W. Fencing Falls to Penn, No. 10 Temple

The Harvard fencing team quaked before Penn’s point this weekend, with both the men’s and women’s squads dropping matches to the Quakers.

The Crimson women (16-5, 1-2 Ivy) also fell to No. 10 Temple while garnering wins over Haverford and Rutgers.

Penn improved to 12-2 after its four wins in Weightman Gymnasium, including the Quakers’ 19-8 victory over the Crimson.

“We beat Penn last year, so it was a little disappointing to lose to them this year,” co-captain Ellen Schulz said.

Harvard dropped an 8-1 decision in sabre and a 7-2 loss in epee, while capturing a 5-4 win in foil.

“For women’s sabre, it was harder than we expected,” sophomore Eunice Yi said. “We had a really tough time against UPenn and Temple.”

Against Temple, the Crimson turned in a 17-10 loss.

“Temple usually has a strong team,” Schulz said. “Their sabre in particular was very strong. They don’t really have any individuals who stick out, but overall, they have a very deep team.”

Harvard earned a 25-2 victory against Haverford and picked up another 15-12 win over Rutgers.

“They were just all very different teams with strengths in different areas,” Schulz said. “For instance, Rutgers had an extremely tough epee squad, but we were able to overpower their other squads. Penn and Temple were strong across the board in all three weapons.”

The foil squad finished the day undefeated, having bested all four teams.

Within that squad, sophomore Liz Blase dropped only one bout against Penn to finish with an 11-1 record.

The Crimson played without co-captain Nicole Jarrett due to ankle injuries, which could be a problem in future competition.

“For [the Harvard-Yale-Princeton matches], I think not having Emily [Katz] and Nicole [Jarrett] will affect us as Princeton and Yale always have very good foil squads,” Schulz said.

While foil may be hurting, sabre has been coming through with individual efforts.

“Amy Bei and Eunice Yi are both doing extremely well,” Schulz said.

Harvard also had quite a bit of success last weekend, picking up three wins with a loss to perennial powerhouse No. 3 Penn St.

“We had some great wins against NYU, UNC, and Cornell,” Schulz said. “We also managed to get [seven] bouts against Penn St. To have had a really good meet against them was a very encouraging result.”

On the men’s side, Harvard (13-5, 0-1 Ivy) dropped its meets against No. 9 Penn and Rutgers.

“In the last two years, Penn has really destroyed us,” said junior co-captain David Wollenberg. “We went into this one a little more optimistic—we thought we’d do better. They’re a tough team, so it wasn’t heartbreaking.”

The Crimson rode momentum from its 14-13 victory over UNH last weekend into its meets this weekend. The Wildcats had tied Harvard at 13 going into the final bout of junior co-captain Ben Schimdt.

“I was really nervous going into it,” Schimdt said. “It was hard because I came in knowing that I could probably beat this guy, but the pressure really got to me. We traded touches up to the 2. I won 5-3.”

Last weekend, Harvard also lost to Penn St. 22-5 while dropping its meet against NYU 18-9.

“[22-5] is a respectable score against Penn St.,” Schmidt said, as Penn St. has been one of the top teams in the nation for the past 10 years.

Harvard’s momentum wasn’t enough to carry it past Penn, as the Quakers defeated the Crimson 18-9.

“We were expecting to do a little bit better,” Schmidt said. “They’re both pretty strong teams. UPenn is probably one of the strongest teams in the country right now.”

Harvard’s epee squad picked up the Crimson’s lone decision at 5-4. Sabre lost 5-4, while foil fell 9-0.

“They had a really strong foil squad,” Schmidt said. “I was really disappointed that our foil squad didn’t pick up a win. We did do a great job against Rutgers.”

Against Rutgers, the foil team ended its winless streak with a 6-3 victory. Despite the improvement in foil, Rutgers defeated Harvard 16-11.

“Our sabre team didn’t do well against Rutgers,” Wollenberg said. “We could have gotten a few more wins in sabre and that would have turned it around.”

Among the fencers, freshman Mike Soto stood out in epee, winning 3-0 against Penn.

“Mike Soto especially has shown himself to be a very good fencer,” Wollenberg said. “Perhaps, right now, our best fencing is epee.”

Harvard fencing hosts Princeton and Yale on Feb. 23, giving the Crimson two weeks to prepare. The Tigers and Elis are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, for the men and fifth and eighth, respectively, for the women.

“It’s going to take a steady effort from everyone,” Schimdt said.