Spring Break
FENCING: Bedor's undefeated record leads men's team to conference crown
by Mike Prada
Editor in Chief
Sports | 1/29/08
Posted online at 3:41 AM EST on 1/29/08
Prior to last Saturday's Northeast Conference Meet at Boston College, men's fencing captain and foil Eugene Vortsman '08 recalled epée Will Bedor '10 acting unusually confident.
"He came into the day saying he was going to be undefeated," Vortsman said. "I was like 'All right, I won't stand in your way.'"
Bedor backed up his words, winning all 12 of his epée bouts in leading the men's team to a 5-0 record and a sweep of the Northeast Conference. The wins over Boston College (15-12), Dartmouth College (19-8), Sacred Heart University (21-6), Vassar College (16-11) and Brown University (19-8) moved the Judges' record to 16-1 on the season.
The women's team took four of their five matches, losing only to Brown 19-8 and finishing second in the Northeast Conference. They are now 14-5 this season following last Wednesday's 19-8 win over Wellesley College.
Bedor has emerged this season as the leader of a deep epée squad and he continued to impress last Saturday.
"He's very athletic, competes very well, and doesn't freak out or anything," coach Bill Shipman said. "He stays tough."
Bedor and the epée squad compensated for uneven efforts at times from the foil and saber squads. Against Boston College, the sabers won only two out of their nine bouts, but the epée squad made that up themselves with seven victories in nine chances. Similarly, in the Judges' win over Vassar, the foil team struggled with just three wins in its nine bouts, but once again, the epées, led by Bedor and Damien Lefheldt '09, came through with a 7-2 record to compensate.
Shipman credited the epée squad's strength to its depth.
"Their levels are all rising as they compete against each other every day in practice," Shipman said. "If they come in and don't fence hard in practice, they know they aren't going to fence as much in the next tournament."
The Judges' victory over Brown, however, was the most definitive. The Bears rely on their strong foil team, led by sophomore Adam Pantel, to carry them, but Pantel was defeated twice-once by Jimmy Fruchterman '11 and once by Vortsman-and the Bears never recovered.
"He came into the day saying he was going to be undefeated," Vortsman said. "I was like 'All right, I won't stand in your way.'"
Bedor backed up his words, winning all 12 of his epée bouts in leading the men's team to a 5-0 record and a sweep of the Northeast Conference. The wins over Boston College (15-12), Dartmouth College (19-8), Sacred Heart University (21-6), Vassar College (16-11) and Brown University (19-8) moved the Judges' record to 16-1 on the season.
The women's team took four of their five matches, losing only to Brown 19-8 and finishing second in the Northeast Conference. They are now 14-5 this season following last Wednesday's 19-8 win over Wellesley College.
Bedor has emerged this season as the leader of a deep epée squad and he continued to impress last Saturday.
"He's very athletic, competes very well, and doesn't freak out or anything," coach Bill Shipman said. "He stays tough."
Bedor and the epée squad compensated for uneven efforts at times from the foil and saber squads. Against Boston College, the sabers won only two out of their nine bouts, but the epée squad made that up themselves with seven victories in nine chances. Similarly, in the Judges' win over Vassar, the foil team struggled with just three wins in its nine bouts, but once again, the epées, led by Bedor and Damien Lefheldt '09, came through with a 7-2 record to compensate.
Shipman credited the epée squad's strength to its depth.
"Their levels are all rising as they compete against each other every day in practice," Shipman said. "If they come in and don't fence hard in practice, they know they aren't going to fence as much in the next tournament."
The Judges' victory over Brown, however, was the most definitive. The Bears rely on their strong foil team, led by sophomore Adam Pantel, to carry them, but Pantel was defeated twice-once by Jimmy Fruchterman '11 and once by Vortsman-and the Bears never recovered.
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