En garde! UCLA fencers duel for bronze in tournament

Tuesday, October 29, 1996

FENCING:

Bruin Michael Loh foils teammate Ian Ono at Cal Tech matchBy
John Kelly

Daily Bruin Contributor

After Aaron Burr dueled Alexander Hamilton, he fled the United
States and attempted to establish an American empire. He was
acquitted of treason, but his political career was left in
shambles.

Andrew Jackson, a man who never shrank from a good fight, was
dogged throughout his career by the "coffin handbill," a graphic
depiction of six men he was accused of killing in single
combat.

Bruin fencer Michael Loh won’t face any disciplinary action from
his club for defeating his own teammate Ian Ono in single
combat.

The two UCLA foilists, who met Saturday in the final round of
the Cal Tech tournament, dueled for the bronze in a battle of
endurance.

"It was our fifth match, and we were exhausted," Ono said. "It
was just his day."

Ono’s exhaustion was understandable. He had just faced
formidable fencer Renato Gates in a match where he lost 15-14 after
taking a 9-1 lead.

"Mental flaws got me," Ono said.

It was a bad day for the rest of the Bruins as the team barely
made a scratch in the rest of the tournament.

"The rest of us were crappy," team vice president Kyle McJunkin
said.

Despite the team malaise, first-year duelist Aaron Tward took
silver in the sabre category.

"We didn’t expect him to medal," Ono said.

Tward, the sabre captain, had faced controversy over his work
ethics. Teammates claimed that he did not work hard enough during
practices.

"He was a good choice as sabre captain," Ono said. "He hasn’t
worked as hard as some, but he has a good understanding of the
sport."

Carla Tangan, the team president, also managed to place among
the top eight in the women’s foil.

The next competition for the UCLA fencing club will be the
weekend of Nov. 10. They will compete individually again at either
UC Santa Barbara or Cal Tech.