UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's and women's fencing teams took part in the first NAC/Olympic qualifying tournament of the fall season this past weekend in Minneapolis, Minn. Several members of interim head coach Adam Kaszubowski's team competed in the event.
Two Nittany Lions finished in the top 20 of their respective weapons to lead Penn State. Jaclyn Krohl took 19th in the women's epee and Devin Tafoya placed 20th in the men's epee for Penn State. Samantha Catantan finished 21st in the women's foil as well.
Five Nittany Lions finished in the top 50. Kateryna Chorniy placed 32nd in women's epee, with Tingway Xu at 42nd and Jonathan Piskovatskoy 43rd in men's epee. Ola Strzalkowski also finished at 44th in women's foil and Nicholaus Zielinski at 46th for men's sabre.
Two others finished in the top 75. Mitchel Bekker finished at 60th in men' epee and Neil Lilov at 66th in men's sabre.
A number of other Penn Staters competed at the event: Donavyn Martinez and Pablo Giraldo in the men's foil, and Sultan Hassan, Nicholas Glaz, Zachary Suico, and Zitong Xu in men's epee.
The Nittany Lions will host the Nittany Lion Open Cup on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16. The two-day exhibition will be held in the White Building and begins at 10 a.m. each day. Grace Seal also competed in women's foil.
Penn State fans are encouraged to follow Penn State fencing via Twitter at @pennstatefen, on Instagram @pennstatefen and on Penn State Fencing's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatefencing.
