Mendham High School Fencing

Mendham Fencers Named All-State by Coaches' Association

Saturday, March 19, Martinsville, NJ - The New Jersey high school fencing coaches' association, the NJIFA, met at the Pingry School to vote on and announce their All-State teams for 2011.  Fencers earn All-State points in the four major events during the season, the NJIFA Relays, the NJSIAA District Championships, the NJSIAA Squad State Championships and NJSIAA Individual Championships. Fencers from the Mendham High School program earned five spots, the most in its seven-year history, on the All-State Teams:

Ryan Western, NJIFA 1st Team All-State Girls' Foil

Alex Boden, NJIFA 1st Team All-State Girls' Sabre

Mark Zimmermann, NJIFA 2nd Team All-State Boys' Epee

Kaitlyn Wallace, NJIFA 3rd Team All-State Girls' Epee

Julian Campos, NJIFA 3rd Team All-State Boys' Foil

Cobra Junior Champions: KWallace and Boden

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Andriatis 8th in Men's Epee

Sunday, March 6, Jersey City - Mendham High School fencers turned out in large numbers at the Cobra Junior Tournament sanctioned by the NJ Division of the USFA. The following ten fencers participated:

Mendham HS Fencer	Event	Event Rating	Finish	Rating Earned
Kaitlyn Wallace	Women's Epee	B2	1st of 33
Megan Wallace	Women's Epee	B2	19th of 33
Alexandra Boden	Women's Sabre	D1	1st of 16	D2011
Jessica Lakritz	Women's Foil	E1	10th of 12
Kyle Persau	Men's Sabre	C2	30th of 43
Michael Hasson	Men's Sabre	C2	43rd of 43
Alexander Andriatis	Men's Epee	C2	8th of 36
Lars Swanson	Men's Epee	C2	17th of 36
Santiago Gonzalez	Men's Epee	C2	29th of 36
Peter Sauter	Men's Epee	C2	32nd of 36

Three Mendham Squads Medal at State Championships

Saturday-Sunday, March 5-6, Annandale, NJ - Five squads of Mendham HS fencers competed in the NJSIAA Squad State Fencing Championships this weekend at North Hunterdon High School.  Three earned their way onto the medal podium earning the title as one of top three high school fencing squads in the state.   Mendham's five squads had qualified to the State Championships by finishing in the top four in their respective events of the eleven schools at the District 1 Championships on the last weekend of January.

The girls' epee squad of Kaitlyn Wallace, squad leader Megan Wallace and Shawn Osarczuk won 31 of 45 bouts to finish 2nd in the state championships.  The girls' foil squad of captain Ryan Western, assistant captain Beatrice Jacobson, Annie Blanc and Jessica Lakritz won 26 of 45 bouts to finish 7th in the state.  The girls' sabre squad of squad leader Alexandra Boden, Natasha Sidhu and Meredith Gano won 19 bouts to finish 10th in the championships.

The boys' foil squad of assistant team captain Kyle Doyle, Julian Campos and squad leader Adam Campos won 32 of 45 bouts to take home the silver medal as the 2nd best foil squad in the state.  The boys' epeeists consisting of squad leader Mark Zimmermann, Lars Swanson and Alexander Andriatis won 27 of 45 bouts to take the bronze medal by touch differential over Don Bosco Prep who, also, finished with 27 wins.

NJSIAA Girls' Squad Championships Results

NJSIAA Boys' Squad Championships Results

The boys' three-weapon team will be fencing Ridge High School on Wednesday afternoon, March 2,  at 4:30pm for 3rd place in the NJSIAA State Team Championships.  While the girls' team will be fencing Northern Highlands in the Gold Medal Match at 7:30pm.  Both matches take place at Morris Hills High School.  This is the deepest each team has ever gone in their respective state team championships during the seven-year history of the Mendham fencing program.

Press Coverage of Girls' Win over Columbia

A brand new weblog entitled, "North Jersey Girls and Women's Sports" covered Mendham's win over Columbia.  Scroll down to the weblog to a great slide show of action and candid shots from the meet.

Doyle Takes Presidents Cup C & Under Foil at Fencers Club

Sunday, February 20, Manhattan - In preparation for the upcoming, penultimate meet of the season, Assistant Team Captain Kyle Doyle, representing Morris Fencing Club in Randolph, traveled into Gotham for the Presidents Cup C and Under Epee and Foil Tournament.  He didn't disappoint his fans by going 9-0 on the day, taking home the Presidents Cup and renewing his D-rating in foil.  Doyle beat John Kirk of Columbia High School representing New Jersey Fencing Alliance, 15-12, in the gold medal bout.  Click here to see the DE table. 

Boys' TEAM Beats Montgomery in Sweet 16 Round of State Championships

Wednesday, February 9, Skillman, NJ - The #11 seed Mendham High School Boys' Fencing team traveled to #6 seed Montgomery High School in the "Sweet 16" round of the NJSIAA State Team Fencing Championships this afternoon.

Mendham's sabre squad took two of the first three bouts and Mendham never looked back.  This was the very definition of a team win.  Two of Montgomery's fencers, Sledeski in sabre and Won in foil, went 3-0 on the day, but to counter that every Mendham starter won at least one bout in the first two rounds.  In fact, Mendham didn't lose two bouts in a row until the score was a comfortable 13-5 in their favor.  All three squads won their 9-bout section of the meet.  Another telling statistic from the meet shows how hard the Mendham team fought.  Mendham won four out of the five bouts decided by one touch before the meet was clinched. 

Sabre squad leader Kyle Persau insured his squad would win its weapon, 5-4, when he clinched the match at 14-7 by winning the final sabre bout. Persau went 2-1 on the day. Also, in sabre, freshman Mark Zawadiwsky went 2-1.  In epee, both squad leader Mark Zimmermann and Lars Swanson went, 2-0.  Zimmermann came back from 2-4 down to beat Montomery's A-strip epeeist in one of those one-touch victories.  In foil, freshman Julian Campos went, 2-0. 

On to Ramapo next Thursday afternoon/evening, February 17, in the "Elite 8."  This is the Mendham team's first time advancing into the Elite 8 in the seven year history of the program.

Mendham Girls Sweep the Inaugural Morris County Championships

Randolph, January 22, 2011 - The inaugural Morris County High School Fencing Championships held at Randolph High School were dominated today by Mendham High School in the girls' team competition, while the boys' team took second, 47-48, to Randolph. 

The Mendham girls' sabre squad of Alexandra Boden, Natasha Sidhu and freshman Meredith Gano lead the way going 19-2 in the team event and qualifying all three members to the afternoon's individual finals, where Boden continued her undefeated day by going 5-0 to take the Morris County Individual Sabre title.

The Mendham girls' epee squad consisting of defending NJSIAA state individual champion Kaitlyn Wallace, Megan Wallace and Shawn Osarczuk went 19-2, also.  All three fencers qualified to the individual finals, where Kaitlyn Wallace just squeaked by her sister, 5-4, and then sweep the rest of the field.

The girls' foil squad of Ryan Western, Jessica Lakritz, Annie Blanc and freshman Emily Peters went 13-8.  Western qualified to the individual foil finals, where like Boden, remained undefeated all day to take the Individual Foil Gold Medal.

The girls' three-weapon team won the first Morris County Girls' Fencing Team Championship, 51-44, over second place West Morris Central.

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Mendham Boys Take Second to Randolph

Mendham's boys' foil squad dominated the team competition, going 20-1.  The squad of Adam Campos, Julian Campos and Adam Pollack all qualified into the individual final, where both Campos brothers won 4 of 5 bouts to set up a barrage for 1st place, which Julian took, 5-2.  Pollack was Mendham's Fencer of the Match by coming off the bench to dominate the C-strip 7-0.

The epee squad of Mark Zimmermann, James Flanagan and Lars Swanson went 17-4 during the squad event to finish second to Randolph, while sending all three members to the Individual Epee finals.  Mark Zimmermann, who went 4-1 in the final pool, but lost a barrage for first place to Zeyad Abdellatif of Randolph, 4-5.  Behind Zimmermann in third was Swanson who went 3-2 to take the bronze.

The sabre squad of Kyle Persau, Joseph Falvo and Gaston Gonzalez contributed mightily to the close 2nd place finish behind Randolph by winning 10 of 21 bouts.

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Mendham's Boys' and Girls' Fencing Teams next see action on Tuesday evening, January 25, as they travel to take on Morristown High School in a pair of Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference dual meets.  Both Mendham teams are 5-0 in NwJAC regular season dual meets.

 

Mendham 3rd at NJIFA Santelli Relay Championships

Read the Santelli Relay Championships coverage in the Star Ledger that includes a great picture of Mendham's foilist Ryan Western:

NJ Girls' Fencing: GL Captures Santelli Tournament

Mendham's squads were Santelli Champions in foil, 4th in sabre and 9th in epee.

Swanson 3rd at Bergen Open, Earns C

Sunday, January 2, Hohokus, NJ - Mendham High School sophomore Lars Swanson took 3rd in a B-rated epee open at the Bergen Fencing Club.  Swanson represents the Morris Fencing Club of Randolph, NJ, in US Fencing Association tournaments.  His finish bumped him up from an E- to a C-rating.  Click here to see the complete results. 

Western 3rd, KWallace and Zimmermann 5th; Andriatis 6th at Denise O'Connor HS Championships

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Jacobson 9th; Swanson 12th; Doyle and Boden 16th

December 11-12, Maplewood - The New Jersey Division of the US Fencing Association held the Denise O'Connor U-20 High School Championships at New Jersey Fencing Alliance.  24 fencers from Mendham High School competed for their respective fencing clubs.  The Championships drew under-20 fencers from Long Island, New York City, Westchester, Philadelphia, Southern Jersey and, of course, the strongest juniors from the New Jersey Division. Five of the six events were B-rated.

The standout Mendham HS performance was from Ryan Western who took a bronze medal in the Under-20 women's foil event while pushing the eventual champion to 13-15 in the semi-finals.  It was the most anybody scored on the eventual champion by far.  In addition, assistant captain Beatrice Jacobson, finished 9th in this event.  Jacobson was undefeated in pools. Western and Jacobson are clubmates at Morris Fencing Club in Randolph.  Freshman Emily Peters, also, gained valuable experience by competing.

In men's under-20 epee, Mendham had three top 16 finishes: Mark Zimmermann, Medeo Fencing Club of Bridgewater, 5th; freshman Alexander Andriatis, Morris FC, 6th; and Lars Swanson, Morris FC, 12th.   In addition, James Flanagan, team captain, competed in the event, finishing 23rd, as did James McManus.

In women's under-20 epee, Kaitlyn Wallace, dropped out with a strained hamstring after her  quarter-final bout. Therefore, she placed 5th on the strength of being the top seed coming out of the pools.  Lea Fuscaldo and Megan Wallace, also competed in the event. 

In men's under-20 foil, Kyle Doyle finished 16th. Adam Campos was 18th and Julian Campos was 22nd.  Also fencing from Mendham's program were Adam Pollack and Tom Myers.

In women's under-20 sabre, Mendham's Alexandra Boden, who finished in the top-16, was joined in the competition by freshman Meredith Gano.

Competing in men's under-20 sabre were Robin Rizal, freshman Mark Zawadiwsky, Kyle Persau, Michael Hasson, Joe Falvo and Jack Vitale.

The next events for the Mendham High School fencers will be side-by-side, college-style quadrangular meets for the girls' and boys' varsity teams at Somerville High School on Saturday, December 18, at 10:00am, which will open the high school season.  Mendham will compete against Teaneck, West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Somerville high schools.   The following week, Mendham hosts Morris Hills in varsity and junior varsity boys' and girls' dual meets in the big gym at 6:00pm on Wednesday, December 22.

KWallace 2nd; Zimmermann 3rd; Western 6th in NJ Under-20s

Piscataway, November 27-28 - The USFA's New Jersey Division Junior Olympic qualification tournaments had the best attendance by members of the Mendham High School Fencing program in its seven-year history.  Ten Mendham fencers competed in the Junior and 11 in the Cadet events.  Kaitlyn Wallace(2nd), Mark Zimmermann(3rd) and Ryan Western(6th) medaled in Juniors, while Alex Boden(3rd) and Julian Campos(7th) medaled in the Cadet events.  Those five fencers qualified to the USFA Junior Olumpics in Dallas over Presidents' weekend in February.   The two days of  qualification were held at the Rutgers Livingston Campus Recreation Center.

Zimmermann jumped from a D to a B-rating in epee and Campos bumped up one notch to a D-rating in foil.  Other notable performances included Megan Wallace pushing the 3rd seed, who took the bronze medal in the Cadets, to 15-13 in the round-of-16 of the Junior epee, missing a medal by just a few touches, and Alexander Andriatis taking 10th in Cadet epee.

Results: Under-20 Junior - Under-17 Cadet

In addition, competing in Juniors from the Mendham HS program were Shawn Oscarzuk, James Flanagan, Bea Jacobson, Kyle Doyle and Lars Swanson.  Also competing in the Cadets were Adam Campos, Lea Fuscaldo, Natasha Sidhu, Lars Swanson, Kyle Persau, Michael Hasson, Joe Falvo and Mark Zawadiwsky.  

The next competition for these Mendham HS fencers will be the Denise O'Connor High School Championships in two weeks in Maplewood on December 11-12.  This will a very strong regional junior event and another great test for our fencers just before the high school events begin with a quad meet on Saturday, December 18 at Somerville.

Zimmermann Silvers at Fall Harvest Division Two Epee

Bridgewater, November 20, 2010 - Half a dozen Mendham High School fencers competed today in US Fencing Association tournaments across the country and the state in preparation for the opening of the 2010-11 NJ high school season next week.

B-rated epeeist Kaitlyn Wallace's results from the North American Cup event in Milwaukee, WI were not available at press time.  Today, she's fencing in the Cadet Women's epee and on Monday, the Junior event.

Competing at the local Fall Harvest Division Two Epee were Squad Leader, D-rated epeeist Mark Zimmermann, E-rated Lars Swanson, freshman Alexander Andriatis and on the distaff side, sophomore Angela Flanagan.

Representing the home club, Medeo Fencing Club and School, Zimmermann fought his way to the finals where he was fencing for his C-rating.  Although he lost in the final, Zimmermann had some of his best fencing during the DE's to get there using his new french-grip style.  Swanson finished 10th, getting knocked out by Zimmermann in the round-of-16.  Swanson has climbed in the final results standings of tournaments since the end of the previous high school season.

Sophomore foilist Jessica Lakritz competed in the Freehold E & Under Foil Tournament.  Lakritz got valuable experience that will surely help her during the varsity season.

Osarczuk, Swanson Win NJFA Tournaments, Earn E-Rating

Maplewood, October 6 - Mendham High Senior Shawn Osarczuk and Sophomore Lars Swanson won unclassified women's and men's epee tournaments respectively held at New Jersey Fencing Alliance this evening. Osarczuk was undefeated thruout the event, winning all six pool bouts and two DE bouts.  Swanson won three of four bouts in pools, losing only to Max Menaker from Governor Livingston High School.  Swanson got his revenge as the second seed, he met Menaker in the finals, prevailing 15-13. Both Mendham HS fencers represent the combined Morris Fencing Club / American Fencing Coalition of Randolph in US Fencing Association tournaments. 

The results bumped both fencers up in rating to 'E' in the USFA classification system.  Please see their medal photographs in the Mendham HS Fencing weblogs' photo gallery. 

Zimmermann Earns D-Rating

Lambertville, NJ, Sept 5, 2010 - Two of Mendham High School's male epeeists competed in the BCAF Epee Open on Sunday.  Over 85 fencers flocked to this A-4 tournament.  20 A's, 23 B's, 17 C's, 10 D's and 11 E's were registered for the event.  The tournament had to be capped at 100 fencers and the pools even had to be done in two separate flights!

Mark Zimmermann, representing Medeo FC, was in the first flight of pools. Zimmermann fenced well in the pools.  He went 3 and 2, losing only to an A (5-4) and a B (5-3).  Lars Swanson, representing the combined American/Morris FC, was in the second flight, and, also, had a strong showing in the pools.  He beat an A-rated fencer 4-2 and ended up 2 and 3 in the pool.

Swanson started off the DE round by beating Olivia Lim, 15 to 13.  He then gave another A-rated fencer, Venedikt Sorkin a tough bout, but eventually fell 15-10.

Mark had a bye in the first round and then fenced fellow clubmate Lewis Vaden in the round of 64.  Mark won that bout 15-13, to earn his D.  He then competed in the round-of-32 against a veteran, B-rated fencer for a B-rating of his own.

The very tense bout went back and forth as each fencer tried to find an opening in the other's defense.  Zimmermann went ahead, 7-6, in the third period, but lost to the more experienced fencer, 8-7.   Congratulations and good fencing by both!  They both now have New Jersey Cup points for the 2010-11 season.  

Wallace Repeats as Junior Sectional Champion; Jacobson 5th

Sat-Sun, May 7-8, Burlington, NJ -The US Fencing Association's Mid-Atlantic Section held it last ever Junior Sectional Championships here this weekend.  The championships bring together the best under-19 fencers in all of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Washington DC, and New Jersey.  Mendham High Schoolers competing were Kaitlyn Wallace, representing Medeo FC, in women's epee and Bea Jacobson, representing Morris FC, in women's foil.  The competitors are trying to qualify to the Under-19 events at the Summer Nationals in July by finishing in the top 25% here.

Wallace repeated as Junior Women's Epee Sectional Champion going undefeated all day in a field of 31 fencers.  She beat her clubmmate and B-rated Katie Whittaker in the finals to take the gold and earn her own B-rating.  In addition, Wallace qualified to her event at the Summer Nationals.

Jacobson went 4-1 in pools and was seeded 5th out of 17 competitors in the Women's Foil event for the direct elimination bouts.  Losing at la belle in the round of 8, Jacobson finished 5^th.  It's not clear if she qualified to the Summer Nationals.

Zimmermann Takes Gold; Earns E-Rating

Mendham, Friday 23 April - The Mendham FC held its penultimate tournament at Mountain View School this evening.  The registration list for the event included 20 men and 13 women fencers from as far away as Pensylvania.  This tournament was a Division III Epee tournament, which limits the participants to US Fencing Association D-ratings and below.

Both the men's and women's events were E-rated, meaning the winner would renew or earn their E rating.  Mendham HSers competing included Mark Zimmermann, Lars Swanson, James Flanagan, Megan Wallace, Shawn Ocarszuk, Angela Flanagan and Lea Fuscaldo.

Zimmermann went 3-1 in pools, losing only to eventual bronze medalist and D-rated Cooper Schumacher.  Zimmerman avenged his only loss of the evening in the semi-finals coming from behind to defeat Schumacher at 'la belle', 15-14.  Zimmermann then won in the finals, 15-10, to take the gold medal and earn his E2010 rating in the USFA.

Wallace was undefeated thru the preliminary pool and the DEs until the finals, where she ran into a clubmate from Medeo, Elizabeth Elkind from Bernardsville.  Wallace fell behind, but figured out what a attack would score and she kept using it to tie the bout at 11.  Unfortunately, Elkind changed her timing and distance just enought that Wallace fell short, 14-15, to take the silver medal.




 

Kaitlyn Wallace Qualifies for Division II Summer Nationals with 3rd Place Finish

Piscataway, Sun 18 April - Mendham High School sophomore Kaitlyn Wallace in the Divisions II and III Qualification Tournament from the New Jersey Division of the US Fencing Association.  The qualification tournament took place at Rutgers Livingston Campus Recreation Center here today. The qualifier is limited to C-rated  fencers and below. 

Wallace competed in the Women's Epee event against 36 other fencers from all over northern New Jersey.  Wallace represents Medeo Fencing Club II in USFA tournaments. She was first seeding coming out of pools in which she went 5-0, with a plus 14 touch indicator.  After a bye in the round of 64, Wallace bet the 32nd, 16th and 8th seeds quite comfortably, but then ran into wily veteran Ruth Zamoyta from the Fencers Club of NY in the semi-finals.  Wallace lost a close bout, 14-15, to finish in an unbroken tie for 3rd place.  She, thereby, qualified in Division II to that event at the Summer Nationals in Atlanta in early July.

Yesterday, juniors Bea Jacobson and Ryan Western were 2nd and 5th, respectively, in the Women's Foil event of the same qualification tournament.

Jacobson Takes Second in Div II/III Qualifier; Earns D Rating

Piscataway, Sat 17 April - The New Jersey Division of the US Fencing Association held it's Divisions II and III Qualification Tournament to the Summer Nationals at the Livingston Rutgers Recreation Center here today. The qualifier is limited to C-rated  fencers and below.

Mendham HS had three fencers competing: Juniors Bea Jacobson and Ryan Western in Women's Foil and freshman Lars Swanson in Men's Epee.  Jacobson and Western compete out of Morris Fencing Club in Chester and Swanson for American Fencing Coalition in Randolph.

Jacobson won 5 out of 6 bouts in pools to be ranked 9^th on the DE table, while Western took 4 out of 5 bouts to be seeded 11^th.  There were 39 competitors in the event. Both fencers got byes into the round of 32.  Western beat Katie Elbert, C-rated from BCAF, in the round 16, but fell to Sasha Chernyshova, also from BCAF, in the round of 8 to take fifth. The very tough bout timed out with Western losing, 8-9. Jacobson beat Chernyshova in the semi-finals, but lost in the finals to place 2nd and earn her D-rating. This reporter believes both young women qualified in Division II and Division III.

Swanson went 3-3 in pools to earn the 34th spot on the DE table amongst 62 competitors.  Unfortunately, Swanson could not advance past his first DE, finishing 40th.

Junior Megan Wallace and Sophomore Kaitlyn Wallace will try to qualify tomorrow in the Women's Epee event.

Wallace Wins Epee State Championship

Lawrenceville, Saturday, March 13 - The NJSIAA held the Individual State Fencing Championships at Rider University's Student Recreation Center here today.  Five Mendham High School fencers had previously qualified as one of the top individuals in the state at the District Championships six weeks ago, sophomore Kaitlyn Wallace and senior Kim Morsch in Girls' Epee, juniors Ryan Western and Bea Jacobson in Girls' Foil and junior Kyle Doyle in Boys' Foil. 

Wallace won the Girls' Epee State Championship, going 7-1 in the finals.  She is the first individual state champion in the six seasons of Mendham's fencing program.  Wallace followed up her 6th place finish in the same event last season. Morsch finished 22nd, following her 4th place finish last season, which previously had been the highest finish for a Mendham HS fencer in the individual championships.

In the girls' foil championships, Western had a great preliminary pool and semi-finals to make it to the finals, where she finished 9th over-all.  In the same event, Jacobson finished 14th.  In last season's championships, Western finished 6th and Jacobson 15th.

In the boys' foil championships, Doyle finished 16th. Making it to the individual state championships is an accomplishment. There are 48 teams in the state.   With 3 starters per squad, this means you need to be in the top 22 of approximately 150 fencers state-wide in your event just to qualify for the Individual Championships.

Flanagan Takes 3rd in Randolph USFA Tourney; Earns E-Rating

Sunday, February 21, Randolph - Three Minuteman fencers competed in the 22-fencer mixed  gender field that came from all over northern NJ for the Division II Epee Super February Tournament at the American Fencing Coalition. They were boys' epee squad captain James Flanagan, Lars Swanson and Lea Fuscaldo. 

Flanagan, a junior who represents Mendham Fencing Club in the USFA, won four and lost 2 bouts in the preliminary pool to be seeded 7th going into the direct elimination round of the tournament.  His 7th seed earned Flanagan a bye into the round of 16.  After winning his first bout over the 10th seed, 15-11, Flanagan beat 2nd seeded, C-rated Jason Krassowski from American FC and Randolph HS, 15-12, to reach the semi-finals.  There Flanagan put up quite a fight against the eventual winner, but succumbed, 11-15.   His 3rd place finish earned Flanagan his first USFA rating of E-2010.  

Swanson went 2-4 in pools to be seeded 16th for the DEs.  He won his first bout in the round of 32 handily, 15-6, and then gave the top seed a lot of trouble, losing 13-15.  Swanson finished 16th.

Mendham Girls 2nd, Boys 5th at NJSIAA District One Fencing Championships

Hackettstown, Sat 30 Jan - The Mendham High School Girls' and Boys' Fencing Teams competed at the NJSIAA District One Fencing Championships amongst 11 schools from Morris, Warren and Somerset Counties. 

The girls' team finished in second place to qualify for the NJSIAA State Championships, dubbed the "Sweet 16."  Their effort to defend last season's district team championship fell four bouts short of Bernards High School, 71-67.  Mendham will most likely be seeded 5th in the Sweet 16 that begins February 10.

The foil squad of Ryan Western, Bea Jacobson and Alexis Grant took the gold medal.  Western went an undefeated 18-0 on the day to lead her squad and take the District Individual Gold Medal.  She was the defending champion.  Jacobson took the silver with a 6-2 record in the finals, running off six bouts in a row to end the day.  Both qualified to the NJSIAA Individual State Championship on March 13, at Rider University, Lawrenceville.  Grant was part the epee squad last year, helping them take that championship.  She returned this season to the weapon in which she began her fencing career.

The girls' epee squad, also, defended its 2009 Championship. The epee trio of Kaitlyn Wallace, Kim Morsch and Megan Wallace went 24-6 on the day. All three qualified to the Individual Finals in the afternoon.  Kaitlyn Wallace won seven of eight bouts in the finals to defend her gold medal from last season.  Morsch went 5-3 to finish 4th and Megan Wallace finished 8th.  Kaitlyn Wallace and Morsch qualified to March's State Individual Epee Championships.

The sabre squad of Sarah-Emma Graham, Alexandra Boden and Lizzie Donato went 18-12 on the day to finish 4th.  The sabreusses were led by Graham, who went 8-2 on the A-strip in the squad event and qualified for the Individual Finals in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, she was not able to continue her great fencing in the individual event, finishing 8th.

All three girls' squads qualified for the NJSIAA State Squad Championships to be held February 28, at North Hunterdon High School.

Boys Just Miss Qualifying

The boys' team took 5th place, just a missing a qualifying spot by one bout, while going 47-43 on the day.  The foil squad lead the way, taking 3rd place in its event. Kyle Doyle, Adam Campos and Adam Pollack went a combined 19-11.  Doyle and Campos both qualified to the individual final in the afternoon.  Doyle went 5-3, taking 4th and qualifying to the State Individual Championships.  Campos, only a sophomore, went 3-5 in the finals and missed qualifying.

The sabre squad of Zia Zaidi, Harrison Morris and Will Bruno went 14-16 on the day to take 5th place.  The epee squad of James Flanagan, Mark Zimmermann and Lars Swanson went 14-16 to take 8th place.  The epeeists were led by first year fencer Zimmermann, who went 6-4 on the B-strip.

Next Action

The boys' and girls' teams will be back in action early next week when they travel to Morristown for 6:30 pm dual meets on Monday, February 1.  The girls' will continue their quest for the first NJAC Fencing Conference Championship.  They are undefeated in the Conference.  The boys will want revenge as Morristown was the team who qualified by one bout just ahead of Mendham.

Friday, both teams host Livingston High School in dual meets at 6:00pm in the main gym.  Saturday at noon, Mendham will host its sister school West Morris Central in dual meets that begin at noon.  The WM Central meets will include the annual "Senior Send-off."

Mendham's Girls will host a  State Championship dual meet in the Sweet 16 on Wednesday evening, February 10.

  

 

 

Morsch, Osarczuk, Wallace and Zimmermann Make SemiFinals

Flanagan and Swanson Are QuarterFinalists

Mendham, January 15 - The Mendham Fencing Club held its monthly USFA competition tonight at Mountain View School.  13 women and 21 men from northern NJ competed in the two E-rated duelling sword(epee) events.  Eight of those 34 fencers were from Mendham High School's fencing program.

Mendham HS's Girls' Fencing Assistant Team Captain Kim Morsch renewed her E-rating by winning the competition.  She is now an E2010.  Morsch beat her high school teammate Shawn Osarczuk in the finals, 14-10.  Girls' epee squad captain Megan Wallace made the semi-finals, finishing 4th.  Lea Fuscaldo competed, also.  

In the men's event, Mendham HS was well represented from its boys' team by Mark Zimmermann in 4th place, epee squad captain James Flanagan in 5th and Lars Swanson in 6th.  Also competing from Mendham HS were Joe Falvo and David Ricculli.

Mendham HS's teams will next be in action in dual meets against perennial powerhouse Columbia High School on Thursday afternoon, January 21.

Gold Medalist, E2010, Kim Morsch; Silver Medalist Shawn Osarczuk
 

Boys' Cetrulo Results

 

Mendham HS's 2010 Foil Squad at Cetrulos, 10th out of 46 squads state-wide, from left to right: Substitute Jack Vitale, B-strip Adam Campos, C-strip Tom Myers and A-strip Kyle Doyle.

Kaitlyn Wallace Qualifies for Junior Olympics

Sun 29 Nov, Piscataway - Mendham High School's Kaitlyn Wallace competed in the women's epee event at the US Fencing Association's NJ Division qualification tournamament to the Junior Olympics. The top 23 junior women epee fencers in NJ competed for the six qualification spots available to the Under-20 national event to be held in Memphis over the President's Day holiday weekend. The tournament was held at the Livingston Recreation Center on the Piscataway campus of Rutgers University.

Wallace, representing Medeo Fencing Club of Bridgewater, went 3-2 in her preliminary pool, which earned her the 7th seed of 20 fencers qualifying into the direct elimination portion of the competition. She won in the rounds of 16 and 8, before losing in the the semi-finals to her clubmate Alyssa O'Connor, 14-15.  Wallace tied for the bronze medal and qualified for the Junior Olympic's Under-20 and Under-17 Events.

Also, competing from Mendham HS were Sarah-Emma Graham in women's sabre and James McManus in men's epee.

Jacobson Qualifies for Junior Olympics

Sat 28 Nov, Piscataway - Mendham High School's Bea Jacobson missed her team's practice today.  She's co-captain of the girl's foil squad, but her coach was not mad at her.  It was for a good reason.  Jacobson competed in the women's foil event at the US Fencing Association's NJ Division qualification tournamament to the Junior Olympics.  The top 25 junior women foil fencers in NJ competed for the six qualification spots available to the Under-20 national event to be held in Memphis over the President's Day holiday weekend.  The tournament is being held at the Livingston Recreation Center on the Piscataway campus of Rutgers University.

Jacobson, representing Morris Fencing Club of Chester, went 4-1 in her preliminary pool, which earned her the 5th seed of 20 fencers qualifying into the direct elimination portion of the competition.  Jacobson beat Lauren Mullen of Livingston HS, representing Mr. Ma Fencing Center, 15-13.  In the quarter-finals, Jacobson lost to the 4th seed and eventual winner, Jessica Laffey, 7-15.  Jacobson finished 6th and qualified to the Junior Olympics in the C2-rated event.  

On Sunday, Mendham High School's Girls Team Captain Sarah-Emma Graham will be competing in Women's Sabre, Kaitlyn Wallace in Women's Epee and James McManus in Men's Epee. 

2nd Day of O'Connor HS Results

Sunday, November 22, Wayne - The second day of fencing at the Denise O'Connor High School Championships took place at the Police Athletic League facility.  Girls' foil, boys' foil and boys' sabre were contested today.  Two Mendham high schoolers, Bea Jacobson and Ryan Western started in the girls' foil among the 23 competitors in the C1-rated event. Jacobson finished 6th.

Boys' foil saw virtually that entire Mendham HS squad competing.  Adam Campos, Max Condie, Adam Pollack, Tom Myers, Nick Lamont, and Brian Gamgort started among the 45 competitors in a B2-rated field.  Campos finished 14th and Condie, 19th.  Those two had a great 15-touch bout in the round of 32.  Campos coming back to win, 15-12.

In boys' sabre, Kyle Persau and Michael Hasson, competed in a strong B2-rated event with 48 competitors.

Denise O'Connor HS Championship Results

Saturday, November 21, Wayne - Mendham High School fencers competed at all three events contested today at the Denise O'Connor High School Championships, a US Fencing Association tournament.  In girls' epee, Kim Morsch, Shawn Ozarcsuk, Megan Wallace and Lea Fuscaldo competed.  Morsch took home a bronze medal, Ozarcsuk finished 7th and Wallace 8th of 15 fencers who started. 

In boys' epee, James Flanagan, James McManus, Mark Zimmermann, Lars Swanson, Joe Falvo and Chris Franklin competed amongst the 39 fencers who started.  Flanagan finished 18th and McManus 19th. 

Finally, in girls sabre Alex Boden and Sarah-Emma Graham competed amongst the 26 fencers who started in the C1-rated event.

Tomorrow on Sunday, more Mendham HS fencers will be competing in Girls' Foil, Ryan Western and Bea Jacobson, in Boys' Foil, Kyle Doyle, Adam Campos, Max Condie, Nick Lamont, Tom Myers and Brian Gamgort, and in Boys' Sabre, Kyle Persau and Mike Hassan. 

The Mendham HS fencing contingent was by far the largest of any HS in NJ.  Mendham had approximately 1 of every 10 fencers in the tournament.

Mendham Fencers Qualify for Summer Nationals

Mendham, April 20, 2009 - Members of the Mendham Fencing Teams have continued competing successfully this off-season in two recent tournaments held in New Jersey. Three Mendham Fencers competed at the New Jersey Division 2/3 Summer National Qualifiers held in Branchburg on April 4. Sophomores Ryan Western and Bea Jacobson participated in the Women’s Foil competition, while Senior Andy Jung fenced in the Men’s Foil competition. Ryan Western placed third and earned her D Rating and Senior Andy Jung took seventh place out of a field of 52 fencers.

On April 18, two Mendham Fencers took part in the Women’s Epee competition at the Mid-Atlantic Junior (Under 19) Summer National Qualifier in Bridgewater. Freshman Kaitlyn Wallace not only took first place overall but also earned her C Rating. Junior Kim Morsch also competed in the field of 29 epee fencers.

As a result of their medal winning performances, Kaitlyn, Ryan, and Andy all qualified for the United States Fencing Association Summer Nationals taking place this July in Grapevine, Texas, joining their teammate Senior Chris Bonner who was pre-qualified earlier this year.

On April 18, two Mendham Fencers took part in the Women’s Epee competition at the Mid-Atlantic Junior (Under 19) Summer National Qualifier in Bridgewater. Freshman Kaitlyn Wallace not only took first place overall but also earned her C Rating. Junior Kim Morsch also competed in the field of 29 epee fencers.

As a result of their medal winning performances, Kaitlyn, Ryan, and Andy all qualified for the United States Fencing Association Summer Nationals taking place this July in Grapevine, Texas, joining their teammate Senior Chris Bonner who was pre-qualified earlier this year.

3 Mendham Fencers Earn NJIFA All-State Honors

Three Mendham High School fencers earned enough NJIFA All-State Points at the Santelli/Cetrulo, District, Squad and Individual Championships to be named to the coaches' association's All-State Teams.

Kaitlyn Wallace, 1st Team, All-State, Girls' Epee

Ryan Western, 2nd Team, All-State, Girls' Foil

Chris Bonner, 3rd Team, All-State, Boys' Sabre

These fencers should fill out and mail back the NJIFA All-State Dinner Invitation immediately with their check.  The dinner is no cost for the honorees and $40 per head for friends and family.  

Bea Jacobson, Kim Morsch and Andy Jung all finished in 11th to 13th place on the final lists in their respective weapons, just missing 3rd-team honors. 

A little further back were Brian Stellingwerf finishing 17th in boys' sabre and Meghan Brennan, 20th over-all in girls' foil.

For some perspective, there are 48 varsity teams in the state in each gender.  So the fencers listed above are the cream of the crop in a pool of 144 starters in each weapon and more over-all when you include substitutes and independent fencers. 

Individual State Championship Results

Sat 14 March, Lawrenceville, NJ -  The final tournament of the 2009 NJ High School Fencing season was held at Rider University today, the NJSIAA Individual State Championships.  Six Mendham HS fencers competed along with 125 other of the top high school fencers in NJ for Individual Championship medals and All-State Points.  Although no medals were brought home, three of the Mendham girls came awfully close.  The final Mendham results were as follows:

Kim Morsch, Girls Epee, 4th
Kaitlyn Wallace, Girls Epee, 6th
Ryan Western, Girls Foil, 6th
Chris Bonner, Boys Sabre, 12th
Andy Jung, Boys Foil, 13th
Bea Jacobson, Girls Foil, 15th

Morsch's result is the best ever in the Individual State Championships for a Mendham HS fencer, bettering Alice Jacobson's 5th place finish last season in Girls' Foil.

Info for State Individual Participants

For those fencers competing in the NJSIAA Individual State Championships at Rider University this Saturday, March 14:

The Individual Championships are held on the main floor of the Student Recreation Center, which is building #2 on the campus map below. Check-in closes at 9:00am. There is no bus provided. You are responsible for making your own way there and back. Only fencers and coaches are allowed on the floor of the gym. Parents and friends must view the action from the running track above the action. All spectators must pay an entrance fee.

The format of each of the six events is three rounds of pools with maximum 24 competitors.  Preliminaries are four pools of either five or six fencers with 16 fencers promoted to the semi-finals.  The semis are two pools of eight fencers each with eight fencers promoted to the finals. No bouts are carried up. Finals are the top eight fencers based on bout percentage and then touch indicator against the field.  It is not the top four fencers in each semifinal pool who are promoted.

Directions to Rider's Lawrenceville Campus

Map of the Rider's Lawrenceville Campus

Mendham Fencers Named All-IHC

In the final season of the Iron Hills Conference, 7 girls and 4 boys from Mendham High School's fencing teams were named to the 2009 All-Conference Teams.  They were as follows:

First Team: Bea Jacobson, Ryan Western, Kim Morsch, Chris Bonner, Brian Stellingwerf and Andy Jung;

Second Team: Genele Streitz, Meghan Brennan and Kaitlyn Wallace;

Honorable Mention: Megan Wallace and Kyle Doyle.   

Next year, Mendham HS will be in the new Northwest NJ Athletic Conference, which will include Butler, Hackettstown, Mendham, Morristown, Morris Hills, Morris Knolls, Randolph, West Morris Central and, possibly, Morris Catholic, if they go varsity after club status this past season. 

Girls Foil & Epee Medal at Squad States

Sat, Sun, Feb 28-Mar 1, Annandale, NJ - All three girls' squads and the boys' foil and sabre squads were in action over the weekend in North Hundterdon HS at the NJSIAA Squad State Championships.  The top four squads in each weapon in each of the four districts qualified to this championship a month ago.   

The girls' foil team of Ryan Western, Bea Jacobson and Meghan Brennan, with substitutes Sophie Kaplan and Becca Canipe, took home the silver medal for 2nd place in the state Foil event with a 35-10 won-loss record during the day long competition.  The girls' epee team of Kaitlyn Wallace, Kim Morsch, Alexis Grant and Megan Wallace, with substitute Shawn Osarczuk, did almost as well winning 30 bouts to take the bronze medal as the 3rd best girls' epee squad in the state.  The boys' sabre squad consisting of Chris Bonner, Brian Stellingwerf and Zia Zaidi, with substitute Mitch Wetherington, also, had a notable performance, fininshing 6th in the Boys' Sabre Squad Championships.  They won 26 and lost 19 against the best competition in NJ.

Bonner Takes 15th in Albuquerque; Earns Junior Points and B-rating

Albuquerque, NM, Sat 14 Feb - Mendham High School senior Chris Bonner celebrated Valentine's Day by finishing 15th in the US Fencing Association's Junior Olympics men's sabre event here today.  Beyond earning his first points on the US Junior(Under-19) points list, Bonner earned his B-rating by finishing so highly in the A-4 rated event.

Mendham Girls Stun Gov. Livingston with thrilling victory

Mendham, February 7, 2009  -  The Mendham Girls Fencing team showed that they are a force to be reckoned with by pulling off a magnificent come from behind 14-13 victory over Governor Livingston in Berkeley Heights on Thursday, February 5th.  Governor Livingston, the number one team in the state, jumped out early, building a lead that got to as many as seven points over the Mendham team.  By the end of the 21^st bout Governor Livingston was leading 13-8, one bout away from securing the victory. With the pressure on, Mendham steeled themselves and decided to take their opponent to school. Meghan Brennan started the comeback by getting her first victory of the evening, winning the bout 5-2. Next, her foil squad teammates, Bea Jacobson and Ryan Western continued their dominance by winning the next two bouts, 5-2 and 5-1 respectively to bring the score to 11-13. Bea and Ryan both went (3-0) for the meet giving the foil squad an overall record for the night of 7-2. The momentum shift was evident as epee fencer Shawn Osarczuk took the strip and secured her first win of the evening bringing Mendham to within one point of the lead. Megan Wallace, 2-1 for the evening, tied it up with a brilliant 1-0 overtime win over her opponent.  The final and decisive blow was delivered by Kaitlyn Wallace.  After being down 4-2, Kaitlyn stunned her opponent and shocked the crowded gym of Governor Livingston supporters by scoring three consecutive touches, winning the final bout 5-4 and sealing the victory for Mendham.  Mendham’s victory boosts their record to 11-2 overall and 6-1 in the Iron Hills Conference. Coach Wallace,  thoroughly impressed by the Mendham squad’s determination, said “Sean Osarczuk’s first varsity exposure was courageous under pressure. Most teams would have folded in the face of a 7-point deficit, but these girls fought for every touch and won another Barn Burner.”

 

 

Boys Results

The Mendham boys, despite strong efforts from James Flanagan and Ben Morris in epee and Kyle Doyle and Andy Jung in foil, struggled against the depth of the Governor Livingston team losing 18-9.  Mendham’s overall record for the season is 6-7 and 4-3 in the Iron Hills Conference.

Mendham Fencers Win District Team Championship

Ryan Western and Kaitlyn Wallace bring home gold

Hackettstown, Saturday 31 January – The Mendham Girls’ Fencing Team captured their first-ever over-all District title winning the NJSIAA/Bollinger District 1 Team Championship on Saturday at Hackettstown High School.  Mendham’s epee and foil squads both finished first among the eleven schools and the sabre squad finished fourth to secure the overall title. The team earned a berth and a top four seeding in the first round of the state “Sweet 16” tournament which will begin February 10. All three squads advanced to the state squad championship tournament to be held on February 28, at North Hunterdon High School. Mendham was led by sterling performances from Ryan Western and Bea Jacobson who finished first and fourth respectively in the foil individual competition. Kaitlyn Wallace and Kim Morsch who finished first and fourth respectively in the epee competition matched their foil teammates. Wallace was the only undefeated fencer in the entire tournament in both the squad and individual parts of the competition, going 18-0 for the day. All four of the aforementioned girls will compete in the State Individual Championships on March 14th at Rider University. Also contributing mightily to their respective squad and team championships were Meghan Brennan (10-0) for the foil squad, and Alexis Grant (9-1) for the epee squad.

The title provided a fitting exclamation point to a week where the girls increased their overall record to 10-2 and their Iron Hills Conference Record to 6-1 by delivering two dominating performances in dual meets. On January 27th Mendham defeated West Essex 23-4 at an away meet. Mendham showed a lot of depth by getting wins from 15 different team members. The epee squad went 7-2 behind standout performances by Alexis Grant (3-0), Kimberly Morsch and Kaitlyn Wallace who both went (2-0). Bea Jacobson and Ryan Western both went (2-0) to lead the foil squad to a 7-2 record. The sabre squad nearly delivered a shutout going 8-1 led by Julia Melvin and Genele Streitz who went (2-0) on the night. Two days later, Mendham traveled to West Morris Central to secure a 22-5 victory over their cross-valley rivals. Sophomores Dina Krannich (2-1) in sabre and Sophie Kaplan (2-0) in foil had strong showings in the meet.

Mendham Boys Deliver

The Mendham Boys’ Team had a good showing at the District Championships, finishing in 5th place out of 11 teams for the overall tournament, one spot away from earning a berth to the state team tournament. The performance of the sabre squad led by Chris Bonner (8-2) and, Brian Stellingwerf (10-0) with strong support from Zai Zaidi, Mitch Wetherington and Harrison Morris was stellar, finishing second, one victory away from forcing a tie with Ridge. The foil squad finished third behind standout performances from Andy Jung (7-2) and Kyle Doyle (8-2), who were supported by Tyson James, Nick Lamont and Adam Pollack. Both squads will fence in the Boys’ State Squad Championships on March 1st at North Hunterdon High School. Chris Bonner in sabre and Andy Jung in foil each finished 4th in the individual competitions to earn a ticket to the State Individual Championships on March 14th at Rider University.

Earlier in the week the Mendham boys found their stride grabbing two victories to improve their overall record to 6-6 and their Iron Hills Conference record to 4-3. The boys were firing on all cylinders in their 21-6 victory over West Essex. The boys showed some of their depth by generating wins from 13 members of the team. The foil squad was dominant going 8-1 behind the excellent fencing of Tyson James and Kyle Doyle who both went (2-0). Freshmen foilists Adam Campos, Max Condie and Adam Pollack all had victories, illuminating the fact that Mendham’s future is bright. The epee squad went 7-2, one of their best showings of the season on the strength of Chris Franklin (3-0) and Andrew Sprague’s (2-0) superb bladework.  Mendham’s final warmup for the districts came in their 15-12 victory over West Morris Central.  Mendham maintained control and led throughout the meet. West Morris Central battled back and got to within one point of tying the score in the 25th bout. Kyle Doyle stepped up and secured victory for his team with a 5-3 win in the 26th bout of the meet. Kyle who along with fellow foil squad teammate Andy Jung each went (3-0), leading the foil squad to and 7-2 overall record. Their performance was supported by the saber squad which also went 7-2 behind steady fencing from Chris Bonner (3-0), Brian Stellingwerf (2-1) and Zia Zaidi (2-1).

Tom Tishman, head coach stated, “It was a very good week for Mendham Fencing. I was very proud of the effort and performance of every member of both teams. These kids have worked and trained very hard in the off-season without my help and throughout the season to achieve the results they earned today. The entire coaching staff is excited for them and is working to keep them sharp for the upcoming statewide tournaments.”

Mendham Girls – Perfect!

Mendham – The Mendham Girls were undefeated in two meets last week, extending their overall record to 8-2 and their Iron Hills Conference Record to 4-1. On Wednesday, January 21 at the last home meet of the season, Mendham paid tribute to a dozen of their graduating seniors. The team then got down to business and took on the Morris Knolls squad. The Mendham girls posted a decisive victory winning 19-8. Mendham’s epee squad dominated going  8-1 for the meet with strong performances turned in by Kimberly Morsch (3-0), Megan Wallace (2-0) and Kaitlyn Wallace (2-0). The foil squad (7-2) was led by Meghan Brennan and Ryan Western who both went (2-0) in their bouts.

 

 

Voorhees Thriller

Thursday, January, 22^nd, Mendham took on the Voorhees girl’s team who are ranked number seven by the Star Ledger.  The girl’s match was electric, with each team trading victories back and forth throughout the match.  Voorhees had no answer for Mendham super sophomore Ryan Western who went 3-0 in her foil bouts.  Sarah-Emma Graham (2-1) in saber also delivered key victories in Mendham’s quest to upset Voorhees. At the end it came down to Kaitlyn Wallace at epee in the 27th bout. The freshman phenom who went 3-0 on the night stepped up and sealed the victory for Mendham with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win.

 

 

Mendham Boys

The Mendham boys went 1-1 for the week, and are now 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the Iron Hills Conference.  Mendham faced a challenge from the Morris Knolls boys but held on to win 16-11 The Mendham boys were led by their saber squad which went 7-2 overall, led by seniors Brian Stellingwerf and Chris Bonner who went (3-0) and (2-0) respectively. Andy Jung (2-0) and Ben Morris (2-1) also provided key wins in support of the victory.  The Voorhees boys who are rated number one by the Star Ledger proved to be more than Mendham could handle as they defeated a shorthanded Mendham team 18-9.

Four Mendham Epeeists Raise or Renew Ratings

Friday 23 Jan, Mendham - 14 Mendham HS fencers competed in the Mendham Friday Evening Div III Epee Tournament tonight at Hilltop Elementary School.  Two won the respective mens' and women's events, Andy Jung and Kaitlyn Wallace.  Wallace went un-defeated thruout the evening.  They both earned their USFA D-rating in epee.  Jung almost didn't make the gold medal match.  His semi-final opponent managed to score six straight touches to bring the bout to la belle, 14-14.  On the deciding action, Andy hit first on a straight lunge to the chest catching his opponent preparing to attack. 

Other Notable Performances

Alexis Grant and Kim Morsch both went 4-1 in pools and then won two DE bouts to progress to the semi-finals.  Grant lost to Wallace and Morsch lost at la belle after evening the bout on a brillantly executed simple disengage attack to the body.  Unfortunately, her opponent, Deborah Chu of Governor Livingston HS attacked and got the deciding touch.  Tieing for the bronze medal, Grant earned her E-rating and Morsch renewed her E.

Other notable performances were turned in by Ben Morris and Andrew Sprague.  Morris lost in the quarterfinals, 13-15, after evening the bout at 13 by coming back from down 7-10.  Morris missed his first rating by just 2 touches.  Sprague went 4-0 in pools with a plus 9 touch indicator to be ranked first on the DE tableau.  He lost his round-of-16 DE bout 14-15, acknowledging afterwards that he rushed on the last touch.

Others competing from Mendham HS and gaining invaluable bouting experience included Tyler Walz, David and Katie Ricculli, Shawn Osarczuk, Lea Fuscaldo, Megan Wallace, Bea Jacobson and Lenny DeGeus.

Mendham Girl Fencers Make Their Mark

Mendham, NJ, January 17, 2009

– The girl’s fencing team clearly staked their claim as one of the state’s elite teams through their outstanding performance in three dual meets last week. They cruised to decisive wins over their first two opponents defeating Livingston and Randolph, 21-6 and Randolph 22-5 respectively. In what will go down as one of the most dramatic and exciting meets of the season, Mendham was defeated 13-14 by Columbia, the number one team in the state in a contest that went down to the last and final bout of the match. The girl’s finished the week with a record of 6-2 overall and an Iron Hills Conference record of 3-1. The week began with the team travelling to Livingston to face off against the Lancers. Mendham demonstrated that they have wealth of talent with victories coming from 14 individuals. Minutemen had a very balanced attack with each weapon gaining 7 wins against 2 defeats. Kimberly Morsch, Megan Wallace, Alexis Grant and Kaitlyn Wallace each delivered victories for the epee squad. The foil squad led by co-captains Meghan Brennan and Ryan Western were well supported by Bea Jacobson and junior varsity squad members Rebecca Canipe and Juliet Lisky.  The saber squad  demonstrated their depth with victories coming from 5 of its members, namely  Sarah-Emma Graham, Daphne Kolios, Dina Krannich, Genele Streitz and senior Lauren Ide.

On Wednesday, the Minutemen were back in their home gym.  Despite the arctic conditions outside the girls kept the heat on inside scorching Randolph for 13 wins in their first 14 bouts, clinching the meet in the 16th match. Mendham showed that their prospects for success in the coming years looks getting victories from future stars, sophomore Sophie Kaplan in foil and freshman Alexandra Boden and sophomore Olivia DeMattio in saber. The Minutemen headed to Maplewood on Thursday to face the state’s number one rated team and conference rival Columbia . Embolded by their earlier victories in the week, the girls jumped out to take a 6-3 lead.  Columbia battled back reeling off three consecutive victories to tie the score with six wins apiece. These three hard fought Epee bouts were all decided by one point with two going to dramatic overtime wins for Columbia. The match proceeded like a championship boxing match with each team trading victories and neither being able to land a decisive blow. Mendham dug deep and was able to take a 13-11 lead with gutsy performances from senior Meghan Brennan and sophomores Bea Jacobson and Ryan Western in a sweep by the foil squad. Columbia then showed why they are number one and the winner of five straight Santelli Tournaments by bearing down and taking the next three bouts to defeat Mendham 13-14. It was great match between two very talented teams. Assistant Coach Patric Wallace observed, “We witnessed two very competitive teams work for each point.  All of the athletes fenced very well. Columbia however, was the better team today. We just came up in short a few bouts we expected to win. We look forward to another opportunity to compete with them later in the season.”

Mendham Boys

 

The Mendham Boys, in what is clearly a rebuilding year, went 1-2 on the week to bring their record to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Iron Hills Conference. The boys defeated Livingston 16-11 behind strong performances from James Flanagan, Ben Morris and Andrew Sprague in epee, Adam Campos, Kyle Doyle, Tyson James and Andy Jung in foil and Harrison Morris, Brian Stellingwerf and Chris Bonner in saber. 

Next, the Minutemen lost a close one to Randolph 13-14 at home. The Minutemen trailed at the end of each of the first two rounds but gained momentum in the third round to get the score to 11-13.  Randolph clinched the meet with a saber victory in the 25th bout of the meet.  

Finally, the Mendham team faced Columbia , the number three ranked boys team. Despite valiant efforts by Andy, Adam, Brian, and Chris, Mendham couldn’t seem to gain any traction against Columbia 's depth and was subsequently defeated 19-8.

Mendham Girls Roll Over Morristown & Boys Upset in Tight Match

Mendham, Thursday, January 8 –  The Mendham Girls’ Fencing Team extended their record to 4-1 over-all and 1-0 in the Iron Hills Conference with an impressive win over Morristown in the Mendham gym Thursday night.  The Foil squad dominated, going 8-1 led by strong performances from senior Meghan Brennan and sophomore Bea Jacobson who both went 3-0 for the evening.  Jacobson’s performance was particularly impressive allowing her opponents only two touches in the three bouts that she fought.  Not to be outdone, the epee squad also had a strong showing going 7-2 backed by  2-0 performances by junior Alexis Grant, sophomore Megan Wallace and freshman Kaitlyn Wallace who shutout both of her opponents. The Minutemen got off to a fast start taking a 5-0 lead behind a sweep and near sweep of the first round bouts of the foil and epee squads.

Morristown mounted a comeback, winning the next 5 bouts to bring the match to a tie. Meghan Brennan stopped Morristown's surge by defeating her opponent 5-0 shifting momentum back to the Minutemen.  Mendham then took over, winning 10 of their next 11 bouts. The match was clinched by Jacobson in the 20^th match.

The Mendham boy’s squad faced a very determined and tough group in the Morristown Colonials. The Minutemen’s sabre squad went 7-2 led by strong performances from seniors Christopher Bonner and Brian Stellingwerf who went 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. The foil squads were fairly well matched with Mendham going 4-5 anchored by senior Andrew Jung's 3-0 record. The match was ultimately decided by the outcome of the epee bouts. The Colonials went 7-2 in epee, with 4 of their 7 wins coming on a margin of a single touch.  The first two rounds went back and forth with neither team dominating. The end of the second round ended with the teams tied at 9 wins each. The Colonials clinched the match in the 25^th bout with a 5-0 win in saber, winning the overall match 14-13 and handing the Minutemen their third loss of the season. The Minutemen (2-3, 0-1) will look to avenge this heartbreaker at the District 1 Championships on January 31^st in Hackettstown.

 

The order of the weapons for the dual meets was foil-epee-sabre, which were picked by random lot, as per Iron Hills Conference rules.

Mendham Fencers Break Bernards Streak

 

by Jeff Hammond

  

Bernardsville, Saturday, January 3 - The Mendham High School girls’ fencing team capitalized on a strong showing by their foil squad to upend perennial power Bernards High School and break the Mountaineers’ 108 match regular season win streak. The Minutemen (3-1) handed the Mounties a 14-13 loss in their home gym Saturday, where Bernards (3-1), which has finished number 1 or 2 in the state rankings for the past five years, hadn’t lost since 2003.

Mendham, just a 5-year program, was looking to improve on its Final Four finish last year. The Minutemen dominated in foil, posting an 8-1 record. Ryan Western, a sophomore, and senior Meghan Brennan were each 3-0 on the day. Bernards, behind 3-0 performances by Kathleen Rand and Shannon Horn, countered with an 8-1 tally in sabre. The epee contingent made the difference, and sophomore Megan Wallace clinched the meet in the 25^th bout with a 5-1 win over Becky Lutz.

“We knew they lost a lot (to graduation),” said Mendham assistant coach Patric Wallace, a fencer himself for the last four years. “It’s evened out now. I think our squad is going to go really far.” Brennan “had a career day,” according to Wallace. “I’m very pleased; a lot of our kids have come a long way,” he added.

“We knew they were a strong team,” said Bernards head coach Glenn Bleckicki, “They have year-around fencers and we can’t compete with that, but a couple of calls different and it could’ve gone either way.”

Bernards Boys Triumph

In a preview of another District 1 showdown, the defending state champion Bernards boys’ team fended off a strong challenge from the Minutemen 15-12. Bernards (3-1) was powered by 3-0 performances by Josh Hammond (sabre) and captain Dan Burke (epee). The match was close at 5-4 after the first round, but the Mounties sabre fencers swept three straight and Bernards opened a 11-7 lead going into the third and final round.

Mendham (2-2), missing its A-strip sabreur, still pushed the Mounties deep into the third round, when Burke clinched the match in the 26^th bout. Foilist Andy Jung was 3-0 for Mendham.

“There are three or four good teams in the district,” said Mendham head coach Tom Tishman, “and today we were without perhaps our strongest fencer.” The two teams will meet again in the District 1 tournament in Hackettstown on January 31.

 

Mendham Underclassmen are the Class of the Field

Saturday, December 27, Rockaway - The nine fencing teams of the Iron Hills Conference gathered here today for the 3rd annual Morris Knolls Freshman-Sophomore Invitational Tournament held at Morris Knolls High School.  Mendham High School fencers won eight of the 12 events contested, its strongest performance as a team in the tournament's history.  Perennial state power Columbia Senior High School of Maplewood took three of the four other gold medals.

The Mendham HS team, in its fifth season, swept the four epee events: James Flanagan, Boys' Sophomore; Megan Wallace, Girls' Sophomore; Andrew Sprague, Boys' Freshman and Kaitlyn Wallace, Girls' Freshman Epee.  Also taking gold medals were Ryan Western, Girls' Sophomore Foil; Alexandra Boden, Girls' Freshman Sabre; Kyle Doyle, Boys' Sophomore and Adam Campos, Boys' Freshman Foil.  Megan Wallace, Western and Doyle defended titles they won in the Freshman events of the Tournament a year ago.

Jung Places 3rd at Mendham Sabre; Earns E

Mendham, NJ, November 21, 2008 – The Mendham Fencing Club held its third US Fencing Association Tournament of the season at Mountain View School this evening.  It was a 16-competitor mixed-gender unrated sabre tournament.  Mendham High Schoolers competing were Senior Andrew Jung and Juniors Sarah-Emma Graham, Eugene Fasasno, Will Bruno and Alyssa Martin.  Both representing Mendham FC, Eugene Fasano, 6-1,  and Will Bruno, 5-2, fenced very well in the preliminary round.  They were the 2nd and 4th seeds coming out of the preliminary pools.  Right behind Bruno was Boys’ Team Captain Andrew Jung, also 5-2.  Jung represents the Morris Fencing Club of Chester.

In the direct elimination portion of the event, Graham, who had difficulty in the preliminaries dealing with speed of the male fencers, met her school teammate, Bruno, in a round of 16 bout.  Graham represents Morris FC in USFA competition.  Bruno was ahead for most the bout by as many as 3 touches, but Graham changed tactics at the end of the bout to squeek out a narrow, 15-13 victory.  She advanced to a quarterfinal showdown with Jung, another high school teammate.  Jung was able to use his superior footwork to overcome his lack of sabre hand technique to beat Graham, 15-12, to advance to the semifinals, where the number one seed, Cotton Engleby, representing Medeo FC, was waiting.  Engleby attends and fences for rival Bernards High School.  Early on, Jung’s superior footwork looked as though it would be enough to defeat Engleby.  However, counter actions to the forearm by Engleby on long attacks by Jung netted 6 of the 15 winning touches.  Jung was defeated 13-15.  Engleby went on to win the tournament.

Meanwhile, Fasano lost a close round of 16 DE bout, 15-12.  Fasano did not agree with several of the referee’s calls on right-of-way when both fencers tried to beat their opponent’s blade nearly simultaneously before attacking.    

The 3rd place result for Andrew Jung earned him an USFA E-rating in sabre to go with his E-rating in epee and C-rating in his foil specialty.  Thus, he becomes the first Mendham High School fencer in the 5-year history of the program to earn ratings in all three disciplines.

Morsch Takes NJFA Unrated Epee Crown; Earns E-Rating

Maplewood, NJ, November 21, 2008 – The NJ Fencing Alliance held a Women’s Epee and Foil Unrated Tournament here this evening.  Two Mendham High Schoolers competed in the 7-competitor E-rated epee event, juniors Kim Morsch and Alexis Grant.  Both represent Mendham FC when competing in US Fencing Association tournaments. 

Morsch, 5-1 in the preliminary pool, earned the top seed on the direct elimination table.  In addition, she earned a bye into the semi-finals, while Grant drew Brittnie Kuschke of American Fencing Coalition and Randolph High School in the round of 8.  Grant fell to Kuschke, 9-15.  Morsch then beat Kuschke in the semis, 13-11, as the 9-minute time limit ran out.  Morsch won the tournament, 15-14, on a double touch over Haley Hart of NJFA in the finals.  In addition, Morsch earned her USFA E-rating in epee.  Grant finished 5th.

Jacobson Takes 3rd in Open to Earn E-Rating

Lambertville, NJ, Sunday, November 16, 2008 – Mendham High School Sophomore Bea Jacobson traveled here today to compete in the BCAF Women’s 3-Weapon Day Tournament.  Jacobson and 17 others competed in the Women’s Open Foil event that was D1-rated.  It was held at the Bucks County Academy of Fencing.  She won three and lost two in her preliminary pool to be seeded 8th going into the direct elimination portion of the event.  Jacobson had a rough time with the 9th seed in the round of 16, winning only 15-13. 

It was her next bout, which was in the quarterfinals, where Jacobson showed off all her training at the Morris Fencing Club in Chester so far this season.  Jacobson faced off against the number one seed and D-rated Rachel Katz, an experienced veteran fencer.  Jacobson controlled the bout, 15-10, to move into the semi-finals.  There, she ran into the eventual gold medalist, losing 5-15.  Unlike most other tournaments, there was a fence-off for third place.  Jacobson recovered to win the bronze medal bout, 15-12.  In addition, her semi-final appearance earned her a USFA E-rating in foil.

Bea’s sister, Alice, captained the girls’ team last season before graduating to Ohio State University.  Alice finished 3rd at the District Championships last season and 5th in the NJSIAA Girls’ Individual Foil State Championships.

Three Foilists Compete at Local Unrated Tourney

Maplewood, Sunday, November 9 – Three Mendham High School foil fencers competed in the Freehold Fencing Academy’s Unrated Foil Tournament held at the NJ Fencing Alliance in Maplewood.  The tournament was sanctioned by the NJ Division of the US Fencing Association.  Sophomore Bea Jacobson competed in the 26-competitor women’s event. Freshmen Adam Campos and Max Condie competed in the 40-fencer men’s event.  The top four finishers in each event would earn USFA letter ratings. 

Jacobson, representing Morris Fencing Club of Chester, won three and lost two 5-touch bouts in the preliminary round-robin pools.  Both of her losses were to left-handed fencers.  She earned the 12th seed into the direct elimination rounds of 15-touch bouts.  There, she won her round of 32 bout 10-9 in overtime.  Unfortunately, her round of 16 bout was against one of the lefties to whom she lost in the preliminaries.  She lost 8-15 to Elsa Stoll, who would eventually finish 5th.  Jacobson finished 12th. 

Campos, representing Mendham Fencing Club, fenced well enough in the preliminary pools to earn a bye into the round of 32.  Condie, representing Medeo Fencing Club of Bridgewater,  fenced well in the preliminary pool, but did not earn a bye and had to compete in the round of 64.  He won his first direct elimination to advance into the next round.  Unfortunately, both freshmen lost their bouts in the round of 32.  Campos finished 24th and Condie 26th.  

The average competitor in an unrated USFA tournament is typically in high school.  So, this tournament is a perfect warm up for the NJ High School season, which begins with practices immediately after Thanksgiving.  Mendham High School’s first competition of the season will be boys’ and girls’ quadrangular meets on Saturday, December 20, at Somerville against Montgomery, Teaneck and Somerville.

Christopher Bonner Finishes 5th at MFC Sabre Liberty Cup

Sun 2 Nov, Manhattan – Mendham High School Senior Christopher Bonner joined 50 of the New York Metro Area’s top fencers to compete in Manhattan Fencing Club’s A2-rated Sabre Liberty Cup tournament.  Christopher, representing Medeo Fencing Club and School, went undefeated in the round-robin pools earning the third seed going into the 15-touch direct elimination bouts. In his first DE bout, he defeated Nicholas DePinto, a D-rated fencer 15-13. In his second bout, Christopher pulled out a tough victory against Etienne Picard, a B-rated fencer from Canada. Christopher’s quarter-final bout was against James Williams, a USFA A-rated fencer who won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the United States Olympic Team.  Christopher fought hard, but eventually succumbed to James’ skill and experience, losing the bout 15-9 to finish in 5th place.  It was Christopher’s second time fencing against a member of the U.S. Olympic Team. Christopher had the opportunity last spring to fence Tim Morehouse, one of James’ three teammates in Beijing.  In addition, this was Christopher’s second top ten finish in an A2-tournament in the last 30 days.

Kaitlyn Wallace Takes 3rd at Medeo-Absolute Epee Open

Sat 1 Nov, Bridgewater - Two members of the Mendham High School Girls Epee Squad were in action today at the Medeo-Absolute Epee Cup.  The USFA tournament was held at the Medeo Fencing Club and co-sponsored by Absolute Fencing Gear.  USFA E-rated Kaitlyn Wallace, representing Medeo II, went 3-1 in her preliminary pool, losing only to Katie Whitaker, a USFA C-rated epeeist.  Kaitlyn secured herself the second seed in the next round of the competition, 15-touch direct elimination bouts.  She won her direct elimination bout in the round-of-16 and the quarterfinals, earning a second chance at Whitaker.  Kaitlyn fought hard, but lost 12-15, in the semi-finals to finish in an unbroken tie for 3rd.  E-rated Megan Wallace, Kaitlyn's sister, also competed, obtaining valuable experience in advance of the high school season that begins right after Thanksgiving.

The next local USFA event will held at Mountain View School on Friday evening, November 21.  It will be an unrated sabre tournament with a men's and a women's event run by the Mendham Fencing Club.  Several members of the Mendham HS Fencing Teams are already registered to compete.

Kwasnik Kruises to 3rd in Mixed Division II Epee

Sat 18 October, Randolph - The American Fencing Club held its second competition of the season.  The managers created a mixed-gender C & under epee event since there were 10 entrants total.  One of those was Mendham High School's Chris Kwasnik, representing the Mendham FC.  Chris went 5-4 in the preliminary pool, which qualified him for the DE table of four.  He was seeded fourth and lost his one DE bout to the eventual champion.  Chris finished tied for 3rd.  This is a solid result for Chris since he finished above two of the three Randolph High School's male epeeists, who are all USFA rated fencers. 

Doyle Dominates DEs at Mendham Unrated Foil; Earns D-Rating

Fri 17 Oct, Mendham - The Mendham Fencing Club held its second US Fencing Association-sanctioned tournament of the season tonight at Mountain View School.  It was an unrated foil tournament with a women's event drawing 10 competitors and a men's that drew 23.  Mendham High School's 5-year old fencing program was well represented with four young women and three young men competing in the Mendham Friday Evening Unrated Foil Tournament.

In the men's event, Kyle Doyle, Adam Campos and Max Condie competed in the larger men's event with a D-rating available to the winner and three E-ratings available for the other semi-finalists.  Kyle, representing Morris Fencing Club, went 4-1, +10 net touches, in his preliminary pool, to be seeded 4th on the direct elimination table.  Adam, representing Mendham FC, went 1-4, to be seeded 19th.  Max, fencing for Medeo FC, went 4-1, +13 net touches to be seeded 3rd in the next round.  Kyle and Max received byes into round-of-16 because of their high seeding.  Adam won his bout in the round-of-32, 15-9, to then face his future high school teammate, Max, in the next round.  Adam prevailed, 15-7, to reach the round-of-8, where he lost to the eventual silver medalist, 9-15. Max finished 9th, Adam 8th.  Meanwhile, Kyle won his first DE bout at "la belle," 15-14.  Kyle got more comfortable in the rest of his DE bouts.  In his calm, unassuming way, Kyle was not pushed the rest of the way to win the gold medal and earn his USFA D-rating.  See the photograph to the right of the four medal winners.

In the women's event, Bea Jacobson, Meghan Brennan, Becca Canipe and Masha Lamb all fought for the lone USFA E-rating available to the winner.  Bea tied for 5th, Meghan took 8th, Becca 9th and Masha 10th.  Bea, Becca and Masha represent Morris FC of Chester in US Fencing Association tournaments.  Meghan fences for American FC of Randolph.  Mendham's girls 3-weapon team finished 4th in the state championships last season, the best finish in its four-year history. 

All of the fencers gained valuable experience that will help them compete during the upcoming high school season, which starts the day after Thanksgiving.