UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State fencing team finished up competition at the 2020 Mid-Atlantic/South Regional today in Durham, N.C. The Mid-Atlantic/South Regional is a part of the qualifying process for the 2020 NCAA Fencing Championships, which will be held March 19th through March 22nd.
In epee, freshman Jonathan Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas) and senior Barbara VanBenthuysen (Spring, Texas) swept both epee crowns after they each won nine bouts in the final pool. Elias Cole (Chappaqua, N.Y.) finished sixth in the men's pool and Axelle Wasiak (Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium) finished eighth in the women's pool.
Women's foil had three fencers finish in the top ten. Isabella Zuzulo (Newtown, Pa.), Jade Rowland (Princeton Junction, N.J.), and Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) finished fourth, sixth, and eighth respectively.
The Nittany Lions concluded the day with men's and women's saber. In men's saber, Inti Farfan-Bayerl(Morrison, Colo.) claimed third-place while teammate Ethan Mullennix (San Francisco, Calif.) finished ninth. For the women, Kelli Wozniak (Westerville, Ohio) took sixth and was followed by Zara Moss (Cranberry Township, Pa.) who finished eighth.
The qualification process for the NCAA Championship will be based off of a combination of the fencers' season record and this Saturday's results. The fencers' season statistics will count toward 40 percent of qualification, with the final 60 percent coming from the fencers' performance this weekend. NCAA Championship selections will be announced this Tuesday, March 10th.
Penn State will next be in action when select Lion fencers travel to Long Beach, Calif. for the Men's and Women's Grand Prix that starts Friday, March 13, and ends on Sunday, March 15.
Fans can keep up with Penn State Fencing at GoPSUsports.com. Follow the team on Facebook at Penn State Fencing and on Twitter @pennstateFEN.
