Everyone, underclassmen and upperclassmen alike, is earning their chops.
As expected, Penn State’s fencing team dominated its competition Saturday, but everyone already seems to have their eyes set on the next competition.
The men’s team finished the day 5-0 at the 2013 Winter Duals, while the women’s team finished 5-1, with its one loss coming against Columbia; other competitors included Temple, North Carolina and Penn
After the men’s team soundly defeated Penn, just a few women were still competing — one of whom being freshman Clarisse Luminet (foil). From every corner of the White Building gym, one could hear Luminet’s screams echoing through the room as she celebrated a victory.
While this weekend was looked at as a test to see how well the team could play, fencers are already looking ahead to the
Jan. 26 match against the likes of fellow national powers, Ohio State and St. John’s. Luminet registered a 12-2 record Saturday, bringing her to 21-3 on the year. While Luminet was expected to be a key contributor this season, even as a freshman, Saturday gave coach Emmanuil Kaidanov a chance to try out some less experienced players of his.
Despite being a junior, Benjamin Freiman (epee) has played sparingly in his college career, tallying an 8-6 all-time record.
While perhaps not quite expected, Freiman stepped up this weekend, but when asked about his success in helping his men’s team finish the day undefeated, he shined the light on what he calls “a team dynamic.”
Miles Chamley-Watson, a 2012 Olympian and college fencing heavyweight, ended his day at 6-1, dropping his sole bout
to a Penn foilist.
“I think I just got a little over confident, too cocky,”
Chamley-Watson said.
The senior’s record for
2012-13 now rests at 10-1, on pace with his career record of 65-13 coming into the season.
“I was thinking, ‘This is the last fight [of the day], I’m done,’ but I don’t think it’ll ever happen again,” Chamley-Watson said. “I wanted to go undefeated this year, but I guess … this will have to do for now.”
