Freshmen Edge M.I.T. Fencers

Freshman epee fencers turned into foil swordsmen last night as Harvard squeaked by M.I.T. to win a bizarre match, 14 to 13.

Trouble began, as it usually does, when something failed to work. In this case, it was the electrical apparatus used to score epee bouts.

Undaunted, fearless, courageous, Crimson and Tech epee fencers picked up their foils and proceeded to have it out with that weapon.

Bill Bennett sparked a 5-4 victory, leading the squad with three wins, 5-3, 5-2, 5-2. Alan Choat won only a single about, 5-1, and George DeMan dropped two bouts, 4-5, 1-5. Jay Nichols, who fences regularly, fenced exceptionally well, winning 5-4.

The foil fencers were less successful in their match with Tech. Captain Larry Johnson turned in an impressive 5-1, 5-3, 5-1 victory, which accounted for three of Harvard's four-point victory. Dave Mac-Dougall and Al Gardner lost all of their bouts, and Nichols again won, 5-4.

Equipment Repaired

By then, the epee scoring equipment had been repaired. Still undaunted, fearless, courageous, the epee squads cast away their foils and had another go at it with epees.

This time around, Harvard won, again by a 5 to 4 margin. Bennett lost one bout and won his second, 5-0. Choat dropped two bouts to Tech and won his third, 5-2. DeMan lost one bout, but went on to win two more, 5-4, 5-1.

If epee fencers can foil, foil fencers can fence epee. This Dave MacDougall proved as he won in epee, 5-2, scoring several beautiful points against Tech.

Tech freshmen, who have been fencing only since November, were unable to field a sabre team.

Crimson freshmen will travel to New Haven this Saturday to fence a strong Hopkins Grammar squad.