The North Haven co-ed fencing program hit the strip to take on Morgan in a road match at the Eliot Middle School in Clinton on Feb. 14. The Indians came away with a split on the night as their boys’ team squeaked out a 14-13 victory, while the girls’ squad took a 17-10 defeat against the Huskies.

North Haven is in the midst of its first season with new Head Coach Robert Dickens, who’s been pleased with the leadership of his veteran fencers, as well as the progression of the younger athletes in his program. Dickens hopes to continue seeing more of that as the Indians enter the home stretch of their regular season in preparation for the postseason, which begins with the Individual State Championships on Saturday, March 2 and concludes with the Team State Championships on Saturday, March 9.

“The culture of this team is that they are a cohesive team that works really well together. Everyone supports each other and pushes each other to do better,” Coach Dickens said. “They are ready to buckle down and commit to working hard during the last few weeks of the season.”

Last week, the North Haven boys’ fencing team edged out Morgan by a 14-13 final, led by a 5-4 victory from its épée team and a 7-2 win by the sabre squad. The foil team took a 7-2 loss. In each individual bout, the first fencer to score five points by landing five touches on his or her opponent earned the win.

Senior captain Shivam Patel won all three of bouts for the boys’ épée team. Fellow senior Eric Zamfir and junior Mitchel Pierpont recorded one win apiece for the Indians.

For boys’ sabre, junior Devesh Baheti was victorious in all three of his matches. Junior Tim Yang and senior captain Andrew James both went 2-1 to help North Haven emerge victorious.

In foil, freshman Ryan DeVaux notched both wins for the Indians in the defeat. Senior Miles Houston, fellow senior Dan Park, and freshman Andy Cecarelli also competed for the foil squad.

With the sabre and foil matches complete, the final result came down to North Haven’s narrow victory in the épée competition. Coach Dickens was happy that the Indians grinded a one-point win in épée to secure the overall one-point victory on an up-and-down night for his club.

“If I had to characterize the performance, I would say it was good, but uneven. There were some moments where we made good decisions and executed well, there were some moments where we executed poorly, but made the right decisions; and there were moments where nothing was going right,” Dickens said. “Moving forward, we’re going to try to find where the bad decisions are coming from and fix the technical issues to encourage better decisions. All of them have the foundation and the ideas to succeed much more convincingly. We just need to continue to practice to get there.”

The Indians’ girls’ team dropped a 17-10 decision against Morgan. The foil squad prevailed by a 6-3 score, while épée and foil each took a 7-2 defeat.

In the foil match, junior captain Madison Fredericks and fellow junior Claire Looney claimed victory in all three of their bouts. Junior Rahi Patel also competed for North Haven.

For the épée contest, junior Ruohan Sang picked up a pair of wins for the Indians, whose other competitors were sophomore Wajiha Ali and senior captain Catherine Owens.

On the sabre strip, junior Laratee VanNiewenhuyze and sophomore My-Ting Cuevas-Lo earned one win apiece. Senior captain Kathleen DeMaio also competed for North Haven in the match.

While the girls’ team didn’t come away with the overall victory, Coach Dickens still felt encouraged by some of the things he saw from the Indians, particularly their victory from the foil squad.

“We saw some good things, even in the bouts that were close and the matches that were losses. We saw what needs to change and what we need to improve on. We’re in a good position to go into these last few weeks prepared and fencing well at the State championships,” Dickens said. “[The foil team] is learning new concepts and new actions this year, and they’re starting to put them all together.”

North Haven is being led by six captains this season, featuring one captain for foil, épée, and sabre on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. The captains for the boys’ team are senior Alex Ly (foil), senior Shivam Patel (épée), and senior Andrew James (sabre). The girls’ captains are junior Madison Fredericks (foil), senior Catherine Owens (épée), and senior Kathleen DeMaio (sabre).

Coach Dickens said that his captains are doing an excellent job of leading the Indians, and he feels that having one captain for each team proves hugely beneficial during their practices. With a bunch of conscientious underclassmen learning from a collection of savvy veterans, Dickens is having an enjoyable experience in his debut campaign as North Haven’s head coach.

“I can talk to each captain and say, ‘Have your squad work on this and do these drills,’ and then I can check in. The captains are effectively running most of the practices, and that let’s me work with individuals and do a more involved lesson to give them a general idea of everything,” said Dickens. “The captains are doing a wonderful job of moving things forward, keeping our teams unified, and helping us make progress. I’m enjoying working with the kids, and I’m enjoying working with the captains. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”

From the Sidelines

The North Haven boys’ fencing team’s roster is comprised of senior captains Andrew James, Alex Ly, and Shivam Patel; fellow seniors Miles Houston, Dan Park, Erich Reinholtz, Sherwin Tsang, and Eric Zamfir; juniors Devesh Baheti, Dev Patel, Mitchel Pierpont, Elliot Rastkane, Laekram Singh, and Tim Yang; sophomores Scott Bernier, Jais Lunn, Marcus Smith, Sean Stetson, and Jason Tong; and freshmen Andy Cecarelli, and Ryan DeVaux.

The athletes on the girls’ fencing team are senior captains Kathleen DeMaio and Catherine Owens; junior captain Madison Fredericks; fellow juniors Gina Barron, Claire Looney, Rahi Patel, Ruohan Sang, Savannah Stevenson, Peyton VanDuesen, Laratee VanNiewenhuyze, and Jenna Noce; and sophomores Wajiha Ali, My-Ting Cuevas-Lo, Eva Redman, and Jennifer Yang.

Head Coach Robert Dickens grew up in Maryland and competed for the men’s fencing team at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. By taking the helm of the Indians, this marks the first time that Dickens has coached a high school program. Dickens works alongside returning assistant coach Jon Firman.

For the rest of this season, North Haven has a home meet versus Guilford on Senior Night at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21; is hosting the state’s JV Tournament at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23; and then has a home match against Fairfield Warde at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb 27. The Individual State Championships take place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 2; and the Team State Championships will be held at Greenwich High School at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 9.