Fencers up end Harvard

The Penn men's fencing team earned their first Ivy League victory while visiting Boston. Despite a guaranteed victory by Harvard's captain, the Penn men's fencing team won its first Ivy League match of the season by defeating the Crimson by a 15-12 score. The Quakers improved to 6-2 overall, 1-1 in the Ivy League. The match can certainly be considered a team effort and result, as everyone who fenced earned at least one victory for the Quakers. When Penn arrived in Cambridge, Mass., this weekend, Harvard (5-3, 0-2) unveiled its secret weapon. The Quakers were certainly surprised to learn of Harvard's Scandinavian transfer, Michal Gattnar, an epee who won the NCAA championships in his freshman year. Penn coach Dave Micahnik was surprised to see Gattnar, who certainly improved Harvard's chance of winning the competition. "Their addition of Gattnar was a big surprise for us," Micahnik said. "He considerably changed the perspective of the meet. He went 3-0 against us." The strength of Gattnar was too much for the Penn epees to handle. They lost 5-4 to a much-improved, stealthy Crimson squad. Senior Ed Cleaver provided the Quakers with two solid victories. The Penn sabres were able to counter-attack and draw the Red and Blue even, winning their bouts, 5-4. After starting out with two losses, the sabres rallied to victory. Sophomore Jeff Allen had two wins and beat Harvard prognosticator and captain Lee Scheffler. Junior Sandy Agashiwala also contributed with two victories. The Penn foil squad defeated Harvard's foils by a 6-3 score. Penn captain Adam Brown and freshmen Rick Bernstein and James Lyons won two of their three bouts. All three of Harvard's foil wins came from the dominant Greg Chang. The Quakers showed their strength despite the absence of their top foil fencer, freshman Cliff Bayer. Bayer reinjured his knee during practice last week and was in New York having it examined. Going into the foil round, the match was tied at 9-9. The Quakers needed five bouts to be assured the overall victory. They ended up winning six of the final bouts. "I was very comfortable going into the final round with the foils," Micahnik said. "Even without Cliff, we have a very strong and capable foil team." No one weapon truly dominated the opposition, but the overall balance from each of the three squads led the Quakers to what Micahnik called a "team victory." "Everyone worked hard, the spirit was good, and everybody contributed with at least one win," Micahnik said. The Quakers hope to maintain their road winning streak tomorrow in a match against Ivy foe Princeton. The Tigers may well boast the best team in the Ivies. Their sabre team will be as tough a test for the Quakers as they have seen all year. How the Quakers fare against Princeton's sabres may determine the outcome of the match, in which the the winner takes the "Antique Stein" trophy. The Princeton (9-2, 0-1) foils pale in comparison to their sabre and epee teammates. The Penn foils should have no trouble, regardless of whether Bayer is healthy. In the epee, the matchup is fairly even, and should not play a major role in deciding the final result.