M. Fencing led by Cohen's dominance

Spring break might be over, but five members of the Penn men's fencing team are heading to sunny California this Friday. It will not, however, be a pleasure trip, as these Quakers are competing in the NCAA Championships at Stanford. Qualification for the NCAAs is based upon a fencer's season evaluation -- which consists of the number of bouts won and the strength of his team's schedule -- and his placement at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/ South Region Championships, which were held March 12 at Penn State. At State College, Pa., Penn freshman Yale Cohen won the foil event and recorded an impressive 23-1 finish for the day. He went undefeated in the final 12-person round robin. Before the tournament, Cohen was upset to see that his name was not on a list of fencers to watch in the program. He decided to prove the listmakers wrong. "I told my brother [Penn foilist David Cohen] that I was going to win the tournament," Yale said. "I really wanted to win, but I was surprised. Most of the people I beat I had lost to during the regular season." David Cohen almost ruined his brother's winning streak when the two faced each other in the final round -- Yale was down 4-0 before making a comeback and winning the bout, 5-4. Though his brother is just a freshman, David was not surprised by Yale's final placement. "The people we fenced at regionals are the same people we've fenced for the last seven years," David said. "If [Yale] was better than them before college, he'll be better than them now." David Cohen finished sixth in the foil event, ensuring himself a spot in the NCAAs. Yale Cohen wasn't the only Quaker with a first-place finish -- junior sabre Michael Golia tied with Penn State's Aaron Stuewe and Michael Stahlhut for first. A fencer must finish in the top six of his weapon to qualify for NCAAs, so rather than fencing for first place, the sabres flipped a coin to determine placement. Golia was given third place, even though he beat both Stuewe and Stahlhut. "They're very slippery," Golia said of his opponents from Happy Valley. "But I fenced well enough to qualify for NCAAs, and that's all that matters." In the epee event, Penn's Charles Hamann and Javier Garcia-Albea finished fifth and sixth respectively, earning themselves bids to the NCAAs. Despite his strong finish, Hamann's performance was shaky in the first two rounds. Though he made it to the finals, he had to win five out of six bouts in the second half of the final round to finish in the top six. Hamann did what he needed to do and pulled off five nearly consecutive victories against fencers from Princeton and Penn State. "It was a home stretch sort of thing," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said of Hamann's performance. "He started to put his game together and he won key bouts." Garcia-Albea won five bouts against fencers from Rutgers, Princeton and Penn State to secure his sixth-place finish. The Quakers qualified five men out of a possible six for the NCAAs -- a team can send two fencers from each weapon. A school's final placement at the championships depends on the total number of points scored by both the men's and women's teams, and since the Penn women are only sending two fencers to the NCAAs, Micahnik is understandably disappointed that the men did not qualify another sabre. "We'll do our best, of course, but any school with 10 or 12 fencers has an advantage," Micahnik said. "If everyone does wonderfully, we'll have a chance for the trophy."

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