M. Fencing and Cohen set same goals for future

For freshman David Cohen, fencing is a family rivalry. Five years ago, only two weeks after he picked up the foil for the first time, his younger brother started fencing as well and the competition began. "My little brother is pretty good," Cohen said. "We would train together and go to tournaments together. We used to push each other." Cohen had much success before his arrival at Penn, which made him a top recruit. His accomplishments span from an appearance in the Pan-American Games to his present No. 6 ranking in the National Circuit after this weekend's North American Cup in South Bend, Ind. Currently, Cohen is trying to raise his sixth place ranking before the end of February so that he can make one of four spots (three foilers and an alternate) on the Junior World Championship team, made up of men under 20 years of age. With only two more circuit meets, in Italy and Florida, before the February deadline, Cohen is trying to gain a few crucial points to push him into one of those coveted spots. The Houston, Texas native started the sport in eighth grade on a whim. It was a simple suggestion by his mother. He was coached in the Lone Star State, a place not know for fencing, by Egyptian Mauro Hamza, an Olympic foiler. Hamza was a graduate student who decided to open a fencing club and give lessons while attending school. Penn became Cohen's number one recruit with his acceptance into the prestigious Management and Technology dual degree program. The young Texan became a prime recruit for Penn and coach David Micahnik because of his "enthusiasm, very high energy and extraordinary academic record." "[Cohen] came in as an up-and-coming fencer," Micahnik said. "And by the time he got here, he was already able to show he deserved a varsity job." With a current NCAA record of 7-2 individually after three meets, Cohen is living up to his expectations, but he is not taking it easy. With a daily regiment of 3-4 hours of practice, Cohen admits that it takes a lot of dedication to balance a full class load and a sport. Micahnik feels as though Cohen's work ethic speaks for itself. "David is probably as hard a working member of the team as anybody," Micahnik said. "He doesn't have to be told to do more work. He does more than anybody." One thing that Cohen is not used to coming out of club fencing and into intercollegiate play is team competition. "I never fenced in high school," said Cohen. "I fenced in a club and I fenced individually for myself trying to make teams, like the Pan-American team. But here we are fencing as team and go as a team? it's a good experience." This weekend Cohen and the other eight Penn fencers will travel to Penn State for their second weekend of intercollegiate competition. Penn will face Stanford, Air Force, Haverford, NYU and Duke in a mega-meet. A meet of this size will keep the team busy all day with the key being that players put out a maximum effort in all 15 bouts of the day. Stanford is the most powerful team the Quakers will face this weekend. Cohen has high expectations for himself at this weekend's mega-meet. "I would like to go 15-0," he said. "That is my goal. I don't feel that there is anyone in the competition that we have that can beat me." These expectations are not unrealistic for the freshman and do not fall far off what others expect of him. "He has the prospect for an outstanding career," Micahnik concluded. "We have had three meets so far, but my estimation is that he is going to be terrific."