Lions Catch Swordsmen from Behind

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the Harvard men's fencing team blew a 13-10 lead over Columbia in the Lions' den Saturday, to lose its final Ivy League meet of the year, 14-13, and finish fourth in the final Ivy League standings.

Buckle Down

In their last two bouts the Crimson's number three foil and epee fencers battled the Lions' two best fencers. However, Harvard allowed its best chances for the clinching bout victory to slip away in the previous two bouts.

With the score 13-10, foil fencer Dave Hanower fell, 5-3. Then, epee fencer Russ Kaphan, ahead 3-1 with under a minute left to fence, let his Columbia opponent gather two quick touches. After the Lion epeeman touched Kaphan in the chest to take the bout, Columbia wrapped up the victory with 5-0 and 5-2 triumphs in the last two bouts.

Four Crimson fencers did have winning records on the day. Captain Gene Vastola, despite fencing somewhat lackadaisically, went 3-0 to improve his Ivy record on the year to 13-2 and almost ensure him the top spot on the first-team all-Ivy squad. Epeeman Rob Kaplan also swept past all three of his opponents, while sabremen Rob Homer and Richard Gillette each won twice.