UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's and women's fencing teams hosted the first Nittany Lion Open Cup in three years on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16, in the White Building. In this exhibition event, almost every single member of both the men's and women's teams were able to compete in their respected events.
In the mixed foil event, the first of the day on Saturday, junior Aidan Johnson topped the competition, followed by Arwen Borowiak at second, and Caiden Cannon and Donavyn Martinez tied at third place. Hyun Paik followed at sixth, Grace Seal at seventh, Arianna Proietti at eighth, Samantha Catantan at ninth, and Pablo Giraldo at tenth place. Dusan Zeljkovic, Halah Keramane, Ariel Ratsep and Claire Haas also participated in the mixed foil event.
Next up on Saturday was mixed epee. Mitchel Bekker grabbed first place, with Devin Tafoya at second and Peter Kambeseles and Evan Xu tied at third. Kateryna Chorniy took fifth place with Stafford Moosekian at sixth, Tingwei Xu at seventh, and Jonathan Piskovastskov at eighth. Vasil Ivakimov, Noe Sitbon-Taylor, Zachary Suico, Sultan Hassan, Nicholas Glaz, Kyle Yi, Nirali Igoe, Axelle Wasiak, Sophie Goldberg, Yi Jin, Grace Baranosky and Vama Maniar also competed in the mixed epee portion of the day.
In mixed saber, Clement Perrier led the Nittany Lions claiming first place, closely followed by Jeffrey Basalyga at second and Neil Lilov at third place. Nicholaus Zielinski finished at sixth place with Ola Strzalkowski at seventh, Alexa Horan at eighth, Mia Novick at ninth, Stephanie Jen at tenth and Amelia Baker at 19th place.
The women's events were saved for Sunday. In women's foil, Samantha Catantan took first place, followed by Grace Seal at second and Clarisse Tan and Ariel Ratsep tied for third place. Claire Haas placed sixth.
In women's epee, Axelle Wasiak came out on top with Nirali Igoe behind at second and Sophie Goldberg at third. Grace Baranosky and Vama Maniar also participated in this event.
The last event of the two-day exhibition was women's saber, where Ola Strzalkowski finished in first place, Stephanie Jen at second, and Mia Novick at third. Alexa Horan and Amelia Baker closely followed, claiming fifth and sixth place, respectfully.
Penn State will be on the road again in two weeks when the Nittany Lions travel to Philadelphia for the Temple Open. The event will take place on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 29-30.
Penn State fans are encouraged to follow Penn State fencing via Twitter @pennstatefen, on Instagram @pennstatefen and on Penn State Fencing's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatefencing.
