Ramapo Fencers Mow Down Fair Lawn 20-7

The following Ramapo fencing report was submitted by Coach Paul Apostol:

Ramapo fencers needed this competition, the last dual meet of the season, to help sharpen their skills for the State Squad Championship on February 25.

Everyone took advantage of the opportunity by fencing aggressively, dominating the first round with a 9-0 record. In the second round, substitutes replaced seven of the nine starters and also fenced well, clinching the meet at 14-2 in first epee match, dueled by Anthony Ferrer, and advancing the overall score to 15-3.

A third wave of Ramapo subs took over in the third round and also did very well by achieving a final score of 20-7, despite the fact that Fair Lawn kept in most of their starters.

Ramapo sabreists went 9-0 demonstrating that they were perfectly capable of making the maximum contribution to the team's success, even though their number one fencer, Charles Copti, was in Salt Lake City, Utah competing in the Junior Olympics.

Senior Josh Chang and junior Alex Gorloff each went 2-0. Senior Taylor Valdez, juniors Gregg Duch and Chris Muller, and freshmen Adam Carcione and Dan Carione each went 1-0. Ramapo sabreists won most bouts by large margins including 5-0 bouts by Valdez and Carione and 5-1 bouts by Gorloff, Duch, and Muller. Despite the school recess, they will be training hard every day next week as they attempt to win the State Squad Championship for the second year in a row.

Epee fencers also did a very good job for Ramapo with a 6-3 overall record for the meet. Each Ramapo epeeist fenced only one bout. Junior Sam Judd and sophomore Michael Daly cruised to 5-0 victories, while junior Scott Zellers won his bout with a respectable 5-3 score. Junior Anthony Ferrer fenced the most patient bout of the day by getting a 2-1 lead on his opponent and then stalking him while letting the three minute limit run out to win the bout. Sophomores Edward Lim and Matt Martone also contributed a bout apiece.

Ramapo foilists did somewhat better than in their last outing by producing a 5-4 record. Again, no fencer fenced more than one bout. Junior Tyler Clarke turned in a powerful 5-1 score against his opponent while his first round squad mates, junior Eric Yoon and Daniel J. Kim also added a victory apiece to the overall tally. Second round substitute, sophomore Nick Carpino and third round substitute freshman Nick Bonini both added the final two victories.

Freshmen and sophomores will compete on Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Bergen-Passaic League Frosh-Soph Championship, which will draw around 260 fencers. This will be their first opportunity to compete exclusively against their age peers. All boys will get a lot of valuable experience. We wish them well.

Contact Coach Paul Apostol at 201-891-6208 or pdapostol@optonline.net

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