Ivy League Champions. This phrase, which had not been heard in New Haven for quite some time, has recently become Yale's slogan for winter sports. Last weekend, the third Yale squad in as many weeks was named Ivy champion. The men's fencing team joined the women as Ivy League champs, the first time Yale has ever captured both Ivy titles in fencing, as well as the first Ivy title for the men since 1985.
Yale entered last weekend's contest versus Harvard with a 2-1 league record, and knotted with the Columbia Lions at the top of the conference. A win over Harvard would mean an Ivy title.
The team met the challenge, led by Ivan Kerbel, BK '96, who was undefeated in the foil. Yale won the foil 6-3, but lost the epée event 5-4. Alex Reid, MC '97, was a major factor for the Elis despite the event loss, going 3-0 in the epée, helping to seal the win. The final score of 16-11 gave Yale a 3-1 record in the Ivy League and a share of the title with Columbia, the only Ivy team to beat Yale this year.
"I didn't realize that we had won the title until afterwards," Reid said. "When you focus on each match individually you sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture until you're through it. I won the match that clinched the win for us, and it didn't dawn on me right away. I just didn't realize that we had finally accomplished what we had been working toward as a team all season."
The Ivy title is a particularly impressive achievement considering the early-season obstacles facing this team. Lost to graduation was Beran Rose, BR '95, an All-American in the sabre. Peter Devine, MC '98, a first-team All-American in 1995, has missed the entire season while training for this summer's Olympics. "Yes, we are missing our strongest guy, but everything is coming together," coach Harry Harutunian said. "Of course Peter would have made a difference in the matches we lost, but the team has done very well."
While losing Devine would be tough on any team, the men also lost David Ensign, BK '97, a former All-American in the epée, early in the year. "The loss of our sure-fire epée [Ensign] really put the heat on the epée squad," Reid said. Further complicating life for the Blue, John Sykes, TC '98, was lost to injury.
"Many youn-ger fencers who might not have been ready have had to perform for us to win," Harutunian said. "We have many people who only learn fencing here, and there is little we can do to meet other teams in experience, but we work very hard. Everybody has contributed this year."
Besides Reid and Kerbel, David Weeks, DC '97, Steve Goodman, PC '96, and Dan Green, DC '97, have been key to the team's phenomenal success. "Steve has performed very well this year, and David has finally started to click as a skilled fencer," Harutunian said. "I'm very happy with the less-experienced people who have filled roles this year."
The team has now finished its regular season, but competition is not yet over for the Elis. Yale will travel to MIT this weekend to participate in the IFA competition, which will determine the Eastern champion. Harutunian expects the competition to be very fierce. He said, "We will face the strongest team we can, St. John's, and they defeated us earlier in the year. Columbia, who beat us once already, will be there. We beat Penn in a close match,14-13, and they will also be there looking to get us back. I expect things to be tough. It will depend on how the team gets ready, but we will just try to put everything together."
After that competition, the team will head to the Northeast Regional qualifier for the NCAA tournament, which will determine the number of Yale fencers that will be able to send to the national competition. "Last year, we had the maximum number of qualifiers, but this year we will have to wait and see how we perform," Harutunian said. The Elis who do manage to qualify for the NCAA tournament will have the added advantage of competing in the friendly confines of Payne Whitney Gym, as Yale is hosting the national championships. The adversity which the fencers overcame on their improbable march to a title reflects a spirit of unity and a dedicated work ethic. Reid expressed the feeling that the season had been special: "Certainly winning the league is surprising, considering our situation. I think the title shows what a strong sense of team we have this year. The past few years we have had some real superstars, but we never won the Ivy title. This year has been a very special effort" The intense competition and individual focus of the tournaments during the next few weeks will present some interesting possibilities for this very well prepared team. "Given the surprises of the season, anything can really happen," Reid said.
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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