Pain, struggle and glory.

Penn State freshman fencer Marten Zagunis lives by these words and they are symbolized by a large tattoo on the inside of his ankle designed by him and drawn by a friend who is a tattoo artist.

"The more pain something causes you, or the bigger the struggle to overcome a task, the better person you are," Zagunis said. "That's probably my biggest motto in life. If you're faced with any task, you can't shy away from it."

One thing Zagunis has had to deal with in his freshman year has been being away from his family for 10 months out of the year.

"The guys on the fencing team, especially the upperclassmen, are really helping me out and getting me adjusted," the Beaverton, Ore., native said.

So far this season, Zagunis, who fences saber, certainly hasn't shied away from any challenges in competition, helping lead the Penn State fencing team to a perfect 7-0 record this season.

Lately Zagunis has been somewhat disappointed with his performance in international competition but hasn't let it affect his collegiate fencing.

"Being my last year [in junior competition] I was hoping to go out with a bang," he said. "It really wasn't happening. I think it was a lot of psychological things with new coaches and a new situation with school, but regardless of my placing, personally I felt like I was fencing very well and I was just a little unlucky sometimes."

Zagunis said that he is focusing on fencing for Penn State, though, and with a 17-2 record on the season, no one can dispute that.

Penn State fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov had high praise for Zagunis.

"He has the potential so I'm looking forward to developing him," Kaidanov said. "Let me put it this way, he is on his way. Watch out. He's a good one."

Junior captain Alex Weber also had praise for Zagunis.

"He was already great when he came here," Weber said.

"He keeps getting more technical. He was a fighter. Now he's getting much better at technique."

Zagunis also realized that he is still developing as a fencer.

"It's a big change, but I'm getting used to it really easily and [assistant coach] Wes [Glon] and [Kaidanov] are two really good coaches and they're really helping me fixing things," Zagunis said.

Kaidanov and Weber also see Zagunis as a vocal leader.

"Marten is not the guy that would keep his mouth shut," Kaidanov said. "He's not very modest. He's up-front."

Weber said he would not be surprised if Zagunis eventually developed into a team captain.

"I would be happy to see him as a captain because he's pushing," Weber said. "He wants changes. He wants to motivate people and that's great."

"To be a good leader, you've got to have good people to follow you," Zagunis said. "I don't think it maybe has anything to do with my ability but more or less everyone's willingness to listen to a freshman."