Li (foil), Viktor Kulcsar (epee) and Matthew Bülau (epee).
