Swordsmen Duel C.C.N.Y. In Crucial Pre-Ivy Match

Harvard fencing buffs can look forward to another outstanding year if the varsity comes home from Saturday's C.C.N.Y. match with its fourth win in a row. If it doesn't, fans should expect a ho-hum season for the Crimson.

Unlike Harvard's last three opponents, C.C.N.Y. is no pushover. C.C.N.Y. always attracts a generous share of New York's high school fencing stars and seldom places below fifth in the Nationals.

Last year, C.C.N.Y. swordsmen came to Cambridge expecting to clobber Harvard's usual collection of mediocre fencers. The best Crimson squad in 13 years sent them away with a 17-10 drubbing and an increased respect for Harvard fencing.

Both Harvard and C.C.N.Y. have teams comparable to last year's, but C.C.N.Y. has the home advantage this year. This could prove decisive. Fencing is almost as much a game of psyche as of skill, and an unfamiliar strip might rattle the Harvard varsity. Another factor may be the alleged tendency of New York judges to favor the local boys.

Harvard's sabre team, which took eight of nine matches against C.C.N.Y. last year, has lost all-American Jon Kolb. And senior Al Makaitis, who won two bouts against N.Y.U. this year, is out with a back injury. But Harvard, led by lettermen Paul Profets and Bob Damus, should come out on top anyway with its superior depth and experience. C.C.N.Y.'s only first-rate sabre man is sophomore Al Lucia, son of Coach Ed Lucia.

Harvard's foil fencers may surprise the polished C.C.N.Y. foil team. Besides all-Ivy Tome Musliner, Captain Rick Kolombatovich and junior Dan Isaacson are seasoned performers. Kolombatovich was second team all-Ivy last year despite his mid-season switch to epee.

Sophomores Harry Jergesen and Steve Shea, who both won two out of three bouts at N.Y.U., may not fare as well against C.C.N.Y.'s epee men. Junior Bob Churnik, a Stuyvesant High School teammate of Musliner, leads an exceptional C.C.N.Y. epee squad.

Harvard will have to win at least 12 of 27 bouts to be regarded as a serious contender for the Ivy title. C.C.N.Y. is strong this year, though still not in the same class with national champion Columbia. The Lions are Harvard's first Ivy League foe.