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Title
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Fencers Club Wins John Allaire Trophy
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Date
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November 27, 1937
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volume
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2
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issue
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16
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pages
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1, 5
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content
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en
FENCERS CLUB WINS JOHN ALLAIRE TROPHY
The Fencers Club trio of Alessandroni, Tracy Jaeckel, and Norman Armitage, won the first John Allaire Memorial Trophy Competition by the slender margin of one point, when they scored 135 points to the Salle Santelli’s 134 and the New York Athletic Club’s 132. The remaining teams finished as follows: N.Y.U. 99; Columbia 85; St. John’s 82½; Saltus Club 80; Greco F.A. 78; Hofstra College 39.
The scoring was on the basis of touches given by each team in all weapons, with a bonus of one point for each bout victory. All weapons were fenced for 5 touches. The schedule, which followed the lines of the Intercollegiate Championships, was so arranged that there was a complete round-robin in each weapon and the three favored teams did not meet until the end, after they had met and defeated every other team.
In the final three-cornered fight for top honors, the Fencers Club and the Salle Santelli started with a perfect record, 90 touches given and 18 bout victories, for a total of 108 points each. The N.Y.A.C. team trailed with 85 touches given and 14 bout victories, for a total of 104 points, as a result of the two major upsets of the tournament. Jack Gorlin, N.Y.U. captain, scored a sensational 5-2 sabre victory over John Huffman, national champion, in a brilliant bout replete with lightning-fast and complicated exchanges. And Austic Meegan, Hofstra College captain, fencing in his first major event, earned a 5-3 triumph in épée over Leo Nunes by scoring three times on an accurate riposte to the arm. Nunes also suffered a tie with O’Connor of St. John’s, when time ran out at 3-3.
Undaunted by the 7½ point deficit, the N.Y.A.C. reached great heights in turning back the Santelli team, 16-13, in the final round-robin. Warren Dow rallied from 1-4 to win 5-4 over Every in a spectacular comeback to score for Santelli, but Nunes turned back Jose de Capriles 5-4 and Huffman outfenced Miguel de Capriles 5-3. Next, the Fencers Club met Salle Santelli, and held its advantage over the N.Y.A.C. by winning 16-13, by identical scores. Alessandroni fell before Dow 5-4, but Jaeckel rallied from 2-4 to win 5-4 over Jose de Capriles, and Armitage defeated Miguel de Capriles 5-3 in sabre.
The Santelli team thus finished with 134 points, while the Fencers Club held a lead of 124 and 116½ over the N.Y.A.C. as the final match began. Every turned back Alessandroni 5-2 to cut this lead to 3½ points; then Leo Nunes, fencing magnificently, administered to Jaeckel his only defeat, 5-3, to put the N.Y.A.C. only 1½ points behind, 129-128½. Thus the result hinged on the sabre bout entirely. Huffman started strongly, leading at 3-0 at the turn, but a furious rally by Armitage tied the score at 4-all. The last point was decisive, as it counted for two, one for the touch and one for the bout victory. A win for Huffman would give the trophy to the N.Y.A.C., but a perfectly timed direct head cut, which caught Huffman off guard, gave Armitage the bout his team needed. It was a thrilling climax to the most exciting tournament of the season.
Individual stars were Warren Dow and Norman Armitage, both of them undefeated in foil and sabre respectively, rallying to win against their strongest opponents. Armitage had the finest individual record, being touched only 13 times in 8 bouts to Dow’s 20. Jaeckel had the best épée record, with 7 victories, and it was the judgment of many observers that his defeat of Jose de Capriles turned the tide in favor of the Fencers Club.
The veteran Leo Nunes, captain of the N.Y.A.C. team, finished second in épée with 5 wins, but it was his performance that earned for the N.Y.A.C. the distinction of being the only team actually to defeat all its opponents on the basis of bout victories. Nunes dropped two bouts in inconsequential matches, but when the chips were down, against the toughest opposition, he was unbeatable. His spectacular victories against Jose de Capriles and Jaeckel showed the Italo-American master at his best—and there is no better épée fencing in the United States than Nunes’ best. Jose de Capriles was third with 6 wins; Wiedel, Columbia, and von Munchhausen, Saltus, each won 4; Sonnenreich, N.Y.U., 3; O’Connor, St. John’s, 2½; Meegan, Hofstra, 2; and Foy, Greco, 1.
Dernell Every was a close second in foil, with 7 wins, losing only to Dow. Alessandroni was third with 6; Alagna, St. John’s, won 5; Giolito, N.Y.U., 4; Robinson, Greco, 3; Kellerman, Columbia, 2; and Green, Saltus, 1.
Jack Gorlin was second in sabre, tying at 6 victories with Huffman and Miguel de Capriles, scoring 34 touches, but being touched only 18 times to Huffman’s 21 and de Capriles’ 22, both of whom scored 36. It was a brilliant performance for the N.Y.U. youngster. Wallis, of Columbia, Egan of Saltus, and Newton of Greco each won 3 and finished in that order. O’Hearn of St. John’s won 1.
The competition was very popular with fencers and audience alike, and hope was expressed that more tournaments of this type would be forthcoming. There was general agreement, however, that the basis of scoring should be changed to give more weight to touches received. It has been agreed that next year both hits given and received should be counted, each team scoring the difference. Originally, the plan was to record only touches received, the team receiving the fewest to be declared the winner. On this basis the Fencers Club would have achieved its victory by a wide margin, as they received only 51 touches to the N.Y.A.C.’s 62 and the Salle Santelli’s 66.
M. A. de C.
