Clarkstown Fencing Sweeps Nyack in Final Meet of Season

Clarkstown swept Nyack in both team’s final fencing meet of the season.

Clarkstown boys and girls each won their epee competitions, 8-1.  Clarkstown boys saber defeated Nyack, 7-2, and Clarkstown girls saber defeated Nyack, 5-4.  There was no competition for the foils, so Clarkstown boys and girls foil each took their wins, 9-0.

The two rivals faced off in a friendly yet spirited atmosphere on Wednesday at Nyack Middle School in South Nyack.

“Today, I wasn’t looking for anything spectacular, I was just looking to have fun,” said Nyack’s head coach Doug Villari.  “Our teams, when they meet, they’re local rivals, there’s a lot of energy and there’s actually a lot of friendship.  So they’re all friends as well as enemies, which is bizarre and it’s nice to see these two teams get together and have fun.  That’s what it’s all about.”

Nyack’s had a tough season this year, but Villari was pleased with other aspects of his team’s performance.

“The season was a disappointment for Nyack, because I had a lot of graduating seniors and a lot of fencers that didn’t come back, so it was a patchwork kind of lineup all year,” said Villari.  “I was happy with individual performances with girls that fenced all three weapons and guys that fenced a couple of other weapons to balance out our deficiencies.  Overall, this was the best team I’ve ever had for teamwork.  Wins and losses, they don’t count.  Overall in our league, Nyack girls finished third and Nyack boys finished fourth out of six teams.  So, I was happy with those results, not with my boys, but happy with the girls because that was a patchwork team of all different weapons, so, they were truly a team.”

Clarkstown, on the other hand, had a very successful season overall.

“It went very well,” said Clarkstown’s head coach Jennifer Delconte.  “We came in first place with our foil, our Epee team definitely has a winning record and our saber team has a winning record as well.”

Wednesday’s dominant performance was a fitting conclusion to the successful season.

“We are very happy, because, in general, Clarkstown did very well,” said Delconte.  “We always have a very nice rivalry with Nyack.  It’s all about the kids and they really have a friendship that goes beyond the actual competition, so it makes for a fun day.”

Clarkstown saber fencer Ryan Moskowitz was very pleased with the win and the season as well, saying, “I really think that this has brought us together as a team with the win and everything and I just can’t wait till next year. It’s going to be so much fun next year, it’s going to be great.”

Fellow Clarkstown saber fencer Lauren Altman was pleased as well, saying, “This was the last match of the season and I was really happy with how the team did.  It’s been a great season and I’m just really proud of all of them.  Nyack put up a good fight.  They were very fun to fence, they were very sportsmanlike and we’re all just very proud of how things went tonight.”