MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE – The Columbia High School boys and girls fencing teams competed on Sunday, January 27, in their District Championship. The state is divided into five districts and each district has approximately 10 schools.
The District 5 tournament took place at Montclair High School and is important because the top four high schools in each of the five districts are eligible to compete in the state tournament. Additionally, the top four squads for each weapon and the top four fencers for each weapon are invited to fence in the statewide squad and individual tournaments.
Congratulations are in order because the CHS boys and girls teams each came in second overall, securing a spot in the statewide Sweet Sixteen tournament, which will begin the week of February 4.
In addition, all of the fencing squads scored well enough to be included in the statewide squad tournament during the weekend of February 23 and 24. The boys foil squad came in first, the boys sabre squad took second, and the boys epee squad finished fourth. For the girls team, the sabre squad finished second, the foil squad came in third, and the epee squad took fourth place.
The team also saw much success from some individual fencers who earned an invitation to the state’s individual tournament on March 3. Specifically, the following fencers finished within the top four overall for their weapon, automatically qualifying them for the individual tournament: Jack Woods (boys foil, finished first), Janine Bacchus-Joseph (girls sabre, finished second), Jeremy Giles (boys sabre, finished third), Nicholas Goguen-Compagnoni (boys foil, finished fourth), and Shaine Hammarberg (girls sabre, finished fourth).
Photos courtesy of Nick Moramarco
About the Author
