NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., December 2, 2001 ¨C The Penn State men¡¯s and women¡¯s fencing teams dominated play at their first dual meet of the season, as both teams compiled unblemished 4-0 records in today¡¯s action at the College Avenue Gymnasium of Rutgers University.
The women¡¯s squad was pushed to the brink of defeat in its first bout of the day versus a tough Princeton team, but the Lady Lions prevailed by the slimmest possible margin, 14-13. The rest of the day proved to be less stressful for Penn State, as it went on to defeat both Rutgers and New York University 21-6 before recording its strongest win of the day with a 23-4 victory over North Carolina.
The Lady Lions had three players finish undefeated for the day, as veteran senior Stephanie Tam (Coram, N.Y.) and sophomore Meredith Steyer (Topsfield, Mass.) both went 12-0 in the saber, and three-time All-American Stephanie Eim (Hendersonville, Tenn.) registered a 10-0 record in the epee. Penn State was led in the foil by freshman Meredith Chin (Wynnewood, Pa.), who finished 11-1 in today¡¯s action.
The men¡¯s team looked very solid as they won all four of their matches in convincing fashion. The Nittany Lions began the day with an impressive 18-9 victory over a dangerous squad from Princeton. They then went on to beat both Rutgers and New York University by 18-9 margins before concluding the day with a commanding 21-6 win over North Carolina.
In the saber, Olympic Medalist Alexander Weber (Frieburg, Germany) put together a perfect 8-0 record, and Wyatt Kasserman (Peapack, N.J.) and Mohaymen Rahimi (Plano, Texas) both finished at 8-2 for the day. In the foil, the Nittany Lions were led by All-American sophomore Nonpatat Panchan (Bangkok, Thailand) and freshman Ian Schlaepfer (Rohnert Park, Calif.), who finished at 9-1 and 8-2, respectively. All-American Adam Wiercioch (Gliwice, Poland) led the Lions in the epee, recording a solid 9-2 mark.
¡°It¡¯s quite a good start, especially considering we have some fencers limited by injuries,¡± said Penn State head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov. ¡°It was a good competition.¡±
The Penn State fencing team will now move on to the NAC Open beginning this Friday, Dec. 7 in Ontario, Canada. The event will continue through Monday.
