M. Fencing fights for the Mettlach Stein

There's more on the line for Penn at tonight's men's fencing dual meet against Princeton than just a share of the Ivy League title. They're also playing for a giant mug. "More specifically it's a Mettlach stein -- a very old antique," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "It's very valuable." The traditional stein handoff began in the 1950's when Olympian Dr. Paul Mackler donated the meet trophy in recognition of the Penn-Princeton rivalry -- one that transcends sports. At the end of the meet, the losing captain will present the Penn-Princeton Dual Meet Trophy to the victorious captain. Last year, the Quakers eked out a 14-13 win over the rival Tigers and took home the stein. "Those who are of age...had a drink with it," senior Dan Borden said. "It's a symbol of our triumph." But if the Quakers hope to be drinking from their trophy again this year, they will have to defeat one of the best fencing teams in the country. While all three weapons for the Tigers are strong, perhaps their strongest is epee. "They are potentially the best epee squad in the country," Borden said. "We want to show that we can match up well and that we're a real strength to this team." Princeton's freshman Benjamin Solomon, junior Soren Thompson and senior Mitchell Slep make up the Tigers' epee squad. Solomon and Thompson are both members of the United States National Team, while Slep has been an All-Ivy selection in the past. Sleps is "a good solid college fencer so you can't overlook him," Micahnik said. Borden is especially excited to fence Solomon. "I've never even seen this guy before but I hear amazing things about him," Borden said. "He's big and he's fast, and he's a little unorthodox from what I hear because a lot of his initial learning was self-taught." The other two weapons will have to step up -- like last year when the foil squad went 9-0 -- to compensate for a potential lopsided epee score. "We can't ask for a 9-0 sweep again this year, but I think our foil team is going to give it them," Micahnik said. "We're in a situation where if we get some epee and do a good job in sabre, I think we can win it." Yale Cohen, Andrew Radu and Jeff Breen make up the foil squad. For the team to win the Ancient Eight title outright, Penn will need to defeat Columbia on Feb. 22. "Obviously we want to win that one really, really badly, but the goal here is to win at least a part of the championship," Borden said. The team emphasized that crowd support tomorrow could be a deciding factor in a close match "I've even been advertising this meet in a few of my classes," Borden said. "When you're fighting for something that's just within your reach and Princeton is fighting for their survival to have a chance at the Ivy League title, I assume the battle will be at epic proportions," he added. Micahnik agrees. "We could use some friendly noise," he said. "If we get a good 100-200 fans in there, that place will rock. Plus, the price is right. What else are you doing on a Wednesday night?"

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