archrival Penn State
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Associate Sports Editor
For years the Nittany Lions have been kings of the collegiate fencing world. Saturday, the men's fencing team sent them back to Happy Valley with their tails tucked between their legs after a 16-13 loss to the Irish.
"It was very big," sabre captain Clay Morton said. "It felt very good to defeat them in sabre and it felt really good to defeat them overall. It's been awhile since we beat them overall."
The win broke a four-match losing streak against Penn State. The Irish last defeated the Nittany Lions in the '80s when they won three straight.
The win, however, was not unexpected according to Irish head coach Yves Auriol.
"I was expecting the men's team to win," he said. "They did a good job. We have a very talented team and we have the talent to do it."
While Penn State remains the team to beat at this March's NCAA championships, Notre Dame served notice that it was a strong contender to break Penn State's four-year grip on the title.
"They fenced us very tough and there is a long way to go before NCAAs," foil captain Jim Harris said. "It is going to be very close come March between us, Penn State, Stanford and St. John's. The title is really up for grabs. It is going to be a nice fight."
Last weekend, Notre Dame fell to Stanford 14-13 and St. John's 16-11.
The key to Saturday's win was the 7-2 trouncing the sabre squad dealt Penn State. Led by sophomores Gabor Szelle, Andre Crompton and junior Andrezj Bednarski, the sabre team set the stage for the victory by winning its first six bouts.
Due to past sabre team success against Penn State, Morton was not surprised by the dominating victory.
"In the past couple of years, it has been 6-3, 7-2 and last year it was 8-1, so we know we have a pretty good squad that can beat them in sabre," Morton said.
In 1999, when the sabre team gave the Irish a good start, the foil and epee squads combined for just six wins in 18 bouts. 2000 was a different story as the foil squad defeated Penn State 5-4 and the epee squad fell just short — losing 5-4.
After falling behind 3-1 early, the foil team won four of the next five bouts to take the match. Freshman Forest Walton's 5-4 victory in the eighth bout not only knotted the foil match at 4 but also gave the Irish their 14th and deciding victory over the Nittany Lions. No. 1 foil starter Ozren Debic cruised to a 5-1 victory to capture the foil match for the Irish.
"All year these guys have been battling," Harris said. "Every time we have put some pressure on them, they've responded in a positive way for us. Forest fenced well. Oz was amazing and Steve Mautone stepped up when he had to. It was a group effort."
The epee squad enjoyed less success against the Nittany Lions. While freshman Jan Viviani won all three of his bouts, sophomore Brian Casas and senior captain James Gaither combined for just one win over Penn State.
"I didn't do so well," Gaither said. "I kinda put the blame on myself but we fenced ok. We fenced them tough. They are a good team."
The win over Penn State was just the highlight of a successful Saturday by the men's team. Notre Dame won 21-6 against Florida, 22-5 against Duke, 24-3 against Cleveland State, 20-7 against Air Force and 22-5 against Ohio State.
Individually, the Irish also performed well. Debic led the Irish with an unblemished 14-0 record while Jan Viviani's 10-1 paced the epee team. All three Irish sabre starters dominated with Szelle going 12-1, Crompton 11-3 and Bednarski 10-1.
Other than Penn State, the only challenge Notre Dame received came from a gritty Air Force epee squad. The Falcons jumped out to a 4-3 lead. Wilburt Gettys took a 4-1 lead on sophomore All-American Brian Casas in the eighth bout before Casas stepped up and captured four straight points to tie the match at four.
The ninth bout was just as tight as Air Force's Robert Bremer and Viviani battled to a 4-4 tie in regulation. In overtime, Viviani scored the first touch to win the bout and the match, 5-4.
Gaither blamed the tighter than expected match on a lack of mental preparation.
"That was kind of weird," he said. "I don't think we were really awake."
The 4-0 record improves the Irish to 6-2 on the year. Despite the perfect Saturday record and win over Penn State, Notre Dame knows there is still room for improvement.
"For the most part we were where we needed to be," Morton said. "It was a great improvement over last week but we still had one or two mental lapses. It didn't cost us anything but we are still not 100 percent focused."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 1, 2000
