Wrestling and Fencing make strong NCAA showing

Cliff Bayer could not repeat as champion, but Fencing placed sixth. In a spectacular effort this past weekend in the 1998 NCAA fencing championships, four Penn fencers earned All-American honors -- including three First Team All-Americans on the men's side. Freshman Yaron Roth and sophomore Cliff Bayer both earned First Team in the foil as freshman Michael Golia excelled to First Team honors in the sabre. Freshman epee Kari Coley earned Honorable Mention All-American honors on the women's side. As a combined men's and women's team, Quakers fencing finished sixth in this four-day national event -- second only to Columbia among Ivy teams in attendance. The men's squad (9-4, 3-2 Ivy League) qualified five of a possible six fencers to last weekend's nationals in Notre Dame, Ind., while Penn women (10-7, 2-3) sent three out of a maximum four. Each event was held over a two-day period, with preliminary five-point bouts giving way to 15-point bouts in the final four. Golia won 17-of-23 preliminary bouts en route to a fourth seeding going into the finals. Golia then beat the number one seed, Paolo Roselli, before falling to a fellow fencing club member -- Notre Dame's Luke LaValle -- 15-11 in the final. "I'm ecstatic. I spent the whole year thinking about the NCA's and to do so well as a freshman," Golia said. "The first day I was on fire. I was expecting top eight, but I surprised myself with second." Unlike Golia, Bayer -- the defending NCAA champion and a 1996 Olympian -- came in favored and looking to repeat. Continuing a theme of youth, though, freshman Roth had different ideas, defeating his teammate in the closest of semi-final bouts, 15-14, to move on to the final. "The fencing was peculiar [during that bout]. I couldn't cheer for any touches because they're both my guys," Micahnik said. "I guess it's a bit of an upset, but Yaron's a good fencer and he's been on the national scene." Although Roth lost to Yale's Ayo Griffin, 15-13, in a hotly-contested final with several controversial judging calls, the Roth and Bayer duo still gave the Penn men an exceptional two-three foil finish. "I was excited a bit, but I was used to it," Roth said. "It was hard competition. I was very disappointed because it was so very close" Penn freshman Charles Hamann (17th place) and junior captain John Wright (21st place) both performed well for the men's epee in what was the first trip for each to the NCAAs. The Quaker women too put up a very respectable showing. Coley garnered Honorable Mention All-American honors, finishing ninth in the country in the women's epee. "Kari did a really nice job," Micahnik said. "She missed second team by a hair, but we'll take it." In women's foil, junior Jagna Gromulska finished 17th, while sophomore Margo Katz -- in her second NCAA appearance -- finished 22nd. "The NCAAs are great in the sense of the camaraderie. Everyone wanted to fence tough, but was very friendly," Gromulska said. The junior, who received only one of two waivers nationwide to NCAAs after missing Regionals, added that,"I felt sort of honored to fence with the best. I was very happy I made it to that circle." The Quakers were pleased to be able to send eight out of a possible 10 team members to the NCAAs, and even more content when these fencers returned to Weightman Gym as a part of one of the most successful Quakers fencing squads at the NCAAs ever. "The kids have done a great job," Micahnik said. "Show me another team with four All-Americans."

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