West Morris Central Fencers Going to State Fencing Tournaments

LONG VALLEY, NJ— The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) District 1 Fencing championships was held this weekend at Hackettstown High School, and West Morris Central High School has a strong showing, earning second place and moving on to the February state tournament.

The weapon squads fenced throughout the morning to determine which teams and squads would qualify for the NJSIAA State tournaments, and to sort out which individual fencers would continue into the afternoon for the next round of fencing.

All A-strip boys— junior Christopher Infinito (epee), sophomore Nate Mange (foil), and senior Zach Mange (sabre)— from the three squads fenced well in the morning not only contributing to the team’s second place finish, but also qualifying each of them for the afternoon individuals’ competition, along with foil B-strip junior Christian Garica.

The boys foil squad earned first place as the District Champions with Dusty Howell, building onto their Morris County Championship from earlier in the season. The squad will move onto the state tournament at North Hunterdon High School on Feb. 26 along with the boys epee squad that earned a silver medal. The boys team is expected to have a bye in the first round of the state tournament that begins Feb. 1 and should have their first tournament meet at home.

At the end of the afternoon and after a fence off, Infinito earned a silver medal in epee. He and Nate Mange, who was working through the viral illness that has plagued the team for the last week and finished fourth, both advance to the state individuals’ tournament on March 5th at Montgomery High School. Zach Mange finished in 8th place and Garcia finished in 6th place for the day in their respective weapons.

The foil squad was a highlight for the girls team finishing the morning earning a bronze medal and will represent WMC at the girls state squad competition on Feb. 25 at North Hunterdon High School.

Senior Devon Howell finished the afternoon in 5th place along with her foil squad member junior Uma Kommineni in 6th place. Junior Anna Klassen also competed in the afternoon and finished in 5th place for girls epee.

Images: Individual qualifiers for State Fencing Tournament (Left to Right: Nate Mange; Coach Jay Manzella; Christopher Infinito); Boys District Foil Squad Champions; Boys Epee Silver Medal Squad; Girls Epee Bronze Medal Squad. Courtesy of Kevin Mange