The Penn State fencing team will host the 30th annual Garret Penn State Open this weekend.

Widely considered one of the top tournaments in the nation, the Garret Open will be a six-weapon event, featuring the foil, epee and sabre for men and women. The Open will attract competition from all over the East Coast, including St. John's, Princeton, North Carolina, Temple, Yale, Rutgers, Harvard and Notre Dame.

The Open is named after former Penn State fencing coach Maxwell Garret, who started the tournament in 1972. Garret is responsible for beginning Penn State fencing's rise to national prominence. Upon taking over the program in 1982, current head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov continued with the tournament, and honored his predecessor by naming the tournament after Garret. Kaidanov looks forward to this weekend's competition, but it is a much different situation than when he is traveling with his team.

"When we are on the road, I have time to help the team with their fencing," Kaidanov said. "Here, I will have to act as host."

One of the most interesting aspects of any open contest, as opposed to a dual meet, is the possibility of teammates facing each other in competition. Senior captain Stephanie Eim could face junior Jessica Burke, the defending Garret Open epee champion.

Or senior captain Daniel Landgren could face sophomore Adam Wiercioch, the defending men's epee champion.

"Adam is the top competition, so it would be very interesting if I met him in competition," said Landgren.

Wiercioch is looking forward to the Open for other reasons, besides the chance to compete against top competition. He has friends from international competitions that attend some of the other universities, such as St. John's and Notre Dame, and will be looking forward to competing against them.

Sophomore Nonpatat Panchan will be looking to jumpstart his season by performing well at home.

"The Penn State Open is one of the top tournaments in the country," Panchan said. "Doing well here would give me momentum towards the rest of the season."

Coach Kaidanov identifies the "usual suspects" as the fencers' strongest competition at the Open.

"Notre Dame has increased their power, closing all of their weaknesses," Kaidanov said.

He also cites defending national champion St. John's, who defeated Penn State in last year's NCAA tournament, ending the Nittany and Lady Lions' string of six consecutive national championships, as one of the top contenders. The Garret Open will take place all weekend, with the men competing on Saturday, and the women on Sunday. All matches will be taking place at the White building, starting at 8:30 a.m. Also taking place this weekend is a North American Cup junior competition in Dallas, Texas. Freshmen Ian Schaepfer and Meredith Chin and sophomore Heather Brosnan will compete in this competition. The NAC juniors are part pf the selection process for the U.S. junior team that competes in the World Championships.