In 1953, the Penn men's fencing team earned the University's first NCAA national championship in any sport. That team featured Robert Parmacek, Frank Bartone and Jack Tori. Parmacek joined the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of Class III; Bartone was inducted as a member of Class IV. Tonight -- finally -- the third member of that team is inducted.
Tori joined the fencing program in 1949 and was an immediate contributor as the Quakers' top performer in the epee weapon. He helped the 1952 team go 8-2 in the regular season and tie for fourth place at the Eastern Intercollegiates. After that, his sixth-place performance at the NCAA Championships earned him second-team All-America recognition.
The 1953 season would prove to be even more special. The Quakers went 8-1 during the regular season, the only loss coming 15-12 to Navy. That was offset by a 14-13 win over defending NCAA champion Columbia. At the Eastern Intercollegiates, Tori recorded 11 of Penn's 25 epee wins as the Red and Blue won the team title in that weapon. Tori's individual crown at Easterns was highlighted by a victory over the defending champion, New York University's Herman Wallner. As a team, Penn placed second behind Navy at the Intercollegiates.
That set the stage for the NCAAs, where Penn was able to emerge victorious for its first team championship under Maestro Lajos Csiszar. Tori was the NCAA epee champion, winning 31 out of 33 bouts at the 1953 Championships, earning him his second All-America recognition in as many years.
