Jonathan Berkowsky is going back to where he belongs.
After placing 11th at the NCAA Championships in sabre last year - which earned him an honorable mention All-American nod - the junior standout will look to improve upon that finish at this year's NCAAs, which start today and end tomorrow.
Berkowsky is well on his way to exceeding last year's performance at this year's national competition after a first-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals March 7. The Sicklerville, N.J., native, though, will not go into the competition with an overconfident attitude.
"I feel really good, and I want to build off last year," he said. "I'm going to try my best and see what happens."
Four Penn fencers will join Berkowsky in the men's competition in State College, Pa.
At sabre, Berkowsky will be joined by fellow junior Andrew Bielen. Penn will be represented by two freshmen at foil in Vidur Kapur and Zane Grodman. And senior captain Ben Wieder will make his third appearance in the NCAAs at epee.
On the women's side, four fencers will compete in the tournament, which begins Saturday and concludes Sunday.
Freshman Dominika Franciskowicz and junior Danielle Kamis will compete in the sabre competition. At foil, standout freshman Laura Paragano will represent the Quakers. Sophomore epee Stephanie Wheeler rounds out the bunch.
Although this weekend's competitions are all individual events, the sum of the individual scores will constitute a combined men's and women's team score. With nine fencers qualifying for nationals, Penn has a good chance to post a high team score.
"I certainly expect us to be in the top 10," coach Dave Micahnik said.
Each individual competition - i.e. men's sabre, women's foil, etc. - consists of a 24-person round robin over the two days of competition. This means that each fencer will fight in 23 bouts. After these 23 bouts take place, the top four scorers in each individual event will compete in a single-elimination Final Four to determine the champion.
"The format isn't as arduous as it seems," Micahnik said. "We've had longer, harder days at multi-meets throughout the season."
The Quakers, especially the men's team, have put together an excellent season. But just like Berkowsky, they're trying to top past results.
