Fencers Hunt Tigers in Crucial Ivy Match

The Crimson fencers take on Princeton today in a 2 p.m. IAB match that should do much to decide how the Ivy League race shapes up.

The Tigers, 1-1 in the Ivies and 3-3 overall, are traditionally one of the better teams in the league, behind perenniel champion Columbia. The performance of Harvard and Princeton against mutual foes suggests that the teams will be evenly paired.

Princeton defeated CCNY by a 16-11 score earlier this year; in January CCNY turned back Harvard by the same margin. However, against national champion NYU, the Tigers were destroyed, 20-7. The Harvard-NYU match was much closer than that. Harvard fenced very well, losing by only seven points, 17-10.

Crimson coach Edo Marion expects today's match to be a closely fought contest. "After Columbia, the Ivy League teams are bunched fairly close together," Marion said yesterday. "I consider Princeton and Harvard to be pretty equal."

The Crimson, coming off two convincing, though relatively easy, victories over Holy Cross and Trinity, has been looking toward this match all week. It will give the first real indication whether or not Harvard has any claim to the runner-up spot in the Ivies. That Columbia will lose a league match is inconceivable, and, in this light, what is left of the Ivy race shapes up as a fight for second place.

Against Princeton, Harvard will go with the same line-up that destroyed Trinity, except that Ken Hetzler will return to his spot on the sabre team. Captain Geza Tatrallyay and Terry Valenzuela, in epee and sabre, respectively, seem to have hit the stride that makes them both legitimate All-Ivy candidates.

Don Valentine, who will be fencing in just his third match of the season on Saturday, is an important addition to the squad. "Valentine makes a big difference in our foil team," Marion said.

The entire squad seemed to exude confidence against Trinity, a factor that could be vital against the Tigers. Looking at today's match, Marion predicts victory. "Fencing in our own backyard, we should definitely be the favorites," he said.

"Although they have never been a weak team, I think we are a little bit better."