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Title
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College Men Hold the Limelight
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Date
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April 9, 1936
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volume
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1
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issue
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8
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page start
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1
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page end
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2
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content
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en
COLLEGE MEN HOLD THE LIMELIGHT
Surprising power in all weapons enabled N.Y.U. to retain the Three-Weapon Championship at the Intercollegiates by the remarkable score of 75½ bouts out of a possible 99—ten points ahead of the favored Yale team. Most of the winning margin was garnered in the foils, where N.Y.U. led Yale by 8 points in its successful defense of the Little Iron Man. With Castello, Lewis, and Steyer each topping their respective pools, N.Y.U. scored 31 victories in 33 foil bouts—an amazing record which we believe will not be beaten under the present plan of competition.
Yale gained its first team title since 1932 in winning the Epee by a single bout over Navy, with Army and N.Y.U. following a half-point apart. When the Hamilton epeeists beat Yale 2-1 in the Eli's last match, Navy was in a position to win by defeating Army. The soldiers, who had floundered badly the first day after being favored on the basis of their season’s record, came back strongly the second day, and sank the Navy’s chances in a 2-1 victory. Crowder, the retiring Army leader, scored the decisive victory which won for Yale.
Columbia retained its sabre team title largely through the performances of Wallis and Drake, both of whom won their individual pools—B and C respectively. With N.Y.U.’s total of 24 victories already posted on the scoreboard, to the Lion’s 23, Columbia beat C.C.N.Y. 2-1 to win by a solitary point.
Hugo Castello, N.Y.U., successfully defended his Class A foils title, losing only 1 bout—to Carmichael of Navy. Castello defeated Maurice Grasson of Yale, a strong favorite, to gain a tie with Philip Lilienthal, Harvard’s captain, and won the fence-off 5-3. Norman Lewis, N.Y.U., also retained his Class B title with 10 victories—losing only to Izenour of Army.
Ted Gold, N.Y.U.’s National Junior Epee Champion, won the Class A title with 8½ points, a bare half-point in front of Bill Randall of Yale. Both of the leaders lost their last bouts. The defending champion, Kirk Alexander of Princeton, had a disastrous experience with the epee, though he fenced strongly in the foils.
Dick Ripple, Army, succeeded to the vacant sabre throne with 10 victories—2 ahead of Max Frank, N.Y.U. captain. Ripple, the only southpaw sabreman in the field, looked like the champion from the first day, and won going away.
The 3-weapon championship early resolved itself into a tense struggle between N.Y.U. and Yale. At the end of the first epee session, Yale led by 2 points; N.Y.U. gained 1 point back in the first foil session and gained a tie at the end of the first day by scoring 1 more point than Yale in the sabre after both leaders had taken a nose dive into the losing column. The second day saw the two colleges match each other bout for bout in epee to maintain the deadlock—then N.Y.U. began to draw away as its foilsmen set their blistering pace. Yale, weakened by the fact that its 3 foilsmen were "doubling up" with other weapons, cracked at the end and lost to Cornell to fall hopelessly behind. The Violet’s sabre men, scenting victory, won 8 of their last 9 bouts to put the championship mathematically beyond the reach of the best team Yale has turned out in several years.
Among the more interesting events of the tournament, we should like to record the perfect performances of Steyer in the Class C foil, and Wallis in the Class B sabres, each of whom for the first time under the current plan of competition, was undefeated in 11 bouts.
Cornell, showing tremendous improvement under the coaching of George Cointe, won its first title in several years when it took the Class B epee.
Pennsylvania, after a year’s absence, put a full team on the field and seemed to have strong possibilities. However, the emphasis placed at Penn upon the calisthenic rather than the competitive phases of the sport, is likely to prove a severe handicap.
Among the individual stars, in addition to those already mentioned, we should like to count energetic Phil Viscidi of Yale, who did yeoman duty in both foil and sabre, and who should be a strong threat for either title next year; Diminutive Dick Morgan of Harvard, who fenced foil and sabre in excellent style; Hal Holcomb, the Yale leader, also doing double duty in foil and sabre; and Harold Newton of C.C.N.Y., who showed remarkable improvement in the sabre. In the epee, with the exception of Gold and Randall, the season’s stars were eclipsed by newcomers: Cozzart of Army, Johnston of Navy, Ford of Harvard, and Gifford of Yale, failed to secure a medal.
The prospects for next year are none too rosy for ten colleges in the Association, as Yale and N.Y.U. will present nearly the same line-up next year. Yale loses 2 men, N.Y.U. 3 by graduation.
