The Ramapo boys fencing squad are off to a fast start to the season, posting a 5-1 dual meet record.
The fencers jumped out to an early lead Wednesday over Passaic Valley, en route to a 21-6 (14-4) finish. Ramapo won the first round 6-3 and went on to win eight of the nine second-round bouts and seven of the nine third-round contests for the comfortable victory.
Ramapo sabreists dominated their opponents with a 9-0 sweep for the second meet in a row.
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Overall team captain, senior Dan Tobin, sophomore Charles Copti, the only returning member of last year's gold medal team, and squad captain, junior Gaspar Lesznick, all went 3-0. So far this season the sabreists have won 91 percent of their bouts, racking up a 49-5 record.
They are peaking at just the right time, as they must defend Ramapo's gold medal in the statewide Cetrulo tournament this Saturday.
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Green Raider epeeists rebounded from a disappointing finish in their last meet to go 7-2, led by junior Kevin Kim, who used his great athleticism to go 3-0, winning all his bouts by convincing margins. Squad captain and senior Brian Kim got off to a slow start with a first-round loss but stormed back with 5-2 and 5-0 victories to finish with a 2-1 record. Freshman Scott Zellers turned in two decisive victories but then succumbed to a much taller Passaic Valley epeeist in the final round.
Ramapo foilists also improved their performance, finishing with a 5-4 record. Squad captain and junior Chris Manobianco had a touch scored against him in the first round to lose 4-5, but came storming back in the second round with a 5-0 victory. Junior Patrick Lin also got off to a slow start with a 4-5 loss in his first bout, but modified his game with more offense to decisively win his next two bouts, 5-2 and 5-0. Junior Richard Oh contributed one victory, as did freshman Tyler Clarke, who clinched his bout with two seconds left on the clock.
There was also a junior varsity meet that Ramapo won, 20-3. Sabresists were Conner Knight (2-0), Eric Yoon (1-0), Albert Kim (1-0), Josh Chang (1-0), John Megariotis (1-0), and Taylor Valdez (1-0). Foilists were Tyler Clarke (2-0), Corey Hoffner (2-0), Jerry Coyne (1-0), and Justin Charles (1-0). Epeeists were Sam Judd (2-0), James Schweighardt (1-0), Anthony Ferrer (1-0) and Anthony Sclafani (1-0).
The Cetrulo tournament is scheduled for 9 a.m. to approximately 6 a.m. Saturday at Morris Knolls High School.
Meet record
Nyack (W): 20-7 (14-3);
Don Bosco (L): 13-14 (13-14);
Mendham (W): 15-12 (14-12);
Gov. Livingston (W): 15-12 (14-6);
West Milford (W): 14-13 (14-8).
Editor's note: Paul Apostol is the coach of the Ramapo fencing team.
