Penn State Fencing: An Extremely Busy And Competitive 2015-2016 Campaign

The Penn State fencing team has officially announced its 2015-2016 campaign.  The season will be extremely busy from October to March with Olympic qualifiers, national tournaments, with some international competition. 

This upcoming season the Nittany Lions will be hosting three events that include the Garett Penn State Open, the Nittany Lion Cup, and one home dual meet.  Each of these home dates will be taken place at the White Building. 

Head Coach Wes Glon and the remainder of the fencing team is looking to finish the season with a return to the NCAA Championships in Boston to reclaim the first place title, after earning a strong second place finish at last year’s championship.

“We are very excited to begin our 2015-2016 season. The team is looking strong, focused and healthy and the freshman class is very eager to learn and contribute,” said Glon. “As it is the case every year, the journey to NCAAs will be a long, arduous one and only the best will prevail. We are up to the challenge and we invite all our supporters to be there with us whether we fence at home or away.”

The Nittany Lions will kick off the season on the road on Friday, Oct. 9 with Cadet Olympic Trials in Richmond, Va.  This four-day qualifying tournament will run until Monday, Oct. 12. 

Penn State has a history of having fencers reach the Olympian competition level.  British-born American, Miles Chamley-Watson.  Chamley-Watson entered the 2012 Summer Olympics as the #2 ranked foil fencer.

Penn State will then return home to host the Nittany Lion Cup Open from Saturday, Oct. 17 – Sunday, Oct. 18.  The tournament will be opened to all fencers of any age group and skill level starting at 10 a.m. each day.

After a bye weekend, the Nittany Lions will be spending Halloween outside of Happy Valley and will be in Philadelphia for the 36th-annual Temple Open.  The two-day long tournament will begin at 8 a.m. each day and is set to finish on Sunday, Nov. 1.

Following the tournament in the City of Brotherly Love, Penn State will return to State College to host the 42nd-annual Garret Penn State Open.  The tournament is set to begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 – Sunday, Nov. 8 in the White Building.

After getting a little taste of home, the Nittany Lions will once again be on the road heading towards Kansas City, Mo. for the North American Cup.  The Junior, Cadet and Y-14 competition will be held from Friday, Nov. 13 – Monday, Nov. 16.

The fencing team will then be using the two-week Thanksgiving break to gear up for the second round of Olympic Trials in Baltimore, Md. at 8 a.m. from Friday, Dec. 4 – Monday, Dec. 7. 

The first weekend of December will be even busier for the Nittany Lions, with fencers competing at the Division I and II Olympic Trials as well as the team’s first collegiate away match.  Sacred Heart will host the Nittany Lions at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, along with Princeton, Harvard, New York University and Vassar.  Penn State is then looking close out the first semester by competing at the Fencing World Cup in Boston, Mass. on Saturday, Dec. 12 – Sunday, Dec. 13.

As soon as the holiday break is over, the fencing team will be gearing up for another heavy semester.  The fencers will be competing at the Division I/Junior North American Cup in St. Louis, Mo. and at the Junior World Cup in Segovia, Spain. These competitions will be held from Friday, Jan. 8 – Monday, Jan. 11 and from Saturday, Jan. 9 – Sunday, Jan. 10.

The White Building will then welcome home the Nittany Lions the following weekend for their last home match of the season.  The team will be hosting the University of Pennsylvania, Temple, the University of North Carolina, Columbia, Haverford, Yale and Duke at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16. 

The Nittany Lions will soon travel to St. John’s for an away match at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23, alongside with Colombia, Harvard, Ohio State, and the University of North Carolina.

Once it hits February, Penn State will have a two-day trip to Durham, N.C., where the team will square off against Duke, Brandeis, Johns Hopkins, Temple, the University of North Dakota and the University of North Carolina at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6 – Sunday, Feb. 7.

Only five days later the team will leave for Cleveland, Ohio to compete in the Junior Olympics at 8 a.m. from Friday, Feb. 12 – Monday, Feb. 15.

The Nittany Lions will finish up regular season competition with a quick, one-day trip back to Philadelphia.  Temple will host the Nittany Lion’s final match at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20, as well as St. John’s, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown and Stevens.

Then finally, Penn State will look towards two post-season competitions: the Mid-Atlantic/South NCAA Regionals on Saturday, March 12 and the NCAA Championships in Boston, Mass. on Thursday, March 24 – Sunday, March 27.

The Penn State Fencing team is looking to finish the season strong and roll into the post-season with momentum that will help them reclaim their first-place title. Penn State is currently searching for its 14th National Championship title, and its fourth in the last eight years.