No Canadians allowed. This weekend, young fencers from around the United States, and only the United States, will try to make an entire year's worth of qualifying pay off as they gather to compete in this year's Junior Olympics. The four-day tournament at the Cleveland Convention Center will feature some of the most elite fencers, including 10 Nittany Lions. The first big national tournament of the year pulls a lot of weight for the fencer's hopes of joining the U.S Junior National team.
For the men, freshman saber Ian Farr will look to continue his dominance and secure a top-four spot.
"Ian is in a great position this weekend," teammate Marten Zagunis said. "He, unlike some of the other [fencers] going, has been competing all season long and will know what to expect."
Ian ranks as one of the top-three fencers on Penn State, and gets plenty of action throughout the collegiate competitions. But for his two teammates, Ian Hamilton and Paul Jagielski, this weekend will pose a different challenge.
"This weekend will pit the [second-string fencers] with the task of trying to transcend what they've learned at the collegiate level to how they compete when they are out there by themselves," Zagunis said. "For them, it will be very interesting."
On the women's side seven athletes will compete, with two in particular having a lot riding on the outcome of the weekend. Freshmen Case Szarwark and Sophia Hiss, like Farr, will be competing in their fourth major national tournament of the season.
Szarwark is currently ranked fourth on the U.S National Team for the epee and will secure a spot on the team with a solid performance. Hiss, ranked 10th on the U.S National Team for foil, has an interesting story because, although she will be competing in foil matches, lately she has been fencing saber for Penn State.
"When she made the switch from foil to saber she showed that she had natural talent," Penn State fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said in a previous interview.
The true test for Hiss though, will be to see if her time off of her specialized weapon will affect her performance.
"Even with some practice on foil this week, the switch might be apparent," Zagunis said. "But the more probable result will be that her time with saber will help to improve her foil skills. The biggest challenge will be the change in mind set, not the change in weapon."
The competition wraps up Monday morning, but the fatigued fencers won't have a lot of time to rest. Penn State will continue its collegiate competition next weekend when it travels to Cornell.
-- By Ryan Chadwick
