A vicious fencing team from the City College of New York, which looked and sounded as if it were prepared to draw blood to protest its reputation, was upset 17-10 Saturday afternoon by an improving Harvard squad.

The Crimson sabre men turned in the deciding performance of the day, as they dropped one match to the New Yorkers. Team captain Jon Kolb and second sabre man Paul Profeta won three contests each. These two, along with Al Makaitis, defeated Mike Marcus, CCNY's number one star in sabre, who is widely regarded one of the best in the country.

Dave Dooley, Tom Musliner, and Dan Isaacson each won two of their three matches in foil. Musliner's second victory, by a lopsided five touches to one, came only after his match was interrupted by a hot dispute over fine points in the rules.

Harvard's epee fencers turned in a substandard performance and won only three of their matches. Senior Jeremy Keller moved up into the third epee spot for the day, but after he lost his first two matches, he was replaced by Paul Mundie. Mundie barely avoided a fight with his aggressive CCNY opponent but finally won the match.

Marion Elated

Coach Edo Marion was elated by the team's sixth victory of the season, particularly since it was over CCNY's vociferous mentor, Ed Lucia, who spent more time arguing with the judges than coaching. Saturday's victory set up the January 9 meeting between Harvard and Columbia as a crucial event in both teams' seasons.