PHILADELPHIA -
Members of the men's fencing team look to punch their ticket to the 2011 NCAA
Fencing Championships when they fence in the Mid-Atlantic Regional held all day
at Drew University on Saturday.
Any fencers who have 18 or more bouts on the season are
eligible to compete in the Regional and the Quakers can have a maximum six, two
from each weapon, make it through to the NCAA Championships.
Sabre
The Red and Blue have a quartet of saberists who have seen action in some of
Penn's toughest matches this season. Sophomore Evan Prochniak is the elder
statesman of the group and leads the entire Penn team with a 40-11 record in
dual matches. He also helped sabre to the gold medal at the inaugural U.S.
Weapon Squad Championships two weeks ago and was also an honorable mention
All-America selection last year. Freshman Josh Hammond, Michael Mills and
Elliot Tusk have also been instrumental to the team's success as Hammond and
Mills both have over 30 victories and Tusk has 15 this year.
Foil
The Penn foil group is 17-5 in dual action this year, courtesy of a pair of
juniors and a freshman. Third-year Zane Grodman has been the leader of the
foilists this year with a 31-16 record. He also has an appearance in the NCAA
Championships and was named second-team All-Ivy last month. Vidur Kapur has a
19-13 mark this year but was an honorable mention All-America selection last
year. Freshman R.J. Shipp has provided stability in the third spot in the
lineup and fenced his way to 24-15 mark this year.
Epee
The Quakers are relatively young in epee but are led by senior captain Jacob
Wischnia. Wischnia is 30-18 on the year and last season earned a trip to the
NCAA Championships with his performance in the Mid-Atlantic Regional. Freshman
Clifford Fishler has been Penn's most impressive freshman this season, fencing
his way to a 37-17 record overall and a second-team All-Ivy selection last
month. First-year Joseph Isaac has fenced his way to 25 victories this year
with wins over nationally ranked opponents.
Courtesy: University of Pennsylvania
