Ridge Boys Fencers Win Cetrulo Championship

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Ridge High School captured the overall team title at the prestigious Cetrulo Memorial Fencing Tournament, which returned after a three-year hiatus at Drew University in Madison.

The tournament hosted more than 50 boys teams from all over the state. It is touted as the "world’s largest high school fencing tournament" and is undoubtedly the most significant tournament of the regular season.

The boys event was held on Saturday, Jan. 21, and Ridge took over right where they left off, after taking the title in 2020.

The foil squad of Dayaal Singh, Lawrence Han, and Alex Ligos had a brilliant performance and led the way with a first place finish in the foil competition. All three fencers won 13 out of 14 pool bouts on the day.

The epee squad of Reid Kokenge, Ben Chang, and Soham Pillalamarri finished strong in 5th place, while the saber squad of Daniel George, David Elian, and Tadas Vilemaitis battled for a 6th place finish.

These combined finishes by each squad gave Ridge the first-place title out of 56 teams.

The Ridge girls fencers took to the strips on Sunday, Jan. 22 for the Santelli Tournament, also at Drew University.

The epee squad of Chloe Yang, KKushi Verma, Ashley Maschhoff, Claire Muisener, and Charlotte Liu finished the day in stellar fashion to capture 3rd place out of 50 teams.

Ridge continues conference meets this week, taking on West Windsor Plainsboro North on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Ridge High School Original Gym.

— Submitted by Jodi Kokenge