The Justice

Right, Tess Woehrlen '09 sizes up her opponent during a foil bout at last Saturday's Brandeis Invitational. The women's squad finished 2-3 at the event, and picked up its first victory over Yale University since the 2003-2004 season. David Brown/the Justice

The men's fencing team has always been able to compete with Division I squads, but it did much more than that by winning six of seven matches this week.

After opening the week last Wednedsay with a 3-0 record at the Beanpot Tournament, which included its first win over fencing powerhouse Harvard University since 1998, the men's team went 2-1 against Division I opponents at the Brandeis Invitational last Saturday, defeating Brown University 17-10 and Yale University 14-13 while losing to St. John's College 18-9. The Judges are now 10-1 on the season.

Meanwhile, the women's team went 2-3 at the Brandeis Invitational and 2-1 at the Beanpot Tournament, and now stands at 9-4 on the season.

"I was really impressed with our performance [this week]," coach Bill Shipman said. "We need a little bit better focus in epée, mostly on the women's team, [and] both teams really [need work] in saber, but overall I was quite pleased with the general performance."

The men's closest match last Saturday was against Yale, as the score was tied at 12 with three epée matches left. After Damien Lehfeldt '09 won his five-touch bout to give the Judges a 13-12 advantage, Will Bedor '10 took a 2-0 lead in his match but dropped the next two points.

Shipman called timeout and told Bedor to try to make two moves instead of just one. The strategy paid off, as Bedor won the next three points to take the bout 5-2 and clinch the Judges' victory.

"When [Bedor] won that bout, it was one of those things that you're happy to be on a team," foil and captain Eugene Vortsman '08 said. "So everyone comes together and helps each other out."

Although the epée team clinched the victory, the Judges' saber squad performed the strongest in the Yale match.

Led by rookie Adam Austin's '11 3-0 record, the Judges' sabers won six of their nine bouts, which counteracted the foil team's 3-6 record in the match.

Continued...

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