No need to call a 'Micahnik'; fencing gixes up 4-0 weekend

The Penn men and women's fencing teams both had a perfect 2-0 weekend on the strip. The Penn men and women's fencing teams both had a perfect 2-0 weekend on the strip.Andrew McLaughlinThe Penn men and women's fencing teams both had a perfect 2-0 weekend on the strip.Andrew McLaughlinThe Daily Pennsylvanian Women's fencing (9-5, 1-2 Ivy League) assured itself of a winning record for the 1997-98 season with its win of the day, a 24-8 Saturday morning victory over Harvard. The Quakers continued their winning ways with a second big 'W', 22-10 over St. John's. The men's team (8-3, 1-2) at the same time had a solid weekend, guaranteeing itself a better record than last year's squad with its two Saturday wins -- 20-7 over Harvard and 17-10 over St. John's. "I'm very happy with the results," Penn head coach Dave Micahnik said. On the women's side, Quaker's senior Cynthia Kwan, who was recovering from a wrist injury, went 4-0 to lead the foil to a 11-5 win against the Crimson. Penn sophomore Margo Katz also swept Harvard and went on to do the same against St. John's, ending up with an impressive 8-0 record. Katz, however, was prevented from fencing what should have been the most interesting match of the day. Her sister, Harvard captain Jill Katz, had the flu and did not make the trip with the Crimson team. "Yes, I was disappointed. I only found out the night before [that she wouldn't come]," the foil said. "I was pumped for it." Penn freshman Kari Coley continued her string of solid outings, leading the epee with a 4-0 record against the Crimson while seniors Olivia Leon and Emmy Cho and junior Meredith Galto each went 3-1. Not to be outdone, across Weightman Gym the men's foil swept the Crimson. Sophomores Cliff Bayer and James Lyons, along with freshman Yaron Roth, all went 3-0 in the win. "We had greater motivation to win after the Yale loss," Roth said. "I'm glad [with the win], we fenced very good." Men's sabre and epee also won their events against Harvard. Freshman Michael Golia went 3-0 to lead the sabre squad to a 6-3 record, and junior sabre Jeff Allen's lone loss was to a former high school teammate, senior Lee Scheffler. Quakers freshman Charles Hamann and junior Roland Backes each went 2-1 in the epee team's 5-4 win. There was a downturn in the Harvard epee matches when Quakers junior John Wright suffered a bruised hip in a loss to Crimson captain Mike Gattner. The injury, which forced Wright to miss two matches against St. John's, occurred in a very physical bout with the larger and undefeated Crimson senior. "His size really helps him," Micahnik said. "He's athletic and has a big range." Despite lacking two starters, the men's team still defeated St. John's in the second meet. Hamann swept the Red Storm epee squad, 3-0, and freshman Michael Leiseca filled in admirably for the injured Wright, coming one touch from going 2-0. "The epee rose to the match. I'm extremely happy with my results," said Hamann. "[The epee] are a young team and we made a strong contribution to the overall result." Sabre again went 6-3 for the Red and Blue, with Golia sweeping for the second time and Allen again going 2-1. Penn, however, did not have to face the U.S. National Sabre champion, Red Storm sophomore Keeth Smart, who did not travel with the team. The men's foil, as has come to be expected, did very well, going 7-2. Roth and NCAA Champion Bayer duplicated their morning sweeps, each ending with 6-0 records on the day. Coming off their first Ivy victory of the year and seeing the men handling the Red Storm across the gym, the women's team went on to run St. John's off their strip as well, 22-10. "We expected St. John's to be difficult," Micahnik said. "But we expected to win, and we did." Although the Quakers beat St. John's by a large margin, they were facing an undermanned squad. The Red Storm brought only three foilers, forfeiting four points to the Quakers, and were without top epee junior Nicole Dygert. Kwan and junior Agnieszka Gromulska both won two of three foil bouts. Katz, in the final match of the day, came from four points down to defeat St. John's captain Karen Moroney 5-4. "We were more composed for some reason, and were able to pull out the close bouts," Leon said. The women's epee topped the Red Storm, 10-6. St. John's senior Raven Johnson, though, went 4-0, dealing each Quaker a loss. Both Quakers' squads are pleased with their weekend results. Men's and women's had split with these opponents in '97, and, more recently, both had lost at home to Yale. Before the weekend began, few could have foreseen this domination that the Quakers have displayed.