Scooby Doo with a foil

If you were to ask three masked sword fighters to name their Saturday morning cartoon idols, you might expect to hear the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Or perhaps these blade wielders are of the more educated sort, in which case the Three Musketeers seems a logical choice.

But for junior Yale Cohen and sophomores Jeff Breen and Andy Radu -- the triumvirate of dominant foilists who have carried the Penn men's fencing team this season -- the obvious comparison is to...

...Scooby Doo?

"Well Andy is very skinny, and that's why he's Shaggy," Cohen said. "I don't know about the eating part because he really doesn't eat at all. He's Shaggy because he's sort of neurotic and afraid of everything.

"Jeff [is Scooby] because he's fast. Scooby runs away really fast when he's got the little goblin guy attacking him."

"I don't know why I'm Fred," he added, unable to complete the metaphor.

Cohen may be on to something, however. Throughout the season, the foilists have been solving their opponents like Scooby and the gang crack mysteries. They went 35-1 at the Penn State Invitational, 43-2 at the Brandeis Invite and 18-0 in a dual-meet against Harvard and Rutgers.

Sweeping opponents "is definitely a good feeling," Radu said. "But it's kind of scary because it just seems to be the norm by now.

"I've never been on such a winning team. I've also never felt so confident about a group of people."

Even last weekend, when the Quakers faced St. John's, Penn State and Columbia -- the No. 2, 3 and 4 teams in the nation -- the trio posted a 14-13 mark.

Such success comes as no surprise -- the Penn foilists have honed their skills through years of experience.

Cohen has been fencing since his brother and former Penn fencer David joined the sport in Houston eight years ago. Since then, he has developed into the most consistent force on the team with a current record of 40-8, up from 20-6 a year ago.

Breen was selected all-Ivy last year after he posted a 34-11 record as a freshman. This year, he has improved to his current 42-4. While Cohen is the elder, loquacious statesman of the team on and off the strip, Breen outwardly carries a cooler demeanor.

But if he gets started on his first fencing experience seven years ago in Newark, Del., however, it's obvious "Scooby" did anything but run.

"My friend started doing it at the local Y [YMCA] in grade school, so I thought I'd give it a try," Breen said. "And I went down to the Y and crushed everybody, so I got pretty good, pretty quickly."

Then there is Radu -- the darkhorse of the team this season -- who started fencing after getting cut from his ninth grade soccer team in Long Island.

Called upon this year to replace Yaron Roth, a first team all-Ivy selection who finished seventh at the NCAA Championships last year, Radu has climbed the depth chart to post a 39-6 record, an astounding improvement from last year's 12-3.

"These two guys [Cohen and Breen] were strong as hell last year," Radu said. "We had Yaron Roth as the third guy -- he was the man, he beat everyone.

"Those were some pretty big shoes to fill, and I'm just glad I can do my part. I mean, I sat on the bench all the time last year, but now I don't."

Penn coach Dave Micahnik couldn't be happier with Radu's performance this year, which he called "a revelation."

"He's matured as a competitor, his focus is better, his control is better," he said. "And he hasn't lost any of his aggression, he's just managing it better."

Although each foilist's story is a little different, each assumes his own role to create an interesting dynamic within the squad.

Cohen, Breen and Radu have blended their distinct personalities and styles to complement one another.

"We have something to bring as far as intensity goes," Radu said. "We're all fighters, but at different points in a match we might lag up.

"I, for example, get nervous. Whereas if I was just fencing individually I would just cop out and lose, maybe. But I have these two guys just standing there laughing at me."

With the season winding to a close, the trio maintains its lofty goals. Breen and Cohen are almost certain first team all-Ivy locks, while Radu's status is on the bubble between first and second teams.

Although the Red and Blue's loss to Columbia last weekend dashed their hopes at an Ivy League title, the foilists have not laid down arms yet.

They each have at least two more proving grounds -- the International Fencing Association Championships this weekend at Vassar and the NCAA Regionals at Drew University from March 8-10.

"Individually, I want to finish top three, top four in the nation," Cohen said. "And try to make the U.S. National Team."

And as is the case for nearly all top athletes, qualifying for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, remains a high aspiration.

"I think we'd all like to make an Olympic team," Breen said. "The ISC has gone and made it really difficult anymore, but we're training hard together and you never know what happens in the next couple years."

With sights set on the future, these Quakers have one more season together. On the strip for next year is another attempt at foilistic dominance and a run at the Ivy crown.

But some things will have to change before Penn can expect a championship run.

"It looks good because we -- as the foil team, as one contingent -- are winning," Radu said. "But the fact of the matter is every other guy on the team matters just as much as us individually.

"It matters more that the whole team is spread out winning as a whole than us three are winning."

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