Crimson Fencers Cream MIT, 18-9; Come Alive to Sweep Last Nine Bouts

If brilliance and consistency are musts for greatness in the fencing world, Harvard's team showed Tuesday night that it's half way there at least, and probably more.

After muddling through two inconclusive rounds with a fairly strong MIT squad, Crimson fencers swept nine bouts in a spectacular final round that gave them an 18-9 victory.

"I haven't seen that kind of sweep in 22 years of coaching," coach Edo Marion said yesterday. "And only two of the nine bouts were even close."

Don Valentine started the onslaught with the first foil match in the third round. Fencing against MIT star Johann Akermann, who is nationally ranked in Sweden, Valentine won the bout, which gave him a stunning 3-2 upset.

Do Unto Others...

"Valentine did everything to Akermann that Akermann usually does to others, especially with his stops," Crimson captain Eugene White said after the match. match.

After Valentine's victory, the team displayed the composure and accuracy that make the art of fencing look easy.

Southpaw Eric Read at epee was cool and calm as he took his third victory of the day, and a strong Gordon Rutledge wielded a winning sabre as he added his 3-0 shutout to Read's.

Howie Weiss and Philippe Bennett joined Valentine at foil with third-round wins that tipped the balance toward them in a 5-4 victory over MIT's foil team.

Marion said Valentine's win gave the Crimson inspiration for its phenomenal third round and that "it knocked down MIT" as well.

"But I was very, very worried before that," he added. "I didn't see my fencers with the drive I saw against Princeton until I saw the miracle in the third round."

Only Rutledge and Read were consistently impressive in the first two see-saw rounds that saw many Crimson mistakes and ended with a 9-9 tie.

"I didn't see the right fencing in those two rounds," Marion said. "It was too erratic, there was too much missing, they were too emotional. Fencing is as much a strategic, tactical sport as it is a physical sport."

However, any kind of victory would have been sweet for the Crimson, which was seeking revenge for a heartbreaking 15-12 loss at the hands of the Engineers in December.

Now at full strength, the fencers are looking forward to their meeting with Cornell this Friday at Ithaca. "Cornell will be the biggest meet of the year," Marion said. "If our sabre team can take three bouts, I think we can win it."

Although they have been the team's weak link this year, the sabres scored an impressive victory against MIT that bodes well for the match-up with Cornell.

In addition to Rutledge's 3-0 sweep, Stephen Hobbes won both his matches, and Loren Joseph and Michael Szymonifka each split theirs.

Already sporting a 1-0 league record, the Crimson will have a good chance of taking the Ivy title if it gets by Cornell.