UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's and women's fencing teams began their 2018-19 season with the Nittany Lion Cup Open this past weekend. Starting the season off strong, the Nittany Lions crowned two champions at the preseason event during Saturday's mixed tournaments and added two more during the women's tournament Sunday.
On Saturday, the first event to finish was the foil, which featured seven Penn State fencers in the top ten. Andrey Ostatigrosh (Fresno, Calif.) and Sebastian Tirado (Basking Ridge, N.J.) led the bunch by tying for third place. Teammates Maxillian Lewicki (Hillsborough, N.J.) and Andrew Grass (Burke, Va.) finished right behind them as they placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Next to finish was epee, which brought Penn State's first champion of the weekend. Anton Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas) claimed first after competing against teammate Devin Tafoya (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) in the championship with teammates Ryan Griffiths (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and Demetri Zacharakis (Houston, Texas) finishing right behind them in a third-place tie.
Saber closed out the mixed tournaments bringing the second champion of the weekend. Team captain Karol Metryka (Linden, N.J.) claimed first place in the mixed saber competition after fencing his teammate Marcel Dolegiewicz (Park Ridge, Ill.) in the championship. Close behind in a third-place tie were two more Nittany Lions, Matthew Lewicki (Oakland, N.J.) and Owen Prevey-Sullivan (Redding, Conn.).
Sunday started with Penn State's third championship of the weekend. Sophomore Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) fenced teammate Jade Rowland (Princeton Junction, N.J.) in the women's foil championship, where Bicego bested Rowland 15-11 to become the third champion of the weekend for Penn State. Placing third in the women's foil was sophomore Isabella Zuzulo (Newtown, Pa.).
Women's saber was also strong for the Lions as Penn State claimed the top four spots. Kelli Wozniak (Westerville, Ohio) was the fourth champion of the event with DeAna Oliver (Montclair, N.J.) claiming second, and Sara Cunningham (Decatur, Ga.) tied for third.
Closing out the event was women's epee. Senior Anastasia Kalonji (Rennes, France) led Penn State with her second-place finish and following her were teammates Alexandra Gillis (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and Nicolette Vigna (Westerville, Ohio) in a tie for third.
Select Penn State fencers will next be in action on Oct. 12-15 when they travel to Milwaukee, Wis. for an Olympic Trials event. Fans can keep up with Penn State Fencing at GoPSUsports.com. Follow the team on Facebook at Penn State Fencing and on Twitter @pennstateFEN.