PHILADELPHIA - On Sunday, the Haverford men's fencing team competed for the first time since March of 2020 at the Temple Open, the largest intercollegiate individual tournament in the country, at Temple's Liacouras Center. The tournament featured Olympians, All-Americans, and a slew of NCAA Division I opponents from across the country, from Northwestern in Chicago to the University of Florida.  The format was two rounds of seeding pools, with 80 percent advancing to the Direct Elimination tableau of 128 fencers.

Leading all results on the day was senior foilist Carter Langen, whose incredible performance in the pools included wins over opponents from NYU, Penn, and Penn State, garnering him the 14th seed overall. Langen demonstrated a new level of technical proficiency, but ran out of gas in the round of 32, dropping a hard fought bout to UNC's Kevin Maia-Lima 15-12. First year Jax Wittenberg knocked off two fencers from conference rival Stevens in the pools before dropping his first direct elimination bout, while newly minted foilist and co-captain Adrian Velonis bravely snatched a pool victory and continued his steep learning curve through the consolation round.

Sabrists No. 14 Nicholas Conroy (team co-captain) and No. 30 Lucas Winkler joined Langen in the DE round of 32 after successful campaigns in the pools; both of their losses in that round were excruciatingly close and hotly contested, with frequent lead changes and high emotions from the spectators. Winker's bout was exceptional in that he drew the 3rd seed, NYU's Brian Kim, and pushed it to 14-14 before the heartbreaking last touch. After a long layoff from training, Neville Linden showed improvement and won his matchup in the consolation round.    

First-year epeeist Vivek Veluvali equaled Winkler's effort in pushing a top-rated competitor, Princeton's Nicholas Lawson, a former Junior National Champion currently ranked 79th in the world, to the edge, using toe touches and wrist picks from unorthodox angles to hang with the giant before succumbing 14-15 with a double touch. Joining Veluvali in the DE's was sophomore Daniel Carvalho making his debut for the Fords, while squad-mates Jack Crump, Edward Shin, and Jacob Fink all found victories in the consolation pool.  

The Haverford fencing teams will now next compete on Sunday, November 14th, at the Vassar Invitational in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 

Finishes:

Epee:
Vivek Veluvali 45
Daniel Carvalho 47
Jack Crump T-70
Edward Shin T-70
Jacob Fink 78

Foil:
Carter Langen 20
Jax Wittenberg T-44
Adrian Velonis 57

Sabre:
Nicholas Conroy T-24
Lucas Winkler T-29
Neville Linden T-61