NCAA News: Penn State Open Men's Fencing Results

[Craig]

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., November 22, 2003 – The Penn State men’s fencing team claimed two of three titles in the first day of the 31st Annual M. Garret Penn State Open at the White Building. Overall, the Nittany Lions shined as hosts of the renowned event, placing a total of nine fencers in the top ten of their respective weapons.

Penn State was especially impressive in the men’s saber, taking the top two places in the final event of the day. In the title bout, sophomore All-American Marten Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) faced off against freshman teammate and fellow Oregon native Ian Farr (Portland, Ore.). Zagunis opened up an early lead and held off Farr’s comeback attempt to earn the title with a 15-12 victory. With the victory, Zagunis improved on his runner-up finish at last year’s open, while Farr narrowly missed claiming the fourth individual title of his young career. Sophomore Layne Vashro (Minneapolis, Minn.) and veteran senior Amir Rahimi (Plano, Tex.) also advanced to the top eight with sixth and seventh-place finishes, respectively.

In the men’s epee, three-time All-American Adam Wiercioch (Gliwice, Poland) captured the title. Early in the title bout, runner-up Marek Petraszek of Wayne State suffered an injury. Wiercioch, the 2000 Garret Open Champion, was awarded the title when Petraszek could not return. Alexander Bruscke (North Caldwell, N.J.) and Ryan Wangner (Garden City, N.J.) also fenced well in the epee, placing 11th and 13th, respectively. Freshman walk-on Nevin King posted a surprising performance for the Nittany Lions with a 15th -place finish.

In the men’s foil, junior Ian Schlaepfer (Rohnert Park, Calif.) registered a fourth-place finish after falling to eventual champion Jesse Schibilia of Rutgers in the semifinals. Senior Joe Brown (Herndon, Va.) and freshman Ian Hamilton (New York, N.Y.) were close behind in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Penn State head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov, in his 22nd year at the helm of the Nittany Lions, was pleased with the results of the first day of the tournament but also intrigued by its course. “This tournament has been interesting,” said Kaidanov. “There have been a number of surprises. In general, we fenced very well today.”

The M. Garret Penn State Open honors former Penn State head coach Maxwell Garret, who initiated the event. The two-day tournament has become recognized as one of the premier fencing events in the nation. It annually features approximately 300 of the top collegiate fencing talent in the eastern United States.

The tournament will conclude tomorrow with the women’s portion of the event, which is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue through the day. The women’s foil will kick off the action, followed by the women’s epee at 10 a.m. The women’s saber will begin at noon and round out the day.

2003 M. Garret Penn State Open Men’s Results


Men’s Foil

1. Jesse Schibilia (Rutgers)
2. Brian Sohn (Penn)
3. D. Snyder (Notre Dame)
4. Ian Schlaepfer (Penn State)
5. F. Bontempo (Notre Dame)
6. Joe Brown (Penn State)
7. Ian Hamilton (Penn State)
8. John Paul Mitchell (Princeton)
9. Jeff Breen (Penn)
10. Steve Gavalas (Penn)
11. Jacob Clark (Penn State)
12. Scott Sherman (Princeton)
13. Eric Stodola (Princeton)
14. F. Walton (Notre Dame)
15. Michael Galligan (Penn)
16. Jesse Platt (Princeton)
17. Mike Merker (Cleveland State)
18. Andy Radu (Penn)
19. Michael Abondi (Yale)
20. Priyantha Abeyawardene (Rutgers)
21. Edward Lidow (Clemson)
22. Sam Cross (Harvard)
23. Alexander Vandenberg-Rodes (Princeton)
24. Adam Ivy (Drew)
25. C.J. Webster (North Carolina)
26. Mike Dinitz (Princeton)
27. Steve Piantadosi (North Carolina)
28. Kyle Nezzi (Penn State Fencing Club)
29. Scott Chadwick (Rutgers)
30. Devin Gomez (Suffolk)
31. J.J. McCormick (Cornell)
32. Oliver Lee (Cornell)
33. Michael Green (Clemson)
34. Callum Dupre (Drew)
35. Kevin Hansen (Rutgers)
36. Kevante Mitchell (North Carolina)
37. Chie-yu Lin (Yale)
38. Adam Warner (Cornell)
39. Phillip Sherrill (Harvard)
40. Matthew Claeson (Stonybrook)
41. James Yen (Yale)
42. Kawing Cho (Yale)
43. John Meekin (Drew)
44. Fletcher Jovi (North Carolina)
45. David Levaine (Cornell)
46. Jacob Godwin-Jones (Cornell)
47. Jack O’Connor (Princeton)

Men’s Epee

1. Adam Wiercioch (Penn State)
2. Marek Petraszek (Wayne State)
3. Aaron Adjemian (Notre Dame)
4. Brian Garret (Rutgers)
5. Julian Rose (Harvard)
6. John Beski (Yale)
7. Patrick Gettings (Notre Dame)
8. Dana Sanford (Drew)
9. M. Sobieraj (Notre Dame)
10. Joe Atanasio (Drew)
11. Alexander Bruscke (Penn State)
12. Michael Soto (Harvard)
13. Ryan Wangner (Penn State)
14. Wojciech Dudek (Wayne State)
15. Nevin King (Penn State)
16. Will Tauxe (Yale)
17. Mike Sanders (Penn)
18. Gregory Haislip (Princeton)
19. Fonil Ghodadia (Princeton)
20. Oba Simmons (Rutgers)
21. Don Terrault (NJIT)
22. Tim Levar (Cleveland State)
23. James Rohrbach (Yale)
24. Ari Paul (Penn)
25. Ian Lindblom (Harvard)
26. Steve Milder (Harvard)
27. Nat Krieger (Cleveland State)
28. Matt Jednak (North Carolina)
29. Benjamin Still (Rutgers)
30. Kevin Shi (Princeton)
31. Mike Alexander (Yale)
32. N. Carey (Notre Dame)
33. Brian Libert (Drew)
34. Matt Herndon (Cornell)
35. David Hively (Drew)
36. James Morris (Cornell)
37. Chris Lvov (Penn)
38. Eryck Kratville (Princeton)
39. Sandy Gibson (Princeton)
40. Peter Newmark (North Carolina)
41. Joe Walker (North Carolina)
42. Jonathan Gale (Penn)
43. Mitchell Lane (Clemson)
44. Michael Klinger (Cornell)
45. Ben Garner (North Carolina)
46. Greg Rotondi (Penn State Fencing Club)
47. John Engel (West Virginia)
48. Justin Henderson (Princeton)
49. Evan Weisfeld (Penn State)
50. Rick Hoopes III (Penn State Fencing Club)

Men’s Saber

1. Marten Zagunis (Penn State)
2. Ian Farr (Penn State)
3. Benjamin Igoe (Rutgers)
4. M. Stearns (Notre Dame)
5. Wes Newkirk (North Carolina)
6. Layne Vashro (Penn State)
7. Jim Leighton (Princeton)
8. Amir Rahimi (Penn State)
9. Matthew Gillig (Penn State)
10. Mark Kindrachuk (Penn)
11. David Learner (Rutgers)
12. Noah Fabriccent (Harvard)
13. Bill Caulin (Penn)
14. Michael Haass (Penn)
15. Jason Lin (Cornell)
16. Chris Williams (Wayne State)
17. Joe Pipkin (North Carolina)
18. Jon Jew-Lein (Princeton)
19. Jonathan Press (Penn)
20. Boby Smith (Wayne State)
21. Bryan Jones (North Carolina)
22. Max Pike (NJIT)
23. Gabriel Philippe Ayache (Cornell)
24. Joseph Cho (Princeton)
25. Whitney Reeds (North Carolina)
26. Nick Becketti (North Carolina)
27. Daniel Ferguson (North Carolina)
28. Harry Flaster (Yale)
29. David Dipaola (Penn)
30. Bucky Harris (North Carolina)
31. Nico Diacon (Notre Dame)
32. Brian Dosal (Notre Dame)
33. Chris Siney (Yale)
34. Vadum Korytny (Cornell)
35. Ryan Backos (West Virginia)
36. Paul Jagielski (Penn State)
37. James Castor (Stonybrook)
38. Tsai Tsar-Ksuan (Rutgers)
39. David Argenteanu (Penn State Fencing Club)
40. Eli Baumwell (Cornell)
41. Ben Chancey (West Virginia)
42. Michael Deidzik (Wayne State)
43. Laibond Cheng (Drew)
44. Albert Ho (Cornell)
45. Alex Ramos (Yale)
46. Eric Besson (Princeton)
47. Jon Costanzo (Cleveland State)