STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - This past Saturday, January 17th, the Haverford College men's fencing team travelled to State College for the Penn State Invitational. The Fords were the sole Division III program to represent against opposing teams awash in Olympic Team members and All-Americans.

The Fords opened up against local rival University of Pennsylvania, who took down the Fords, 26-1. Sophomore foilist Aldis Gamble had the lone 5-4 win against Penn's Aymerich.

After a second-round bye, the Fords fared much better against the Tar Heels of North Carolina in the third with a 17-10 loss. Senior co-captain Max Findley was undefeated and touched only five times total in a 5-4 squad win for the Fords' foils. Jake Bassinder also contributed three gritty wins for the epee squad, while sabrist Ben Cattau showed his improvement by contributing the only win from that squad.

Next up were defending Ivy League Champions, and favorites to win the 2015 NCAA Division I title, the Lions of Columbia. Columbia was coming off a victory against defending National Champions Penn State in the previous round. Findley reeled off two wins against Columbia: first, a 5-1 defeat of Avendano, a USFA D1 finalist, and then against Berghouse, a member of the Cadet National team. Epeeist Jake Bassinder managed to bring all three of his bouts to four-all, but dropped each of the closely contested bouts.

Taking on the host Nittany Lions in the last round of the competition, the Fords took three bouts against the defending National Champs. Findley, Bassinder, and sophomore epeeist Eric Gardner each picked off one of the Penn State fencers.

Foilist Findley led all Haverford fencers on the day with six bouts, while Bassinder led the epee with four wins, and Cattau contributed the lone sabre win. The Fords showed their potential for improvement by taking 19 of the bouts on the day to four-all.

The Fords will have another shot at Penn when the Quakers host the Philadelphia Invitational next weekend.

Final Results

Penn def. Haverford, 26 – 1
Epee: 9-0
Foil: 8-1
Sabre: 9-0

North Carolina def. Haverford, 17-10
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 4-5
Sabre: 8-1

Columbia def Haverford, 25-2
Epee: 9-0
Foil: 7-2
Sabre: 9-0

Penn State def. Haverford, 24-3
Epee: 7-2
Foil: 8-1
Sabre: 9-0