Defending trophies a priority for M. Fencing

Penn men's fencing coach Dave Micahnik will be toting two large trophies to Vassar this weekend for the International Fencing Association Championships.

If he has his way, he will still be carrying them come Monday morning.

"We're hauling these trophies back that we won last year," he said. "We have the Little Iron Man, which is from 1894 -- the oldest intercollegiate trophy of any sport in the United States. That's the foil team trophy which we won last year.

"We also have the epee team championship from last year which is a large silver cup. We'll have to take that back and put it on the table and hope to bring it back again."

The two-day IFAs will consist of 13 teams, including St. John's and Columbia -- both of whom the Quakers lost to last weekend.

"Last weekend was one of the longer meets we've had in a while," Penn senior epee Scott Eriksen said. "It was a good prelude to what this weekend should be like."

Team competition takes place Saturday where one of the top three fencers in each weapon will be placed in the A, B or C bracket.

The school that racks up the most cumulative points in each weapon wins that championship.

"It means a lot to us," Eriksen said of defending his silver cup. "Last year we didn't think we could do it and when we did, we were surprised -- frankly, shocked.

"I'd love to be able to take [the trophy] back again this year."

A three-weapon trophy is then awarded to the team which takes the most bouts amongst its three squads, while an overall trophy combines the men's and women's scores.

To qualify for the individual tournament on Sunday, fencers in each weapon must finish in the top six of the A division, the top four in B and the top two from C. The 12 fencers then are split into groups of six to hold a round robin -- the top eight from each pool advance to a final round robin.

"It's a long competition," Eriksen said. "We're there for like 13 hours.

"It gets pretty grueling, so you have to stay tense between bouts because sometimes you have an hour between them, so it's important you stay warm."

With the Red and Blue already tired from months of conditioning and practice, another long weekend could push them to the brink of utter exhaustion.

But if the epees can defend their silver cup and the foilists

can bring the Little Iron Man back to West Philly, the Quakers will not be too tired to celebrate.

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