Bishop Gorman fencer Zach Zeller picks Notre Dame

The item up for silent auction was “Five lessons with an Olympic coach,” and the winning bid came from Zach Zeller’s parents, who had no idea whether their son would enjoy fencing.

Ten years later, Zeller still is being tutored by Yves Auriol, the four-time U.S. Olympic coach.

“I started just in lessons with him and then it just went to classes, small tournaments,” Zeller said. “And now we’re at the world circuit.”

Zeller, a senior at Bishop Gorman, has developed into one of the top fencing recruits in the country after taking up the sport in second grade. He previously signed a letter of intent with Notre Dame and was announced Wednesday as part of the Fighting Irish’s spring recruiting class.

The signing period runs through May 18 for Division I basketball and Aug. 1 for all other sports, and several other area athletes are expected to finalize their college choice during that time.

“I had tried soccer, I had tried golf, and I wasn’t bad, but I also wasn’t the star player,” Zeller said. “I also liked that fencing was more of a mental challenge. It wasn’t all physical, especially when I was younger because I was pretty chubby. So, it was a way to work around the normal athletic idea.”

Zeller enjoyed little tournament success for his first five years and said he considered quitting fencing on two occasions but began to break through during his freshman year.

In February 2013, Zeller qualified for the International Fencing Federation Junior World Cup in Goeteborg, Sweden, and he was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the Cadet European Cup that November in Chalons, France.

Zeller finished second in the junior men’s epee at the North American Cup tournament in November in Kansas City, Missouri, and won the gold medal in epee at the North American Cup in St. Louis in January.

A banner commemorating that victory hangs from the ceiling at the Battle Born Fencing Club, where Zeller trains with Auriol and coaches Walter Dragonetti, Jacques Lacour and Sang Yup Lee.

“Zach is a big guy, so he’s very physical, fast,” Auriol said. “Sometimes it costs him, to be fast and too strong by rushing. That was probably his main problem for three years, rushing and not seeing when you have to wait and go. He finally made the adjustment and uses his physical abilities to get the job done.”

The fencing season runs primarily from October to April, and Zeller said he missed approximately 15 to 20 days of school each year to travel throughout the U.S. or Europe for tournaments.

Zeller was in Richmond, Virginia, for a tournament last weekend during Gorman’s prom.

Zeller was being recruited by Brandeis University and Duke before choosing Notre Dame, his dream school since he started fencing. Zeller, who started his own DJ and event production company when he was 13, plans to major in business.

“Zach is coming to us next year as a strong recruit for a freshman,” Notre Dame associate head coach Cedric Loiseau said. “He should be able to help the team quickly, but more importantly will improve tremendously because of his huge potential. This year he earned a gold and silver medal in NAC and yet hasn’t reached 50 percent of his capacity.”

Zeller is sixth in the USA Fencing junior men’s epee points standings, and his goal is to reach the top three and qualify for the 2017 world junior team. His next major tournament comes at the USA Fencing Championships July 1 through 10 in Dallas.

“Progressively, I started to understand myself more and really focused,” Zeller said. “I knew that I wanted to fence in college, and I knew that that was going to be one of my goals for the next 10 years or so, so I buckled down and really started training and I guess taking it seriously. And everything just kind of went from there.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ