In a match that coach Edo Marion called "too close for comfort," the varsity fencing team downed a tough and determined M.I.T. squad, 16 to 11, last night in Walker Memorial Gymnasium. A 7-2 victory in sabre and a 5-4 margin in epee counterbalanced a 4-5 defeat in foil for the Crimson.

Jon Piel led the varsity's sabre rout, winning three straight bouts, and Manuel Cabral and Mike Woolf contributed 2-1 records. With this triumph, the Crimson virtually clinched first-year possession of the Arvanites Sabre Trophy, a new award to be given annually to the best Boston area sabre team. The trophy will be offered for five years, and the team winning it three of those years will gain permanent ownership.

In epee, two victories each by Bruce Parker and Jim Roberts, and a win by Dave Schwartz accounted for the Crimson margin. Although the varsity lost in foil, Phil Charat turned in perhaps the best individual performance of the evening, taking three straight triumphs, including one over M.I.T.'s touted Barry Schaible.

Captain Bill Trebilcock experienced an unaccountably rough night in the foil, losing all three of his matches, and Dave Johnson dropped two out of three bouts. An unexpected star developed in the person of Engineer Gerry Yarbrough, who won both of his encounters.