Men's and Women's Fencing take second and third, respectively, at Ivy champs

Although their Ivy Championship dreams had ended by last weekend, the Penn men’s and women’s fencing teams did not lose hope.

The men tied for second place and the women clinched third on Sunday at the Ivy Fencing Championship in Hutchinson Gymnasium.

Despite the absence of seniors and first-team All-Ivy sabres Andrew Bielen and Jonathan Berkowsky, the men’s team defeated Brown 16-11 and Columbia 22-5.

Berkowsky was out with an injured knee, while Bielen has been out since cutting his hand on broken glass just over a week ago.

“Injuries have been our greatest fault,” coach Andy Ma said. “We’re not able to achieve our full potential when not everyone’s out there.”

Of those in the lineup, freshman Evan Prochniak led the way for the men, going 12-3 in sabre and earning a first-team All-Ivy spot. Sophomore Alex Simmons had the best record in foil, going 11-3.

The women’s team also won its first match of the day, as sophomore Dominika Franciszkowicz and junior Danielle Kamis each went 3-0 in sabre to highlight a 19-8 victory over Brown.

But the Red and Blue fell to Columbia 16-11 afterward. The Lions won sabre 8-1 and epee 5-4, while the Quakers won 6-3 in foil.

Both teams will next see action on March 13 when they travel to Drew University in Madison, N.J. for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals.

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