Fencers falter badly in JOs

The importance of this circuit meant nothing to the Penn men's and women's fencing teams. The effects of the Junior Olympics in San Jose were tremendous on a personal level, however. Unfortunately, those effects were vastly negative. The Penn representatives did not fare as well as they had hoped they would. Despite her incredible performance this season, freshman fencer Anastasia Gunzburg did not perform with her usual excellence. This came as a big surprise, as Gunzburg finished third overall in last year's under-20 competition. Gunzburg, in her ninth year of fencing, went 3-3 in round robin bouts to qualify for the direct elimination tournament. She received a bye to get through the first round and was then pitted against a little-known fencer from Indiana. That little-known fencer ended up providing some intense competition. Gunzburg lost, 15-12, eliminating her from the Junior Olympics. "This year the competition was really tough," Gunzburg said, "but I wasn't happy with my performance." Gunzburg has one more year to prove her talent -- she will compete in next year's Junior Olympics. For men's epee star Alex Edelman, disappointment was also found in San Jose, as he placed 21st in the 60-man competition. After breezing through the round robin and first round of direct elimination, Edelman lost his concentration and was defeated 15-14 in his second round bout. "I'm disappointed," Edelman said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself since it was my last Junior Olympics." Also competing were Olivia Leon, another freshman women's epee fencer, and sophomore Stephen Chun, who is not a starter for this year's men's team. Leon also started off successfully, qualifying for direct elimination, and had even won her first round bout. The disappointment then hit her as well, as she too fell in the second round. Chun did not have an outstanding Junior Olympics by a long shot. He ran into some tough competition and didn't even qualify for the elimination rounds. Freshman Sanjiv Agashiwala, who was scheduled to compete in San Jose, did not go, because of confusion with his entry in the tournament. Penn Coach Dave Micahnik shared the same views as the fencers. "We did not have a good day," he said. "The national field is rapidly improving, and the field is always an unknown." The lack of practice also may have hurt the team. The collegiate season is still going on, and it is difficult to gear for an individual tournament. "Its a totally different format," Micahnik said. "For one thing, its a 15-touch bout, and we're used to playing with five touches. Strategic planning is very difficult in this situation." Sports writer Brian Gondos contributed to this story.