Fencing teams to face battle at NYU tournament

Penn State has always stood in the way of Princeton's bringing home a fencing national championship.

"This year is our chance to change that," senior captain Terry Kim said.

Whether or not the change will take place remains to be seen, but the first skirmish in that war will be fought this weekend as the fencing teams travel to New York University to face the Nittany Lions in addition to North Carolina and the host Violets.

This will be the third competition for the defending Ivy League champs — but the first team tournament of the season. Until now, their have only been single contests.

"The biggest difference is that the factors of momentum and team unison come into play," said junior Lindsay Campbell when describing team competitions relative to single events.

Against a team such as Penn State, Princeton is going to want to make sure it is able to take advantage of these new variables. One of the reasons for the team's optimism has been the early success of the team's freshmen.

The Class of 2004 is one of the strongest ever at Princeton. Some of that credit goes to Soren Thompson, who is considered to be the best junior epee in the United States and the fifth-best in the world. Other freshmen who are looking to make strong contributions to the team include the Tiger men's Jon Jew-Lim, Eric Stodola and Josh Younger, as well as Simran Winkelstern of the women's team. All four of these fencers finished in the top 15 in their respective events at the competitive Penn State tournament held earlier this fall.

And when the freshmen's performances are coupled with the strength and experience of the upperclassmen, the team becomes an extremely formidable opponent.

"The men's sabre team will be hard to beat," sophomore Dan Pratt said in reference to the squad which was able to place three fencers in the top 15 at Penn State.

Leading the charge were Kim, Younger and sophomore Michael Brosterman, who finished eighth, 12th and 13th respectively.

As for the epee event, Thompson should fill in nicely for the graduated captain of the 1999 team, Jason Burrell '00, who was able to finish sixth at the NCAA Championships last year. Other men expected to contribute to the effort in the epee are sophomore Bill Beaver and junior Matt Fitzgerald, both of whom placed in the top 20 in the Penn State tournament.

While nobody on the men's foil team appears, as of yet, to be dominant at the national level, it has three very strong fencers each vying for the top position on the team presently held by junior Alex Nivelle. They are Jew-Lim, senior Dustin Reagan and Stodola, all of whom finished in the top 15 at Penn State.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"The team will really be looking for Dustin Reagan to come through," Kim said. "He has always been a strong contributor."

The women's side looks just as strong. This is possibly most evident in the women's epee event in which sophomore Maya Lawrence and Campbell were able to finish second and fourth, respectively, at Penn State. Other women finishing well in the epee event include Winkelstern and sophomore Jenn Golia.

The results for the women's foil team so far appear to be nearly as strong. Led by sophomore Mindy Rostal — who finished second at Penn State — and followed by senior captain Lisa Leslie (13th) and freshman Crystal Jiang (41st), the foil squad should also be able to contribute.

The biggest obstacle for the Tigers this weekend will be the sabre event. Without a true standout in sabre, the team will be looking for some strong performances from some previously unsung fencers. Seniors Alexa Chew and Amanda Jones and sophomore Miya Tokumitsu all have the ability and work ethic to be able to pull through.

If all of this comes together, the Tigers just might be able to claim victory in the first skirmish against Penn State, giving Princeton hope that this year things might change on the national level.