Men's fencing has positive start to season, looks to reclaim league title

The 2002-2003 season stands to be a dramatic turnaround for the Princeton fencers. After last season's disappointing 5-5 finish (1-3 Ivy League), including losses to Penn, Columbia, and Harvard, the team stands to regain its Ivy Crown. The men's team has won at least a share the Ivy Title four of the previous five seasons.

With significant additions it would seem that the team has more than a fighting chance. Freshman Ben Solomon, an epee fencer from Cleveland, comes into the program with significant national experience under his belt. He won both the Junior National and the Junior Olympic Championships, and he has been a Cadet and Junior World Championship Team member multiple times. Currently the No. 1 under-20 fencer in the US., Solomon won a world cup in October and has already contributed much to this year's young team.

"He should should do better and better as he becomes familiar with NCAA fencing," junior captain Soren Thompson said. "Solomon placed seventh at the Penn State Open and had an impressive record in our first dual meets against University of North Carolina, New York University, and Penn State."

Mitch Slep, another epee fencer, is back on the team after a year away. He brings experience to a relatively young team and should make an immediate impact. James Wallen, a former Junior World Team member, is also back after a yearlong absence and should make a huge contribution to the men's sabre squad.

"Our epee team is easily the best in the Ivy League, and saber is extremely competitive," sophomore Scott Sherman said.

Adam Boorstin, a freshman from Los Angeles, brings some top level national experience to the sabre squad. He has already successfully stepped into a major role for the team.

Mike Brosterman leads the talented sabre squad that will face some very tough competition this season.

The foil squad is headed by junior squad leader Eric Stodola. They are a solid group composed of fencers with significant national experience: Stodola, junior Jonathon Jew-Lim, sophomore Scott Sherman, and freshman J.P. Mitchell. Their impressive unity and work ethic will help them against extremely difficult Ivy competition this season.

The fencing team has already had significant success at the Penn State Open, as well as at last week's meets with UNC, NYU, and Penn State. At the Penn State Open, epee led the way with four fencers in the top eight.

Slep, who is returning to the team after not fencing last year, finished fourth, and Thompson took the silver, as he did at NCAA championships last year. Freshmen Ben Solomon and Sandy Gibson rounded out the top eight.

In Jadwin Gym, last weekend's dual meets found the fencers victorious over NYU and UNC. They fell just short of National-Champion Penn State. Eric Stodola led the Tigers with a 7-2 record on the day.

The Ivy title is not a foregone conclusion for any team this year. Harvard has a much-improved squad that includes mostly new recruits.

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Columbia continues to stand as a perennial powerhouse.

"I expect to beat them when they visit on Feb. 1," Thompson said.

On the team's prospects, Thompson noted "Although I think we're a better team, we'll need to fence our best to beat Penn when we visit them in a few months. Yale is also a much-improved team that will require our best effort."

The team members voluntarily skipped their fall break and instead opted for intensive training. With significant recruiting years throughout the Ivy League, the team can certainly benefit from any advantage for a seasons which will surely be very competitive.

While Princeton is clearly much improved from last season, the young team will surely miss the experience and ability of Eddie Chou '02 as well as last year's captain Matt Fitzgerald '02.