Governor Livingston Hosts Second Annual Holiday Quad Meet

Governor Livingston's fencing program hosted its Second Annual Highlander Holiday Quad Meet at Columbia Middle School yesterday, with the girls' team piling up three more victories.

The meet, which lasted well into the afternoon hours, saw the Highlanders deliver some typically-strong performances—including the 100^th win for the girls' program—as they hosted opponents Mendham, Hackettstown, Lakeland and Ramapo.

The Highlander girls had perhaps the most success of any team at the meet. The girls were undefeated on the day, with their biggest challenge coming against West Morris Mendham. Governor Livingston would take the match, 15-12.

The win over Mendham was a milestone for the Highlanders; it was the girls' 100^th win as a program, which has only been in existence since 2005.

"We now have 102 wins as a girls' team (since 2005), with the 100^th coming against (arch-rival) Mendham," said head coach Vince Paragano. "I'm very happy with that."

The Highlander girls would go on to dominate Hackettstown, 21-6, with the clinching bout coming before the Tigers could muster a victory at 14-0. Governor Livingston would then defeat Lakeland 19-8, clinching the match at 14-3 and moving to 8-0 on the season.

Paragano was impressed with the effort from the girls, who continue to defeat tough challengers.

"On the girls side we beat three good teams—really good teams," said Paragano. "They were a combined 9-0 before they came in."

Saberist Alaina Uhouse came up big all day for the Highlanders, finishing 7-0 for the quad meet. Strong performances from Colleen Reilly (Epee), Foilists Taia Harrison and Aileen Trella, and Saberists Brittin Boenning and Lauren Wagner also highlighted the dominant performance for Governor Livingston.

On the boys side, the Highlanders hung tough through all three of their matches, which included a dominating 23-4 victory over Hackettstown. The win gave the Highlanders not only the largest margin of victory in program history, but their first ever defeat over the Tigers. Foilists Jordan Pagano and Matt Dobrowsky each went 2-0 against Hackettstown.

However, the dominating win was sandwiched in between losses. The meet began for the boys with a heartbreaking 15-12 defeat at the hands of the arch-rival Mendham Minutemen, despite a 3-0 performance from team captain Aidan King.

The meet ended for the Highlanders with a 16-11 loss to a Ramapo team led by a powerful saber squad featuring Charles Copti. Overall, Ramapo's Saber squad went 9-0 against the Highlander boys.

Despite a couple of close, tough losses, Paragano still has high spirits with the boys sitting at a .500 record (4-4).

"On the boys' side, Mendham's a tough squad and Ramapo's a tough squad," said Paragano. "We held our own with them. There's a lot of improvement we're going to show, but the season's early. I expect to see those teams in the playoffs and we'll do fine."