PHILADELPHIA — The Penn State fencing squads finished competition at the Elite Invitational on Sunday, Nov. 15, at the University of Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions earned several team victories, including No. 8/5 Duke, No. 10 Ohio State and Cleveland State.
No. 8/5 DUKE
Both the men’s and women’s teams won against No. 8/5 Duke. The men’s team won a close 14-13 match against the No. 8 team in the country, while the women defeated the No. 5 team, 17-10.
The men’s foil team took a 5-4 victory over the Blue Devils. Both Spencer Burke and Julian Chin finished with a 2-1 record plus an additional win from Andrea Zanardo.
Mohamed Yasseen fenced to a perfect 3-0 record against Duke for the men’s epee team, which won 6-3. Eslam Osama fenced to a 2-1 record with an additional win from Julian Brodsky.
The men’s saber team lost 6-3, with Jintao Yao recording two wins and an additional win from Jonathan Chen.
On the women’s side, Eden De La Cruz earned a 2-1 record in a 6-3 loss for the foil team, with another win from Anastasia Shmay.
Allegra Cristofoletto and Yuna Tamura both fenced to a perfect 3-0 record in a 7-2 victory against Duke, with an additional win from Ana Sofía Parra.
A perfect 3-0 performance from Eunyu Kim plus a 2-1 record from Nargiza Jaksybaeva and Eve Scott resulted in a 7-2 win over Duke in women’s saber.
No. 10/11 OHIO STATE
The men’s team took an 18-9 victory over the No. 10 Buckeyes, as the women’s team fell 14-13 in a close competition.
Burke, Chin and Zanardo all fenced 2-1 in men’s foil in a 6-3 win for the Nittany Lions.
The men’s epee team won 6-3, with Brodsky, Osama and Yasseen all fencing 2-1 against the Buckeyes.
In a 6-3 win, the men’s saber team saw Daniel Iliffe, Chen and Yao each fence 2-1.
De La Cruz and Shmay both fenced 2-1 against Ohio State, with an additional win from Thea Fernandes for the women’s foil team in a 5-4 win.
Cristofoletto fenced undefeated for the second time, powering the women’s epee team to a 6-3 victory against the Buckeyes as Tamura fenced 2-1, with an additional win from Parra.
The women’s saber team lost 7-2 against Ohio State, with Jaksybaeva and Kim earning the only wins for Penn State.
JOHNS HOPKINS
Both the men’s and women’s teams lost to Johns Hopkins, 14-13.
Chang Hee Han and Alejandro Lorenzo each earned two victories against the Blue Jays, with additional wins from Burke and Zanardo in a 6-3 victory.
The men’s epee team fell 6-3 to Johns Hopkins, with Yasseen fencing 2-1 and an additional win from Brodsky.
Han Luo fenced undefeated over the Blue Jays, and Iliffe provided an additional win in a 5-4 loss for men’s saber.
Fernandes and Shmay earned the only victories for the Nittany Lions in women’s foil as they lost 7-2.
Cristofoletto fenced undefeated for the third time during day two of the Elite Invitational, and additional wins from Tamura and Parra led to a 6-3 victory in women’s epee.
Jaksybaeva and Scott provided the only two wins for Penn State in saber, losing 7-2 to the Blue Jays.
CLEVELAND STATE
The Penn State men’s and women’s teams each earned dominant victories over Cleveland State, with the women winning 20-7 and the men winning 24-3.
Chang Hee Han fenced undefeated against Cleveland State, with a 2-1 performance from Alejandro Lorenzo and additional wins from Matthew Gonzalez and Zanardo in a 7-2 victory in foil.
Robert Hu, Brodsky and Yasseen each fenced undefeated over Cleveland State, powering the Nittany Lions to a perfect 9-0 victory in men’s epee.
Tyson Deck and Chen each fenced undefeated for the men’s saber team in an 8-1 win. Han Luo and Iliffe each provided an additional win for the Nittany Lions.
De La Cruz and Fernandes each fenced 2-1 against Cleveland State, with an additional win from Shmay in a 5-4 victory in foil.
Cristofoletto earned two victories, with an additional victory from Sophia Abashidze and Tamura in a 7-2 win in epee.
Jaksybaeva earned her second undefeated performance of the day against Cleveland State, with another undefeated performance coming from Scott and two additional wins from Chloe Butman in an 8-1 win in women’s saber.
CORNELL
The women’s team fell 21-6 to Cornell.
The women’s foil team lost 6-3, with Fernandes, Shmay and De La Cruz each earning a win.
Cornell beat the women’s epee squad 9-0.
Jaksybaeva fenced 2-1 against Cornell, with an additional win from Kim in a 6-3 loss in women’s saber.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will travel to Boston for the Brandeis Invitational hosted by Brandeis University for the last competition of 2026 on Sunday, December 6.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State Fencing. To stay up to date, follow the Nittany Lions on X and Instagram at @pennstatefen and on Facebook at /PennStateFencing.