CHS Fencers Squeeze Past Tough Opponents To Remain Undefeated

By Steven E. Brier

The undefeated season remains intact for the Columbia High fencers, with the girls and boys teams racking up wins against Montclair and Randolph and the girls also defeating Oak Knoll.

Although the coaches expressed some concern ahead of the girls-only Oak Knoll meet, Columbia prevailed, going 18-9. The sabre team struggled, going 3-6, but the foil team’s 7-2 and the eepists’ 8-1 put the win in the CHS column. Juliet Turalski (sabre), Abby Caparros-Janto, Erin Hynes and Rebecca Grohman (foil) and Tiffany Austin-Ginlock and Magda Usarek-Witek each got two victories for the night. In another bright spot, all three of the epee substitutes – Sarina Appelgren, Margaret Brier and Sienna Batzli – came off the bench to win their bouts. Hynes clinched the meet for Columbia with her win at 14-9.

There was a bit less tension the next night as both teams handily defeated Randolph. The boys were 21-6 and the girls went 24-3, led by the girls sabre team with its 9-0 performance. Kathryn Steck and Turalski went 2-0 for the night and sophomore Avontaque Kimber came off the bench to notch her first varsity victory. The girls foil team went 8-1, with 2-0 performances from Ricky Drattler and Sonaya Robinson. Robinson’s wins included her first (and second) varsity victory as well as the bout that clinched the meet for Columbia at 14-0. The foil team went 7-2 for the night with Usarek-Witek, a team captain, and Brier, a substitute, going 2-0. Freshman Tory Trama, also coming in as a substitute, notched her first varsity victory.

The boys defeated Randolph 21-6. Even though the coaches substituted freely – 21 boys had varsity bouts – 2-0 performances were turned in by Sam Varon (sabre), Shaun Geiger and Alex Dranove (foil) and Russell Valle and Ian Gammon (epee). Sabreist Jesse Cohen, a sophomore, notched his first varsity victory.

The win over Montclair three days later was a close-run thing for the boys, with Valle clinching at 14-11 and a final score of 15-12. The sabre team struggled all night, with only three victories, all from Varon. Things were slightly better for foil and much better for epee, with foilists Ethan Kresofsky and Geiger going 2-1 for the night. Valle also was 2-1 and Gammon and Matthew Heffley were 2-0.

The girls didn’t have quite the nail-biter against Montclair. Though a number of bouts were decided by one point, the girls won with a score of 20-7. Eight different fencers – Steck and Elizabeth Moulthrop on sabre, Grohman, Drattler and Elissa Patrica Parada on foil and Austin-Ginlock, Usarek-Witek and Michelle Micallef on epee – turned in 2-0 performances. In one of those, Austin-Ginlock went 5-2 to notch the team’s victory at 14-2.

Upcoming meets are at Newark Academy on Monday and home meets against Mendham on Wednesday and Holy Angels on Thursday.