Penn State has widened its lead at the NCAA Fencing Championships, midway through Saturday's bouting in the third day of this four-day event. All three of top contending teams – PSU, Ohio State and Notre Dame – have completed their sabre bouts (four rounds) and half of their bouts in foil and epee (two rounds each).
Penn State entered the day with a 14-point lead on Ohio State and now leads the Buckeyes by 18 (139-121), while third-place Notre Dame (117) has fallen 22 points behind PSU (ND was 14 off the pace heading into Saturday). The Irish have moved one point closer to the Buckeyes, now trailing their Midwest rival by only four.
PSU and OSU both went 18-8 in their sabre bouts on Saturday, while the Irish were only 12-14. Notre Dame has managed to match PSU with 14 epee wins through two rounds – far outdistancing OSU's four wins. The foil competition has been nearly even, with nine wins for PSU, seven by ND and six for OSU.
OSU's slow start in epee helped solidify PSU's grasp on the top spot. The Buckeyes lost all four of their epee bouts vs. Notre Dame and then were swept outright (0-6) in a round featuring Princeton's Jasjit Bhinder and Susannah Scanlan, along with Penn's Stephanie Wheeler.