Freshman Fencer Takes Gold at Junior Olympics

The 2016 Junior Olympic Championship was a successful one for Penn State.

Cleveland, Ohio hosted the four-day event that featured plenty of Nittany Lions, eight of whom made it to Monday’s competition. One fencer made it to a podium and two others finished in the top 10.

Five total Penn State fencers made it to the last day of the sabre event. Gavin Turner and Brad DeVito finished in 59th and T-181st in the competition, and Marcel Dolegiewicz cracked the top 40. Khalil Thompson, a sophomore, took home eighth place in the junior men’s sabre event, and freshman Karol Metryka finished in first place.

Metryka is ranked as the No. 2 junior men’s sabrist by US Fencing. He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Cadet World Championships in Bulgaria, so he was one of the heavy favorites at the Junior Olympics. He came through and is bringing gold back to Happy Valley.

Kasey Iverson was the lone woman still in contention for the Nittany Lions on Monday. The sophomore finished No. 102 in women’s foil.

Finally, two men competed in the epee. Joshua Cole ended up at No. 42 and Anton Piskovatskov finished in sixth place.

With a No. 1 finish in men’s sabre and three total finishes in the top 10, Penn State fencing showed this weekend why it’s one of the nation’s premier programs.