Fencers Fight Eli To Last Touche, But Lose, 14-13

For 20 seconds after the final match, nobody knew whether Harvard or Yale had won the fencing meet at the Blockhouse Saturday. Then the director stroked his chin a while and said, "For me, it's Yale's point," and the Elis won, 14 to 13.

Until then, the contest had been even all the way. The varsity won foils, 5 to 4, and then lost once, 4 to 5. With one saber match left, the score was tied at 13 to 13.

Then Tom Masterson met Yale's Knobloch, and scored four fast touches to Knobloch's one. One more touch would have won the meet, but Knobloch pulled up to 4 to 4. Suddenly there was a loud clanging of swords, and the three judges got into a huddle to figure out what happened.

They decided that Knobloch had touched Masterson first, and the meet was over.

Later, Coach Rene Peroy denounced the officiating as "the worst I have ever seen." The judges, who looked like German spies from a World War I movie were the same ones who refereed last year's hotly argued Yale game.

Earlier in the afternoon, the freshmen beat Yale, 16 to 11.