North fencing entered the season with an inexperienced squad on both the girls’ and boys’ teams. For coach Gail Kedoin, preparing her team for the season’s start was initially difficult.
And she had to do it quickly. The team’s first meet fell just two weeks after training started.
Despite the inexperience, both the boys’ and girls’ squads are undefeated at 7-0 this season.
“They’re doing really well. I’m really proud of them that they work really hard at practice, they give me 120 percent and all the way every day,” Kedoin said.
Leading the girls’ team are sabre fencers Katie Khaw and Celine Demorre. Each girl has a 20-0 record.
“The rest of the team is looking up to those two on the girls’ side,” Kedoin said.
After losing many fencers in the offseason, Kedoin wasn’t sure how the girls’ side would fare. So during the Santelli Championship, a tournament held on January 4 pitting 48 teams from across the state against one another, Kedoin started seven fencers instead of the usual three.
Those seven fencers made the top eight overall.
“I said, ‘All seven of you worked together to make the finals, you’re all going to fence in the finals,’” Kedoin said. “So they all just worked together. They were excited and just helped each other out and worked as a squad.”
On the boys’ squad Amit Sarma and William Zhang are 10-1 and 9-0 for the epee team. On foil, Dylan Pyne is 13-0 and Taiway Kyon is 14-0. One of the team’s leaders at sabre is Raymond Zhang, who was promoted to the varsity squad this season.
“More than last season, both teams have a lot more feistiness this year, a lot more drive that they want to succeed,” Kedoin said. “On my boys’ team I’ve got a bunch of seniors that really want to go out on top this year.”
Kedoin has been impressed with many of the new fencers, including Chris Bao — who had never fenced before his tryout.
“There are some good ones but they’re not ready to start yet,” Kedoin said. “They’re really coming along, so we’re trying to substitute them in as an alternate when we can to give them experience.”
Kedoin believes the team’s biggest strength is the same reason the girls found success at the Santelli Championship.
“They work together as a team,” Kedoin said. “They train together, and when they’re fencing, they’re helping each other out so they work as a team.”
South’s boys’ and girls’ fencing squads are not undefeated like their rival North, but this has been a season of change for the Pirates.
Rebecca Lehrman took over at the helm of Pirate fencing from Ed Chang in the offseason, and this is her first season as a fencing coach. The Long Island native fenced foil for four years at Temple, where she majored in kinesiology.
“It was competitive,” Lehrman said. “I learned a lot and the things that I learned through fencing helped me a lot in life.”
After graduating from Temple, Lehrman began a career in health and fitness. She is currently a personal trainer.
“One of my clients told me about the opportunity, and she knew I was a fencer in the past,” Lehrman said. “So I went ahead and got into it.”
The season is young. The girls’ team is 4-1, and the boys are 3-2. But Lehrman, in her first season, is focused on more than results and statistics.
“One of the main goals that I really wanted to achieve this season is just building the team as a whole, developing better sportsmanship and just coming together as one unit,” Lehrman said. “I think that we’ve met those goals.”
Joey Dachevsky and Jade Rowland, respectively, are the boys’ and girls’ squad captains. Rowland will represent Great Britain as a reserve at the U20 Women’s Foil individual event in Croatia at the end of the month.
“They’re both very good at motivating the team, getting them excited and getting them riled up to show commitment to the team,” Lehrman said.
For the girls Victoria Xu has the team’s best record at 10-0. She fences sabre, while Rowland is 8-2 in foil. Franklin Huang, who also fences sabre, is 13-1 for the boys.
“I think having a new coach is a little bit of a challenge,” Lehrman said. “Any change is sometimes difficult to mold into but I think that they’ve all come together pretty nicely.”
For Lehrman the biggest challenge is learning about different teams in the district and the styles of her fencers.
“Learning different personalities and learning about the schools that we’re fencing. I don’t know much about the district so it’s been an experience to learn about what’s out there,” Lehrman said. “I’m still learning about them. We’ve only been together for a month and a half so it’s still very new to all of us.”
#b#Boys’ Fencing#/b#
North (8-0): A 20-7 win over Gill St. Bernard’s on January 8. Epee (6-3): Prashant Baliga, 1; Danush Gupta, 1; Amit Sarma, 2; Eric Yu, 1; William Zhang, 1. Foil (8-1): Chris Bao, 1; Taiway Kwon, 2; Dylan Pyne, 2; Max Ren, 2, Benjamin Yang, 1. Saber (6-3): Dillon Henry, 1; Kyle Jacobson, 1; Weslly Pan, 2; Raymond Zhang, 2.
A 24-3 win over Hun on January 13. Epee (9-0): Baliga, 1; Alec Wang, 3; Daniel Yang, 2; Yu, 2; W. Zhang, 1. Foil (8-1): Kyon, 2; Pyne, 2; Ren,1; Sun, 2; B. Yang, 1. Saber (7-2): Charles Dai, 1; Jacobson, 2; Pan, 2; R. Zhang, 2.
A 21-6 win over Voorhees on January 15. Epee (9-0): Baliga, 2; Sarma, 2; Wang, 3; D. Yang, 1; Yu, 1. Foil (6-3): Bao, 1; Kyon, 2; Pyne, 2; Andrew Sun, 1. Saber (6-3): Henry, 1; Jacobson, 2; Pan, 1; R. Zhang, 2.
A 19-8 win over Lawrenceville on January 20. Epee (7-2). Foil (6-3). Saber (6-3): Nicholas Chu, 1; Jacobson, 2; Pan, 2; R. Zhang, 2.
South (3-2): A 19-8 win over Princeton Day on January 6. Epee (6-3): Rex Chen, 1; Joseph Dachevsky, 1; Kennedy Nkachuwu, 2; Jimmy Shi, 1. Foil (6-3): Stefano Luchetti, 2; Siddhash Muchhil, 1; Lachlin Robertson, 1; Keve Sandor, 2. Saber (7-2): Kevin Gao, 2; Franklin Huang, 2; Will Liu, 2.
A 17-10 loss to North Hunterdon on January 8. Epee (5-4): Dachevsky, 3; Nkachuwu, 2. Foil (2-7): Sandor, 2. Saber (3-6): Huang, 3.
A 15-12 loss to Christian Brothers on January 13. Epee (3-6): Chen, 1; Dachevsky, 1; Nkachuwu, 1. Foil (6-3): Andrew Kim, 2; Robertson, 1; Sandor, 3. Saber (3-6): Huang, 3.
An 18-8 win over Hunterdon Central on January 15. Epee (5-4): Chen, 1; Dachevsky, 2; Evan Kertes, 1; Nkachuwu, 1. Foil (6-3): Nikhil Kumar, 1; Michael Mu, 1; Muchhil, 1; Robertson, 1; Sandor, 2. Saber (7-2): Gao, 2; Derek Ge, 2; Huang, 3.
#b#Girls’ Fencing#/b#
North (7-1): A 20-7 win over Gill St. Bernard’s on January 8. Epee (8-1): Madison Hughes, 2; Kristina Khaw, 2; Tianna Kwok, 1; Kally Mihova, 1; Nikita Nangia, 1; Janet Zhang, 1. Foil (7-2): Katrina Beske, 2; Anusha Gunti, 2; Aarushi Parashar, 1; Lucy Ye, 2. Saber (5-4): Celine Demorre, 2; Divya John, 1; Katie Khaw, 2.
A 16-11 win over Hun on January 13. Epee (5-4): Lillian Chen, 2; Kristina Khaw, 1; Kwok, 1; Zhang, 1. Foil (4-5): Beske, 2; Gunti, 1; Ye, 1. Saber (7-2): Demorre, 3; Katie Khaw, 3; Olivia Maggio, 1.
A 16-11 win over Voorhees on January 15. Epee (7-2): Chen, 1; Kristina Khaw, 2; Kwok, 2; Mihova, 1; Nangia, 1. Foil (3-6): Beske, 1; Gunti, 1; Ye, 1. Saber (6-3): Demorre, 3; Katie Khaw, 3.
A 15-12 loss to Lawrenceville on January 20. Epee (3-6). Foil (4-5). Saber (5-4).
South (3-0): A 17-10 win over Princeton Day. Epee (7-2): Anna Akkara, 1; Alexis D’Souza, 2; Victoria Liang, 2; Sheetal Mohanty, 2. Foil (4-5): Jade Rowland, 2; Thuvanma Sivakumar, 1; Audrey Tran, 1. Saber (6-3): Amanda Hu, 2; Nisha Sukumar, 2; Victoria Xu, 2.
A 15-12 win over North Hunterdon on January 8. Epee (5-4): Akkara, 1; Liang, 2; Mohanty, 2. Foil (1-8): Rowland, 1. Saber (9-0): Vyshu Khofa, 3; Sukumar, 3; Xu, 3.
A 16-11 win over Hunterdon Central on January 15. Epee (4-5): Akkara, 1; Melanie Cardulla, 1; Liang, 1; Mohanty, 1. Foil (4-5): Rowland, 2; Sivakumar, 1; Tran, 1. Saber (8-1): Hu, 3; Khofa, 2; Xu, 3.
