Cougars Fencing Season Off to Strong Start

The defending state champion Columbia High School Boys fencing team opened the season with a five-hour "quad meet" against Governor Livingston, Montclair and St. Peter's Prep at Montclair High School on Sunday, December 19. The boys put on three dominating performances and demonstrated why they are widely viewed as the favorite to win the state title again this year.

With a blend of experienced upperclassman, freshman and depth, the boys clinched three meets in one afternoon, with a combined score of 42 to 16. 

Juniors Andrew Kelly (6-0) and Stowe Hammarberg (5-1) along with senior Quinn McCann (4-2) spearheaded a sabre squad that went 21-6 on the day. Junior Evan Accardi went 6-0 leading the epee squad to a combined record of 18-9. The epee squad also received solid performances from seniors Devon Good and Jon Polson who each went 3-1. 

In addition, after graduating two starting members of the foil squad last year, freshman John Kirk stepped in to finish the day 6-1.

Against Governor Livingston, the boys clinched at 14-9 on Kirk's third victory of the meet. Both Kelly and Kirk went 3-0 while Accardi went 2-0. After that victory, the boys took on Montclair, clinching at 14-5 when Kelly capped his perfect day with his third victory against Montclair and sixth of the day. The victory over Montclair was highlighted by outstanding performances by Accardi, Hammarberg, Kirk, and sophomore Martin Santos who each went 2-0. 

The boys clinched the final meet against St. Peter's at 14-2 when Accardi won his second bout of the meet and sixth on the day.  The St. Peter's meet was highlighted by Seniors Connor Thompson and Devon Good's 3-0 records while freshman Jared LeBron, sophomore Dan Hefley and Accardi supplied two victories each.

In addition to Kirk and LeBron, freshmen Max Gould (3-2) and sophomores James Brier (1-1) and Matt Michaels (1-1) got their first, career high school victories.  Juniors Nick Stellini and Henry Wilshire also contributed wins against St. Peters.
After the dominating performance, Coach Darryl White commented: "I'm thrilled with the effort today and that so many different fencers contributed to the wins.  We showed that we have every intention of defending our state title."

The Cougar's girls fencing team goes into the season with only one senior, Gemma Roberts, on the starting team and got off to a slow start in their first meet against Governor Livingston.  After the first round of nine bouts, the girls found themselves behind 2-7, with only juniors Haley Hart and Rachel Viqueira securing wins.  Governor Livingston went on to clinch at 14-7 despite Hart's 3-0 finish against Governor Livingston.

The girls rebounded against Montclair to clinch a solid victory at 14-9 when junior Sarah Hilton won a tight bout at 5-4.  Junior Rachel Viqueira, freshman Najiyyah Clark and Hilton combined to go 8-1 in foil while freshman Alex Viqueira went 3-0 in sabre.

The girls' momentum continued against Wayne Valley as they rolled to clinch their second victory at 14-6 on junior Holly Barszcz's third win. The girls' victory against Wayne Valley was marked by significant contributions from a number of fencers, including: Barszcz (3-0), Clark (2-0), Hart (2-0), sophomore Alexis Auer (2-0), Rachel Viqueira (2-0), and Alex Viqueira (2-1).  Sophomore Liz Zona and junior Nicole Mee also contributed wins against Wayne Valley.

First-year coach Jason Kohn was pleased with the girls' overall performance, commenting: "This is a very young team that showed some nervousness early on but settled down and demonstrated why we expect to be a serious threat through the season. This loss in the regular season is going to help us prepare for wins when they really count later on."

The Cougars fenced again against West Essex on December 21, 2010. Story to come!