Redmen Foil Crimson Fencers With First Loss

In its first match against Harvard, the highly touted St. John's team skewered the Crimson fencers on Saturday at the IAB, 16-11.

The saber squad, whose record stands at 2-1, succumbed to the All-American blade artistry of St. John's Majtenyi, who helped anchor the Junior International USA team.

A stomach ailment hindered the Crimson's number-one saber man Larry Tu, who failed to win a match, but Nick Tepe fared better in winning two out of three matches. John Chipman, after an early loss, was outpointed in his second bout after gaining a 1-3 lead.

Key foilsmen Phillippe Bennet, John Major, and freshman Eugene Vastola all proved effective, each posting two wins against one loss. They could not, however, make up for the dismal showing of the epee men, who were outparried seven out of the nine times they took to the fencing strip.

Electrical breakdowns in the scoring machine interrupted the matches of both Major and Matt Simmons, as sweat from the fencers short circuited the wiring.

Despite occasional electric shocks, Major and his adversary battled to a 4-4 sudden death situation before Major inflicted the deciding jab, known in fencing as "La belle touche."

The match came down to a last-round epee bout between substitute Bob Barger and a highly favored Redmen opponent. Like a human windmill, the gangly Barger kept his adversary at bay, but St. John's put the wraps on the victory when Barger erred to drop the 4-5 squeaker.

Simmons expressed the general feeling of the team after the match that the Crimson players were too nervous and not executing up to their usual. "We should have beat them," he said. "What's important is that we didn't."

Poor Showings

Though the sabers and the epees recorded poor showings on Saturday, the epee squad will soon be bolstered by the return of Eric Reed, who is taking time off. The onus to improve will then lie with the sabermen.

The fencers feel they will be serious Ivy contenders as they gain consistency. Throughout the young season, the squad according to Simmons has been "borderline between doing what we should and eking it out."

The main opposition for the Ivy crown is Cornell, which has a strong Columbia saber contigent, and a Penn squad sporting considerable depth.

Before league competition gets under way, the fencers will participate in the George Breed Memorial Tournament and will vie with perennial powerhouses NYU and CCNY this weekend, matches which should prove accurate forecasters of the season to come.