Live stats for the Garret Open can be found HERE
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's fencing team got things started at the 47th Annual Garret Open in the White Building on Saturday. Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) placed first in foil, Kelli Wozniak (Westerville, Ohio) finished first in saber, and Barbara VanBenthuysen (Spring, Texas) placed third in epee.
Head coach Wes Glon was pleased with the women's performances today and hopes that the men can continue the success into tomorrow's events.
In the first event of the day, foil, Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) won five matches in all three rounds of pool play, earning her the fifth seed, and advancing her into the direct elimination round with teammate Alissa Gozali (Singapore). Bicego would go on to become the first champion of the weekend, while Gozali was ousted in the first round of direct elimination.
Epee was the second event of the day, the lone Nittany Lion to make the direct elimination round was Senior Barbara VanBenthuysen (Spring, Texas). VanBenthuysen finished tied for third making her Penn State's second top three finish on the day.
Saber was the final event of the day, which saw Kelli Wozniak (Westerville, Ohio) become the second Penn State champion of the weekend. In pool play, Wozniak won a total of 16 matches earning her the sixth seed in the direct elimination round. Wozniak won an exciting final match coming back from being down 11-14 to 15-14. Teammate Sara Cunningham was eliminated in the first round of direct eliminations.
The Garret Open continues tomorrow with the men's fencing team starting at 8:30 am with foil and epee.
After this weekend's action in State College, select Penn State fencers will participate in an Olympic Trials event in Salt Lake City, Utah which begins Friday, Dec. 6, and continues through Sunday, Dec. 8.
Fans can keep up with Penn State Fencing at GoPSUsports.com. Follow the team on Facebook at Penn State Fencing and on Twitter @pennstateFEN.
