Micahnik shocked by his team's dominance

Penn men's fencing coach Dave Micahnik predicted a series of close bouts this weekend as the Quakers kicked off their Ivy League schedule. "I don't know who's going to win," he said on Friday. "But I do know that we won't blow any teams out." He was wrong. The Quakers dominated their Ancient Eight rivals this weekend -- first winning at Yale, 17-10, then defeating Harvard by the same score. The Red and Blue topped it all off with a 19-8 smackdown of Brown. Penn also beat Brandeis, 16-11, and M.I.T., 19-8, improving to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League. "It was a very good weekend," Micahnik said. "We had an arduous task ahead of us and we conquered it." The undefeated weekend for the No. 9 Quakers kicked off Saturday in New Haven, Conn., against the No. 10 Elis. The win was especially sweet for Penn after losing to Yale last year by the same 17-10 score. "Despite what the numbers say, [Yale] fenced well," Micahnik said. "They were just missing some experienced guys. They didn't have that state of readiness they usually have." The Quakers were led by their epee team -- a squad that this year is starting all new fencers -- who went 7-2. "I was pleased by epee," Micahnik said. "They are finally making things work. They are minimizing points lost to errors." Freshman Mike Sanders led the way for the epees, going 3-0, while teammates Chungxing Mah and Daniel Borden each went 2-1. The foil team also performed well, going 6-3, against a very strong Yale team led by German National Team members Daniel Senft and Cory Werk. Individually for Penn, Andrew Radu and Yale Cohen each went 3-0, while Jeff Breen went 0-3. The sabre squad fell 4-5 to the strong Elis, despite freshman Mark Kindrachuk's 2-1 mark. Bill Caulin and Chris Lvoff each went 1-2. Overall, Micahnik was excited to come away with a tough road win. "It's always fun to beat them at Yale," he said. "If you think the Palestra is loud at a basketball game, try the Yale fencing room. That place is a madhouse." Following the win in New Haven, the Quakers traveled up the Eastern Seaboard to Cambridge, Mass., to partake in the Brandeis-M.I.T. Invitational on Sunday. This is where the Quakers defeated the previously unbeaten No. 8 Harvard behind a strong foil team who went 9-0. The sweep compensated for Penn's 4-5 losses at both epee and sabre. "After the bout, Harvard's assistant coach came over to me and said, 'That foil team of yours is a mighty high mountain to climb,'" Micahnik said. While all three foilists went 3-0, Micahnik was especially impressed by Breen's improved performance. "Jeff got his stuff together," he said. "I think he was touched twice all day." M.I.T. was also the site of the Quaker's win against Brown. Both the foil and epee teams went 9-0, while the sabre squad was crushed, 1-8, winning only its first bout of the day. Against the two host teams -- M.I.T. and Brandeis -- sabre went a combined 9-9, foil went a combined 14-4, and epee went 12-6.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.