Fencing
Fencing: Pair of Lions finish second in national championship
The national championship is halfway over and Penn State is in solid shape, leading the event, 94-83.
On Friday, the Nittany Lions saw two of their stars -- David Willette (foil) and freshman sensation Shaul Gordon (saber) -- nearly capture individual national titles, only to finish in second place.
Willette had to overcome fellow Lion Miles Chamley-Watson en route to his silver medal finish. Willette defeated his teammate in a semifinal match, 15-12.
But when facing Olympian Alex Massialas, from Stanford, Willette was overwhelmed, falling to the freshman, 15-9.
As for the saber division, while Gordon made it to the title match, captain Adrian Bak put on a show in the semifinal round.Bak and Pennsylvania’s Michael Mills traded points back-and-forth until Mills finally put Bak away, winning 15-14.
After his defeat of Bak, Mills soundly defeated Gordon in the final, 15-9.
The men’s team is now finished for the season, as the women will begin competing tomorrow morning.
Additional results:
Chamley-Watson finished tied for third in foil. Bak finished fourth in saber. Vernon O’Garra and Benjamin Russell finished 14th and 15th, respectively, in epee.