UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ¨C December 3, 2005 ¨C The Penn State men¡¯s and women¡¯s fencing teams opened their dual meet season with success on Saturday. Penn State welcomed the University of North Carolina, New York University, Princeton University, Harvard University and Rutgers University for the first dual meets of the season. The men¡¯s team finished the day 4-1 with their only loss coming to Harvard (14-13). The women¡¯s team went undefeated with a perfect 5-0 record.

Senior captain Marten Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) led the Penn State men¡¯s saber group with a record of 13-2. Junior Axel Reblewski (Le Moliere, France) finished 8-4 and fellow junior Ian Farr (Portland, Ore.) went 6-5. Sophomore Alexander Vongries (Bloomington, Minn.) was a perfect 4-0 while freshman Joseph Milliron (Lake Oswego, Ore.) finished 2-1.

Senior Christopher Miller (Salina, Kan.) led the men¡¯s foil group, finishing 10-2. Freshman Janos Gasparin (Grapevine, Tex.) ended the meet with a 6-4 record and sophomore Jeffrey Chang (Hong Kong, China) went 5-6. Freshman Alexander Louton (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) battled his way to a 5-0 mark and sophomore Alexander Goldenberg (Guilford, Conn.) was also perfect, going 2-0. Freshman Emerson DiNapoli (Los Gatos, Calif.) went 2-2 and sophomore Sergio Hey-Colon (Caguas Puerto Rico) finished 0-1.

Sophomore Arthur Urman (Maalot, Israel) led a young group of epee fencers, finishing 8-5. Freshman James Moody (Denver, Colo.) and sophomore Dennis Kraft (Rector, Pa.) both finished 7-8. Junior Nevin King (State College, Pa.) was unbeaten, finishing 2-0.

The Penn State women¡¯s fencing team dominated in all three weapons. Junior captain Sophia Hiss (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and freshman Caitlin Thompson (Portland, Ore.) both finished 10-1. Sophomore Ashley Gin Fong Linker (Vernon Hills, Ill.) went 8-3 and fellow sophomore Rachel Arndt (Stafford, Va.) finished 1-3. Junior Laura Hillstrom (Gaithersburg, Md.) went 3-1 while senior Juliet Howard (Santa Monica, Calif.) finished 2-2.

In women¡¯s foil, Penn State was led by senior Annekathrin Donath (Tauber, Germany) with a record of 12-2. Junior Tamara Najm (Morristown, N.J.) and freshman Allison Glasser (Piedmont, Calif.) both went 10-3. Freshman Julia Mouk (New York, N.Y.) and sophomore Sara Gonzalez (Princeton, N.J.) combined to finish a perfect 5-0.

Junior Case Szarwark (Nashville, Tenn.) trounced the women¡¯s epee field with a 14-1 record. Sophomore Megan Lutheran (Glen Gardner, N.J.) went 8-7 and junior Katherine Cook (Setauket, N.Y.) finished 7-8.

Penn State's fencing teams return to action at the White Building on Saturday, January 28 at 9 a.m. Visiting teams include Duke University, Drew University, Haverford College, Hunter College, Columbia University, St. John¡¯s University, Temple University (women), the University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina.