M. Fencing remains winless in Ivies after losing to Elis

Penn sophomore foil and 1996 Olympian Cliff Bayer was just 1-2 on the strip against Yale. The Penn men's fencing team's thirst for revenge remained unquenched Saturday at Weightman Gym, as they once again fell to Ivy League rival Yale, 15-12. "We would have liked to have won as a team, especially since we lost so badly last year," sophomore foil Cliff Bayer said. "[Yale] was aggressive, loud and very supportive of each other," Penn assistant coach Boris Tsypenyuk said. "They wanted it badly. They are fighters." By weapon, the Eli came out ahead 6-3 in foil and sabre, while Penn (6-3, 0-2 Ivy League) won the epee, 6-3. "[The meet] was pretty disappointing," Bayer said. "We were ahead after the first round and then we really lost a lot of unnecessary bouts, a lot of 5-4 bouts which really ended up hurting us. If we would have won two of our 5-4 bouts which we lost, we could have won." Penn was weakened from the get-go at the foil with No. 2 freshman David Cohen out with a finger injury. The only member of the Quakers that shined was Penn captain and starting epee junior John Wright, who had a perfect 3-0 performance on the strip. Yale junior foil Peter Devine -- Bayer's roommate in the 1996 Olympics -- chalked up three points for the Eli, beating the entire Penn foil team, including a 5-3 victory over Bayer. Bayer went just 1-2, also falling to Ayo Griffen. "I was pretty disappointed with my own fencing," the former Olympian said. "With college fencing, the bouts go so fast, five touches. You really have to be focused from the very beginning." After another loss to the Eli, the Penn team is not disheartened and looks to next year for another chance at the revenge they hunger for. "Last year we fenced them and we lost pretty badly," Bayer said. "And this year we were right there, just a few touches away, literally, from winning and hopefully that shows how we are going to fence them next year even better and hopefully next year we will be able to win."