A Crimson fencing squad composed almost entirely of sophomores nearly fell victim to a surprisingly strong team at M.I.T. last night, but managed to salvage the match, 14-13.

Particularly disappointing was the performance of the first string epee team, which took only four of its nine bouts. The epee was the one team that coach Marion had counted on for insurance support.

The foll squad took five out of nine contests. Sophomore Jim Nelson took two out of three bouts and was a pleasant surprise on a consistently weak foll team.

Fencing without the four top varsity men, the sabre still won 5-4. Chuck Staats went all the way, winning all three of his matches for the Crimson.

The Crimson fencers should perform much better on Saturday, when Marion puts back his top varsity men for an Ivy League match at Princeton.