W. Fencing goes 1-2 as Men move closer to title

The men won twice in their quest for an Ivy championship. In another busy weekend for the Penn fencing team, the men clinched a tie for the Ivy League title while the women suffered losses to two rivals. The fencers traveled to Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday to take on Harvard and then returned to the friendly confines of West Philadelphia for their only home action of the season. Both squads faced Princeton at home, while the women also fought Johns Hopkins. The men dominated Harvard, 23-4, paced by a 9-0 sabre sweep from Jeffrey Allen, Daniel Vincent, Michael Golia and Alexander Platt. "Some of the bouts were hard-fought but we had them under control," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "[Harvard] has some good people, but not enough of them." The women split the foil with Harvard but came up short in the epee, 9-7, to drop a 17-15 loss. Had Penn won one more bout, it would have been awarded the victory due to an edge in overall touches. Sunday afternoon began with an easy 26-6 win for the Penn women over a Johns Hopkins team mostly looking to gain match experience. Weightman Hall then showcased the day's main women's event -- Penn vs. Princeton. In an intense and sometimes violent match that saw the Tigers penalized several points for roughness, Penn lost 20-12. "The epee team was overwhelmed [13-3]," Micahnik said, noting that he had recruited several of the Tigers. "Losing is always unpleasant, but we know they're a good quality team." Barring an upset, the outcome of the men's Penn-Princeton matchup would determine the Ivy League champion. Penn earned six wins in the foil -- three each from Yaron Roth and Cliff Bayer -- and five in the sabre. The Tigers responded by winning six of the first eight epee bouts, as the two rivals schools stood deadlocked at 13 with one match remaining. A discrepancy in the scoresheet, however, listed Princeton as holding a 14-12 lead. "The score had been added up wrong," Micahnik said. "I thought we had lost the meet." Micahnik quickly reviewed the sheet and the officials rectified the error before Quakers captain John Wright faced former training partner and current Tigers captain Marco Acerra in the actual deciding bout. Wright pulled out a clutch 5-3 decision to earn Penn the match and control of its own destiny in the Ivy League. "John was calm and Marco was nervous," Micahnik said. "[John] frustrated him and gave him nothing to work with." Wright disagreed with one thing. "I was pretty nervous," he said. "I wanted to produce for the team. I went in knowing it all came down to me," Wright added. "I've known [Marco] for awhile, and he's usually pretty good under pressure. It was a really tough match." The victory had one additional benefit: a trophy awarded to the winner of the Penn-Princeton match every year since the early 1950s. Donated by Penn fencing alum Paul Makler, the trophy "symbolizes the intense rivalry and sportsmanship" between the two teams and is presented to the winning captain by the losing captain, Micahnik said. Immediately following Wright's winning touch, Acerra presented him with the beer stein-shaped award. Columbia is Penn's only remaining Ivy task; Penn meets the Lions at Cornell February 20 in another road match. "It was pretty cool that we had a lot of people there to support us," Wright said of Penn's rare home contest. "A lot of friends and family came, and that doesn't always happen with fencing. "We knew Princeton was our obstacle, so to actually beat them is very special."