M. Fencing sets a course for Harvard

The Quakers will meet their second Ivy League team of the season tomorrow. Hoping to draw some Crimson blood this weekend, the Penn men's fencing team travels to Cambridge, Mass., for an important match against Harvard. The men hope to improve their 5-2 record, 0-1 in the Ivy League, against a Harvard team looking for some respect in the Ivy League. Harvard also has a 5-2 record but is widely considered the weakest team in a league full of recognized talent. The Crimson have yet to win an Ivy match. Penn's loss to Yale last weekend forces the team to fence virtually mistake-free in order to have a chance at winning the Ivy League. With only five of eight teams competing in the league, each match is that much more important. Harvard does not match up well against a more-balanced Quaker squad. The Crimson rely solely on Greg Chang to provide the foils with a chance. As for Penn, the foil team is deep in talent. As the sole upperclassmen among a group of freshmen foils, senior captain Adam Brown assumes the veteran role with humility. "My role is to use my experience to help these guys out," Brown said. "The freshmen are all very talented, but don't have much collegiate experience. I'm someone who's been there before and knows how it's run." The super-frosh foils are relied upon heavily by Quakers coach Dave Micahnik to step in and perform well. However, the freshman talent is so deep that they must compete with one another for a starting spot. With freshman Cliff Bayer pretty much assured the No. 1 foil spot, and Brown in holding at second, the third spot is wide open for one of the rookies. Eager freshmen Rick Bernstein, James Lyons and Dave Liu are all looking to fill that role. They compete intensely in practice with one another to prove their worthiness to Micahnik, who has shown no hesitation to throw his freshmen into the mix. "The way it works now is that Dave starts whoever he thinks is most ready for that individual situation," Bernstein said. "We're certainly fighting for the same spot, but when push comes to shove, if you are not starting, you still cheer for your teammates and want the to do well." Stepping to the "strip" for the sabres and epees are predominately upperclassmen. The freshmen are not asked to perform as much in these two weapon classes. Their time will come. As for now, epee seniors Alex Edelman and Ed Cleaver will be called upon for the Red and Blue. Going up against an overmatched Penn team, the Harvard epees have their work cut out for them. The strong tandem of Sandy Agashiwala and Alex Platt provide the sabres with a "double-edged" attack, which finally got some consistency last week in the Boston matches at Brandeis. Harvard sabre and team captain Lee Scheffler does not believe his team is in any trouble this weekend. "Our victory this weekend is a sure and imminent thing," Scheffler said. En garde. Scheffler and the rest of the Harvard fencers will have the chance to back his claim up at 10 a.m. tomorrow.