Fencers Face Weak Elis In Final Meet of Season

Harvard's varsity fencing team will meet Yale today at the I.A.B. in its last regular-season match.

The Crimson is expected to roll up its ninth victory of the campaign against the winless Elis and gain a probable third-place tie in the Ivy League, its highest finish since the League was formed.

Coach Edo Marion cautiously predicts victory for his swordsmen, but is quick not to underrate the Bulldogs.

"They've lost all their matches so far, but they haven't had any luck." Marion said. Two of Yale's losses, he added, have been by only one point, and one of these came at the hands of Ivy front-runner Princeton.

Riding Momentum

The Crimson, however, is riding momentum of back-to-back wins over Rutgers and Cornell, and Marion admits that "we will go into the match with a psychological advantage. The team feels very confident and doesn't expect too much trouble."

As usual, Harvard will rely heavily on its sabre and epee for most of the 14 points required for victory. Marion hopes to gain at least six points in each event.

In the sabre, the team has two serious All-Ivy contenders in Captain Ron Winfield, a current All-Ivy selection, and sophomore Larry Cetrulo. Another Ally-Ivy candidate, Gaza Tantrallya, is number 1 man for the epee squad.

If the sabre and epee are unusually close, the outcome of today's match could hinge on the foil bouts. The foil has been the weak spot in the Crimson attack this season, but "is constantly improving," according to Marion. If today's match follows the pattern of earlier ones, three foil victories would virtually assure Harvard of a win.

A victory today would give the Crimson a 9-3 season slate and a 3-2 record in Ivy League action. The team will get a chance to qualify for post-season action next week when it participates in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

A victory today--and the subsequent third-place finish--would fulfill the prediction made by Marion before the start of the season.

After last year's disastrous 7-8 record and Harvard's first cellar finish, Marion said he was counting on his sophomores to spark the team to a position in the League's top three this year.