UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's and women's fencing teams opened their 2019-20 season this past weekend as many fencers participated in the Nittany Lion Cup Open. Penn State crowned six champions at the preseason event that featured three mixed tournaments on Saturday and three women's tournaments on Sunday.
Saturday opened with mixed foil which saw five Penn State fencers finish in the top eight, and where four fencers went on to sweep all of the semi-final spots in the bracket. Sebastiano Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) finished on top while Felipe Rosario (Maplewood, N.J.) took second. Teammates Andrey Ostatnigrosh (Fresno, Calif.) and Shane Iverson (Basking Ridge, N.J.) rounded out the top three as they tied for third place.
The next event on tap was mixed epee which featured two Penn State fencers, Ryan Griffiths (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and Devin Tafoya (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), in the championship bout. Griffiths defeated Tafoya 15-11 in the final round claiming the second championship of the day.
Saturday ended with mixed saber and Penn State's third champion of the weekend. Like the epee event earlier, this event featured five Penn State fencers finishing in the top eight, and four moving on to sweep all of the semi-final spots. Ethan Mullennix (San Francisco, Calif.) took home the crown as he faced off against teammate Inti Farfan-Bayerl (Morrison, Colo.) in the championship round. Close behind finishing in a third-place tie were Maksymilian Mateja (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Chase Pflueger (Highlands Ranch, Colo.).
Sundays first event was women's foil where Junior Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) fenced teammate Jade Rowland (Princeton Junction, N.J.) in the finals. Bicego beat Rowland 15-12 in the championship round claiming Penn State's fourth straight championship on the weekend. Junior Isabella Zuzulo (Newtown, Pa.) and Sofia McGoff-Medero (Gurabo, Puerto Rico) finished out the top three as they both tied for third.
The next event to finish was women's saber which saw Penn State's fifth champion of the weekend to be crowned. Junior Kelli Wozniak (Westerville, Ohio) bested teammate Zara Moss (Cranberry Township, Pa.) 15-13 in the championship round. Placing third in women's saber was junior Pauline Conscience (Paris, France).
The weekend and Nittany Lion Cup concluded with women's epee and Penn State's sixth championship. Senior Barbara Vanbenthuysen (Spring, Tx.) came out on top followed by freshman Axelle Wasiak (Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium) who finished in third.
Select Penn State fencers will next be in action on Oct. 18-21 when they travel to Kansas City, Mo. 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.
