When push comes to shove, the world is a pretty big place.

But three of Penn States premier freshmen fencers are taking it on this weekend in the Junior World Cup tournament.

Ian Farr, Sophia Hiss and Case Szarwark packed up their essentials and headed off to Louisville, Kentucky Thursday evening for a long weekend battle against the world's best fencers in their age group.

This weekend will feature the toughest competition the young fencers have ever faced.

"The name says it, this is the World Cup tournament," Penn State assistant fencing coach Wes Glon said. "They will face the best fencers their age. It won't be easy, but you always go in with an attitude to win. It's tough to know how we'll fare, but we will definitely end up in the top 10."

The young trio has already left their mark on competition this year. In last week's Temple Open both Farr and Hiss captured titles in their respective events and Szarwark has earned a medal in all three of her tournaments.

Szarwark is one of the favorites going into the weekend, she is seeded third on the U.S national team. The top three seeds nationally go to the junior world championships in April.

These capable freshmen have really impressed their coaches early on.

"So far they are doing an excellent job," Glon said. "They really have exceeded our expectations. They all have performed exceedingly well against well established programs and older fencers, winning their events without losing any bouts at all."

Penn State's regular season does not get under way until the end of the month, and there are spots open on the team, so these early events are essential for the young fencers.

"We will fill the team with the most able fencers," Penn State fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "[The early tournaments] will give us direction and help guide us to get the [freshmen] ready for the season."

-By Ryan Chadwick