NCAA Competition for Fencing Title Will Begin at the IAB on Friday

The only national championship to be held at Harvard this year comes to the IAB Friday when 41 colleges begin competing for the National Collegiate Athletic Association fencing title.

Columbia's defending champions were heavily favored in the tournament before they lost their Eastern Championship to an inspired Navy team in Annapolis this week. Without the advantage of a home audience, Navy may lose some of its edge and Columbia has to be a slight favorite in the NCAA's.

But the Lions and the Middles won't be alone in fighting for the championship. Strong teams from N.Y.U. and C.C.N.Y. pressed them both in the Easterns last weekends, and two squads from outside the East, Air Force and Illinois, should he in contention for the title.

Three Events

In the usual dual meet or tournament, each college enters three fencers in each of the three events--foll, sabr, and opee. In the nationals, however, only one entrant from each school fences with each weapon.

Harvard, fourth in the Ivy League this year behind Columbia, Princeton, and Cornell, will have a dark horse candidate for the individual title in the foll with Dan Kirsch, a senior who has put together the best Ivy League record of any Crimson fencer for the past several years.

Bill Neaves, a promising sophomore, will be the Crimson's entry in the opee, with sabreman Paul Zygas rounding out the team.