UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Wes Glon, a Penn State head or assistant coach with the men's and women's fencing programs for 37 years, has announced his retirement. He served as head coach for the Nittany Lions for nine seasons and was an assistant coach prior to that.
Glon was an assistant coach at Penn State for nearly three decades, coming to Penn State in 1985, before taking over as interim head coach in August 2013. He led Penn State to its 13th NCAA Championship that season. Glon was named 2014 Coach of the Year by the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) for his efforts and had the interim tag removed from his title, becoming the head coach in July 2014
Since being on staff, Glon has been an integral part of Penn State's fencing achievements which include 13 combined Men's and Women's NCAA Championships and 10 second place finishes. He led Penn State to six individual NCAA Championships and had 50 All-Americans in just under a decade as head coach.
A native of Poland, Glon was a very accomplished fencer on the Polish National Team, representing his country at many international competitions. He won Poland's highest fencing honors in saber six times between 1975 and 1981 and was bronze medalist at the 1979 World University Games in Mexico City.
He left Poland in 1981, and for two years lived in Vienna, Austria where he assisted with coaching the Austrian National Team. He immigrated to the United States in 1983 and served two years as the assistant men's coach at William & Mary College where he worked with the saber team.
Glon has coached many U.S. national teams, including teams for the Junior and Senior World Championships (1989-98), the Pan American Games (1991), and the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. Over the years, many of his athletes have represented the U.S. on the international arena and have won top honors in their respective weapons.
