Ramapo Fencer Gorloff Wins State Crown

Ramapo Fencing Coach Paul Apostol writes in with the following report:

Fencing against a very strong field, including his teammate Adam Carcione, junior Alex Gorloff went 8-1 in the final round robin to clinch the NJ State Individual Championship on Sunday. Alex’s victory marks the third time in a row that a Ramapo fencer has won the State Championship in sabre, and is the 7th State Championship for Ramapo sabreists in the last 8 years. Alex will be back next year to try to match the record of his former squad mate Charles Copti, who won back-to-back State Championships. Alex has an extraordinarily long reach, which leaves his opponents flummoxed as to how they got hit when they thought he was too far away to land a touch. And the good news is that he is still growing.   

Adam Carcione, a sophomore in a field where all but one of the other finalists besides Adam were juniors and seniors, fenced very well and went 5-4 which put him a tie for third place. Unfortunately when touches were counted in order to break the tie, Adam was one touch away, which landed him in fourth place. Adam is extremely fast and has a devastating attack and he has two more years to leave his mark on the State Championship.

Epeeist Sam Judd incurred a sprain to his quadriceps in the first round and was seriously hampered. Nevertheless, he fought through the discomfort, made it to the second round, and then advanced to the third round final. By the time Sam got to the final, the discomfort was too great for him to fence effectively and he tried very hard but finished 9th.  Making it to the final of the State Championship is an extraordinary accomplishment and we are all proud of Sam’s outstanding performance.

The Team is very pleased to have finished with a gold sabre squad medal and a silver epee squad medal in the Cetrulo, along with a gold overall medal and gold sabre and epee squad medals in the District Championship. This was the 10th year in a row that Ramapo won the District Championship and also the 10th year in a row that Ramapo won the Bergen-Passaic League Championship. The gold by Gorloff in the State Individuals puts a finishing touch on a great season.

The Team and Team Parents will meet again at the Varsity and JV Awards Dinner on Tuesday, March 12, at The Brick House.

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