M. Fencing led by foilist Cohen at Penn State

Junior David Cohen paced Penn with a second-place foil finish at the Garrett Open last weekend. In last weekend's Garrett Open at Penn State, the Penn men's fencing team proved that it will yet again be a formidable power in the upcoming season. Junior David Cohen took second place out of nearly 50 fencers in the foil competition, falling only to Penn State's Gang Lu. Sophomore Jim Benson was impressive as well, finishing 19th out of more than 60 epee fencers. The meet, held last Saturday and Sunday, included a field jam-packed with representatives from powerhouse fencing schools, including Penn State, Notre Dame and St. John's. But because the meet will not count as a win or loss in Penn's record, it served as a warm-up for the regular season -- which begins in January -- and allowed Penn fencers to see how they are performing in comparison to fencers from other schools. "A lot of [these] schools will be seen later in the season," coach Dave Micahnik said. "It's good to have a look at them." Micahnik noted that St. John's will be a particularly tough team this year. "They've been building for a couple of years," he said. "They keep getting tougher and tougher." St. John's is not the only team that will be tough. The Nittany Lions proved that, despite the loss of several seniors to graduation last year, they are still strong. They recorded five impressive top-10 finishes over the weekend, including top-five results in every weapon. Penn State's Lu, a three-time All-American, has an impressive resume that includes holding a position on the Chinese Junior National Team and posting a 10-1 record last season. Cohen had faced Lu three times prior to last weekend's 12-15 bout. At one point the bout between the two had been deadlocked at 11. "I thought I fenced really well until the end," Cohen said. "I was fencing smart. I was being patient and I thought I did pretty well." Cohen believes the tiring nature of the meet caught up with him during his final bout with Lu. After beginning an eight-hour day of fencing at 8:30 a.m., Cohen fenced 16 opponents before facing Lu. Although the first-place title slipped by him, Cohen was pleased with his performance. He noted that specific areas he had worked on in practice paid off in the meet. "He's been working extremely hard," Micahnik said. "Any success he has had he has earned. He's been very diligent and very serious. I have to give him credit." Benson, who faced opponents from Notre Dame, Penn State, Columbia and Princeton, believes the meet gave him direction for the season. "I think I did fairly well for the beginning of the season," he said. "I did better than last year but I'm still looking to improve. [The meet] was a warmup, a chance for everyone to get warmed up for the season." Other Penn finishers were epeeists Scott Eriksen, Eric Epstein and Will Burhop, who is also a Daily Pennsylvanian photographer. Eriksen, Epstein and Burhop placed at Nos. 35, 36 and 56, respectively. Jeff Lee led the Quakers in the sabre event, placing 23rd overall. Sabres David Liu, Brent Palatsky and Daniel Vincent placed close to each other, finishing 30th, 32nd and 33rd, and Penn sophomore Blake Miller took 40th in the foil event. Aside from their Alumni Meet on December 4, the Quakers' season will not officially open until the end of January. And Micahnik believes that last weekend provided a wake-up call for his team. "Some people are doing things right, and they need to know that," he said. "And some people have things they need to work on, and that's why we go."