Cliff Bayer wins NCAA foil trophy

After ousting all competition at Nationals, Penn's freshman fencer took the Worlds by storm. Melville, N.Y. When Bayer decided to attend the Penn in 1995, he must have known that this day would come. On March 23, it did come. Bayer became the first national fencing champion from Penn since 1986. He overcame the grueling obstacles that would have prevented him from hoisting the amber and gold plaque over his head. After fencing only a portion of the Quakers' regular season schedule due to injury and international competition, Bayer returned to the form that earned him a selection on the U.S. Olympic fencing team in Atlanta. Winning the collegiate championship, he proved that he could win at every level. As one of 24 participants in the foil round-robin, Bayer finished with a record of 20-3, leaving him as the fourth and final qualifier for the semifinal round. In his semifinal match, Bayer faced Dan Kellner of Columbia, who was the No. 1 seed after finishing 21-2. Despite not having beaten Kellner all season, losing both at Columbia in the regular season and in the IFA championship at St. John's, Bayer defeated Kellner. While the NCAA considered Bayer's win a mild upset, Bayer is the top-ranked foil fencer in the United States for national and international competitions. In the championship match, the New York City native would face the Gang Lu-Peter Devine winner. Devine of Yale beat Lu of Penn State. Devine is the second-ranked fencer by the United States Fencing Association, behind Bayer. Although the final match had the medal-round No. 3 seed face the No. 4 seed, the championship would be a rematch of last year's Olympic Trials final match, where Bayer defeated Devine. In the Penn-Yale match earlier this year, Devine beat Bayer, who was not selected All-Ivy after not fencing in the necessary number of matches. This time, Bayer was ready. He soundly beat Devine, 15-8, to earn the championship. "Cliff and I have established a really great, friendly rivalry," Devine said. "We always have great matches, and I don't expect this one to be the last. We'll meet again." Immediately after the championships ended, Bayer flew to Europe to participate in the World Championships, where he was crowned as the No. 1 fencer in his age group. The NCAA championship Bayer won was the first national title won by a Quaker since Jessica DiMauro earned the women's squash title in a year ago. Penn senior and team captain Adam Brown finished the foil round robin in seventh place with a record of 16-7. It was a great accomplishment for Brown, who came on strong after a sub-par senior season and a bout with tendinitis. In the epee competition, senior Alex Edelman finished in ninth, with a record of 12-11. In the women's competition, sophomore Quakers Meredith Galto finished the round-robin at 11-13. In the overall team competition, a combined men's and women's result, Penn finished in 11th place. Penn St. won its third straight national title. Yale finished in fifth, the top Ivy finisher.