The boys épée squad defied expectations by breaking a two-decade-long drought of high-ranking wins with a sixth-place finish among 43 épée squads at the Cetrulo Tournament on January 18th, one of the most competitive fencing tournaments in New Jersey.
This sixth-place win is the team’s highest overall finish in recent years, especially at a major conference. The team defeated the épée squad from the Lawrenceville School, which finished first in the overall standings.
The squad had to get creative and strategic, with everyone getting placed in new matches due to the absence of Terry Zhang ’28 and the injured Rayyan Ansari ’28, which led to a unique strip placement. Boys Épée Squad Captain and Boys Fencing Captain Allan Wang ’26 ignited the success with his 4-1 victory on the C strip, followed by many victories from Charles McFadden ’27 (A strip) and Jason Lin ’27 (B strip).
The épée squad headed into the tournament with their feet on the gas, coming fresh off numerous victories. This optimism helped the team perform to the best of their abilities.
“Overall, we had a mindset to place as high as we could and keep our win streak going, and once I was rested, I was able to sub back into the second pool to continue our success as a team,” said Ansari.
After a long shortage of major, high-level placements, the boys épée squad lays the path for the entirety of the fencing team, showing a new horizon of young and talented players, primarily student-taught.
MFS lacks a traditional fencing program due to the coaches not having specific expertise in fencing; this means students help one another and guide those new to the sport, helping them improve and stand out, showing them what it means to be a fencer.
In 2005, MFS had a fencing expert and state winner, Sue Tracy, who served as a proper instructor and coach, which is now difficult to come by for the program.
“It’s nice, it’s like having a bunch of parents who can teach you things you otherwise wouldn’t have learned until later, and I feel like it puts me ahead of other kids my age,” said Juan Gonzalez-Cuevas ’29.
Athletic Director Isaiah Coleman said, “It’s been such a long time since something like this happened. I think there’s a lot of very talented schools up north with rigorous fencing programs, and ours has played very well, but teams have just managed to beat us in big moments, even with our success.”
The squad’s success has carried over into recent matches, with the épée squad winning eight of nine matches against St. Augustine Preparatory School on January 27.
*Note: The overall Boys’ standing is 24/45.
