Fencing Preview

Yeshiva University boasts a number of athletic programs. The fencing team is a standout among these various programs, as much for its traditions as for the individual successes of its stars. Just last year a new record was set when one of the sabre fencers competed in the final round of the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships with nine other champion fencers. To understand this accomplishment, realize that most of the fencers in that final round with our man had been fencing since childhood, and YU fencers rarely have any prior experience before joining the team. The team travels all over the East Coast fencing with the best possible Division I teams, including Johns Hopkins University and St. John's in Queens. There will be one home tournament later this year with YU playing host to other local schools.

This year there are only five returning fencers, three in epee, and one each in foil and sabre. Co-captains Steve Mellner and Hadar Weiss together with Alex Traiman fenced epee last year, and give the team a solid epee squad with their return. Recently married Avraham Goldberg is making this his fourth year on the sabre team, and will lend his experience and knowledge to the newcomers. The sabre squad will feel the loss of expected returnee Akiva Herzfeld, as he decided to spend this year in Israel. The team wishes him the best of luck in his studies. Yevgeny Pavlovsky survived a harrowing first year on the team in the foil squad and built up the conviction over the summer to return strong in his sophomore season.

Team fencing consists of three different weapons, and while they are similar in objective (scoring five touches on one's opponent before one receives five touches against) there are big differences in style. Epee uses the entire body as a target and there is no "lead of attack," meaning that it is not necessary to defend against an opponent's attack before staging one's own. Additionally, it is possible to have both athletes score a touch at one time, called a double touch. Both foil and sabre do enable "lead of attack" and thus, only one fencer can score a point at a time. Foil's target is the torso, both front and back, excluding the arms and legs. In both epee and foil one must hit the opponent with the tip of the weapon, depressing the tip to score a touch; however in sabre, one may utilize the side of the weapon to score. The body target in sabre is above the saddle line, from the waist up, including the arms and head.

The fencing team has a long tradition at YU, due to the commitment of its coaches, Head Coach Arnie Messing and Adjunct Coach Pete Rosas. Both they and the team put in long hours training in the basement of Furst Hall. The team is looking to improve on last year's record, and is looking forward to a successful season overall.