Penn sophomore fencer Jeff Breen was placed in the foil B flight for the International Fencing Association Championships.
Now that he holds the IFA trophy as the top individual foilist, Breen is B-class no more.
"It was the biggest competition I ever won," Breen said.
Breen's 11-2 record on Saturday earned him a spot in a 12-man round-robin on Sunday. He never flinched against the heavier competition, winning five bouts to tie for first with St. John's Jon Tiomkin and fellow Quakers' foilist Yale Cohen.
Breen then defeated Tiomkin, 5-3, and Cohen, 5-2, in the tie-breaker.
Breen said that Cohen harbored no hard feelings.
Cohen "beat me in the final pool and I beat him in the three-way barrage," Breen said. "We're competitive on the strip, but after that, we're still teammates."
As teammates, the foilists defended their Little Iron Man trophy on Saturday in dominating fashion as Cohen (9-3) and sophomore Andy Radu (12-0) combined with Breen to blister the rest of the field.
The other highlights from Saturday were the men's and women's six-weapon combined score and the three-weapon men's score.
Penn finished second in the six-weapon, falling to St. John's, 184-146.
In three-weapon men's competition, the Red and Blue registered 70 points, just behind St. John's, who had 86 and Columbia with 77.
Contributing to the Quakers' finish were a trio of eppeists.
Amidst a talented group of eppeists, seniors Scott Eriksen (8-4) and Jim Benson (7-5) and junior Javier Garcia-Albea (8-4) each battled to the top of the weapon's placing.
Garcia finished fifth, and Eriksen took eleventh in Sunday's round-robin.
The epee squad's strong performance also earned them a third-place team finish.
"This was my fourth year at IFAs, and this is the strongest epee pool I've ever seen," Benson said. "We were really happy to do as well as we did."
In the sabre, senior Dan Vincent and junior Jit Fong Oon notched five victories apiece. As a team, however, they ranked a disappointing eighth.
The Red and Blue now head to Drew University for the NCAA Regionals. For Vincent, Eriksen and Benson -- the three seniors who are set to graduate in the spring -- this could be their last competition unless they qualify for the NCAA Championships.
"Every year after IFAs [the finality] hits all the seniors," Benson said. "The fencing community is small and tight knit, so we know who's going to be gone next year.
"It's sad that it's ending, but there are different ways to stay involved," he said.
