Bulldogs to Fence Brown in Second Half of Ivy Championships
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale men's fencing team will complete
competition in the Ivy League Fencing Championships this Sunday,
Feb. 28. Last week, in the first day of competition hosted by
Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., the Bulldogs fenced to a 2-2 record
against Columbia, Harvard, Penn and Princeton. The second day of
the Championships will be hosted by Pennsylvania in Philadelphia,
Penn. The Bulldogs have only Brown left to fence during this
final day of the Ivy Championships.
The schedule worked out such that Yale was the only team that had
to fence in all four rounds of last week's competition. The
Bulldogs started the day off by beating no. 8 Columbia 18-9, then
dropped a frustrating match against no. 6 Harvard 16-11. Yale
followed up by then beating last year's champion, no. 7
Pennsylvania, by a decisive score of 17-10. The victory was
particularly impressive considering that the Elis were defeated
22-5 by the Quakers last season. In the fourth and final round of
the day, the Bulldogs fenced to narrow and tightly fought loss to
no. 4 Princeton, 14-13. Yale really gave it their all, but just
wasn't able to pull out the win against Princeton, who was
undefeated on the day.
"Our close loss to Princeton last weekend was tough, but I am
proud of the way every member of this team fenced," said captain
Andrew Holbrook.
Last week, Brown compiled a 1-1 record, defeating Columbia 17-10
and losing to Princeton 17-10.
"We must be focused and determined when we come out this weekend
against Brown," said Holbrook. "With the schedule as it is, it will
be especially important that we come out warmed up, prepared and
ready from the first bout. There is little margin for error and
everyone on this team wants to make the most of our final Ivy
League match."
At last year's Ivy Championships, Yale lost a tough match to Brown
by a score of 13-14. In that match, the Yale foil squad won only
four of nine bouts. This year, the powerful Yale foilists will be
eager for redemption.
"With this final match against Brown, we are looking to secure our
place in the Ivy League and finish the season on a positive note,"
noted Holbrook. "I believe in this team and am confident we will
win."
Yale will be fencing in the third round of the day, at 3 p.m.
Report by Arsi Sefaj '11, Yale Sports Publicity
