Oct. 24, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Fencers were back in action this weekend hosting the Nittany Lion Cup Open and PSU Junior Championship. The two-time defending NCAA Champions start the season off strong as they look to capture their thirteenth national title in the upcoming year.
The competition kicked off Saturday with the Nittany Lion's dominating women's epee. Defending National Champion Margherita Guzzi took first place with Alyssa Vongries taking second and Kyra Swick and Anne Stephenson tying for third.
Samuel Larsen took first in the Mixed epee followed by Margherita Guzzi. Alec Walker of the DC Fencing Club and Nittany Lion Vernon O'Garra tied for third.
In the Junior mixed foil Penn State's All-American David Willette took first. Willette was followed up by fellow teammate Rylan Delap. Niki McKee and Penn State's Kylei McGill tied for third.
McGill went on to take first in the women's foil with Nikki McKee taking second. The top three was rounded out by Penn State's Erica McKee and Kane Gladnick, who tied for third.
In the Junior mixed saber Seth Levine of the Central Pennsylvania Fencing Association took first with Penn State's Nicole Glon finishing in second. John F. Holland, of the Cheyenne Fencing Society and Modern Pentathlon Center, and Cleo Kesidis, of the Central Pennsylvania Fencing Association tied for third. In the Junior women's saber competition, Nicole Glon took first with Cleo Kesidis finishing in second.
In the second day of competition Penn State dominated the men's foil taking control of the top three spots. Daniel Gomez finished in first, one place ahead of David Willette. There was a tie for third between Michael El-Saleh and Jeremy Goldstein. Adrian Bak took home first in the mixed saber competition. All-American Aleksander Ochocki took second in the event, followed up by teammate Wolfgang Rafert who tied with Bobby Thompson for third.
The women's saber belonged to the Nittany Lions who took home the top three spots. Anne Stephenson took first followed by Nicole Glon and Daniella Goldenberg, respectively.
First place in the Junior women's epee went to Penn State's Emily Vassoler. Aubrey Rafinski of the Ligonier Fencing Club took second followed by Julia Higson and Nittany Lion Casey Deitrich who tied for third.
Penn State's Sam Zucker captured first in the Junior mixed epee. Zucker was followed up by fellow Nittany Lion Mitchell Culler. Rounding out the top three were Anthony Green, of Penn State, and Shawn Marshman who tied for third.
Kylei McGill fenced her way to first for the Nittany Lions in the women's foil. Olga Ostanigrosh finished in second right behind her teammate. Niki McKee and Erica Mckee tied for third.
The weekend proved to be a great success for the twelve time National Champions. As they set out to win a third consecutive title the team shows great promise.
The men's and women's fencing team will be back in action in two weeks when they travel to Philadelphia to compete in the Temple Open. Competition begins November 6, 2010 and will conclude on November 7, 2010. Both days of competition begin at 8 a.m. ET.