March 10, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 10, 2018 ââ'¬" The Penn State men's and women's fencing teams competed at the 2018 NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional today as part of the qualifying for the 2018 NCAA Championships. Head coach Wes Glon's team fenced its way to three first place finishes on the day.
Penn State grabbed an individual title in women's epee and then swept both sabre events.
The women had three top ten finishes in foil. Freshman Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) led the team with a second-place finish with Isabella Zuzulo (Newtown, Pa) and Jade Rowland (Princeton Junction, N.J.) placing in seventh and ninth respectively. The men notched two top 15 finishes. Freshman Shane Iverson (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and Sebastiano Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) placed 11th and 14th respectively.
In the epee, Barbara VanBenthuysen (Spring, Texas) claimed a first-place finish for the women with Anastasia Kalonji (Rennes, France) and Nicollette Vigna (Thornwood, N.Y.) following in fifth and tenth to give the Lions three top ten placers. Clinton Rodell (Annandale,Va.) and Anton Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas) led the men in the epee by finishing in eighth and tenth.
Glon's squad capped off the Regional run by sweeping the sabre events. The women were led by Zara Moss (Cranberry Township, Pa.) who claimed the regional title and Karen Chang (Hong Kong, China) who finished third. The men's team put four fencers in the top ten, led by Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.), who won the Regional crown. Teammates Karol Metryka (Linden, N.J.), Marcel Dolegiez (Park Ridge, Ill.) and Matthew Lewicki (Oakland, N.J.) followed in third, sixth and eighth, respectively.
The Mid-Atlantic/South Regional is part of the qualifying process for the 2018 NCAA Fencing Championships, hosted by Penn State. The four-day event runs March 22-25 at Penn State's Multi-Sport Facility. Fans can keep up with Penn State Fencing at GoPSUsports.com. Follow the team on Facebook at Penn State Fencing and on Twitter @pennstateFEN.