Gattnar Reigns King Of Epee

As he closed his final season, senior fencer Michal Gattnar left an imprint on his sport which will be hard to duplicate. Earning All-American honors, this star senior finished fifth at the NCAA Fencing Championship hosted by Notre Dame on March 19-22.

Gattnar's great performance at the tournament included a victory over the eventual individual winner George Hentea of St. Johns during the round-robin competition. However, he was denied entrance into the four-man championship after the round robin because of an "indicator" in which two competitors have the same number of victories but different scores for the duels.

"I felt pretty good going in." Gattnar said. "[But], I was disappointed that I did not win."

Even though he did not win, Gattnar still achieved All-American status, something very few accomplish. He had the best record of the 20 non-qualifiers, enabling him to finish fifth. At the NCAAs held by the Air Force last season, Gattnar came home with a sixth place standing. As a freshman at Lawrence, he was national champion.

Three weeks prior to the NCAA, Gattnar competed in the only other individual tournament--the International Fencing Association Championships held at MIT. Here Gattnar became the IFA champion in the epee, one of the three weapons fencers may use. He was the first Harvard man to do so since 1988 when Jim O'Neil earned the distinguished honor. The victory was the result of wins over Alex Roytblat of St. John's and Noah Zucker of Columbia.

"Our coach thinks really highly of the IFA Championship. I was happy to win that. All the top people were there." Gattnar said.

Overall, Gattnar finished this season, which begins training in September and ends in March, with a 27-3 record against twelve opposing schools. Though the NCAAs did not turn out exactly as he had hoped, Gattnar enjoyed the season and working with the team.

"The team is great. I had a lot of fun," Gattnar said. "We graduated a lot of seniors this [past] year, and the freshmen and newcomers stepped up, as did some of the more experienced fencers."

Gattnar grew up in Slovakia, taking up fencing only in his last year of high school after switching over from competition in the pentathalon. Although fencing in not very popular in Slovakia, in general it is a bigger sport in Europe.

Gattnar came to Wisconsin for part of his senior year to participate in an exchange program. During his stay, he held a job as assistant fencing coach for Lawrence University. After being offered a scholarship, he then went on to become a student at Lawrence.

"I loved Lawrence, and it was great for me," Gattnar said.

Fortunately for the Crimson, however, academic goals motivated Gattnar to transfer to Harvard before the start of his junior year. In his two years here, he became captain of the team, earning the respect and appreciation of his teammates. Always willing to give guidance, he worked on the team's improvement rather than just on his own.

"He really helped me a lot," said sophomore Cabot Henderson, who also competes in epee. "Whenever I was in practice he would give me a few pointers, and we would have a few bouts. [He would] help me rather than compete with me."

There is no doubt that while Gattnar's teachings will remain with his teammates in the coming seasons, they cannot replace the absence of such a highly talented, motivated fencer. He will surely be missed.

"He is a really nice guy and a good leader," freshman Davin Chew said. "We are losing a great fencer and captain."

After graduation, Gattnar plans to return to Slovakia, where he will work and train with club teams to try to qualify for the 2000 Olympics.

Despite his disappointment with this year's NCAAs, Gattner has clearly flourished in his new setting.

In only four years, he has risen to the very top of his sport and can take aim at the Olympics with confidence from his strong record of success in the collegiate ranks.