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03/08/2023 08:17 AMFor the Guilford Grizzlies coed fencing team, this has been a season full of growth and development. They had to adjust to a coaching change mid-season and have taken each day as its own. Despite the challenges they’ve had to overcome this winter, they’ve still pulled together some very successful performances.
On Feb. 25, the Grizzlies competed at the Central Connecticut Fencing Conference (CCFC) Championships at North Haven High School. Both the men’s and women’s teams walked away with overall conference championships on the day.
Several fencers also made the First and Second Team All-Conference and All-Academic teams.
First place overall fencers on the men’s team included Ryan Lynch (First Team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference — men’s foil), Arya Nagouda (First Team All-Conference — men’s foil), Shivai Kumar (First Team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference — men’s saber), Julian Fencil (Second Team All-Conference — men’s saber), and Jason Li (Second Team All-Conference — men’s saber).
First place overall fencers on the women’s team were Ella Greenleaf (First Team All-Conference — women’s foil), Taylor Smith (Second Team All-Conference — women’s foil), Melek Top (First Team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference — women’s épée), and Flora Zhang (First Team All-Conference — women’s épée).
Noteworthy fencers on the men’s teams that finished in second place overall were Jackson Howard (Second Team All-Conference — men’s épée), Avery Spagone (Second Team All-Conference — men’s épée), and Max Banning (Second Team All-Conference — men’s épée). Kylin Broderick took second place in the women’s saber (Second Team All-Conference).
After being crowned conference champions, the Grizzlies had another mission to tackle: the Individual State Championships. On March 4, the team competed at this rigorous tournament at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Woodbridge, Connecticut.
The men’s team had two of nine fencers win medals, and the women’s team had three out of nine fencers medal.
Grizzlies Assistant Coach Mark Kissinger was very pleased with the team’s overall performance at the championship meet and highlighted standout performers.
“Guilford High School Fencing had a great day at the Connecticut High School Fencing Championship Tournament on March 4, with five fencers finishing in the top 8 places,” said Kissinger. “Special recognition should be given to Catherine Zhou (sophomore, foil) for repeating her win in Women’s Foil. Another fencer to note is Kylin Broderick (junior, saber), who switched weapons mid-season and achieved a second-place finish in Women’s Saber.”
Senior captains Kumar, Joy Qiang (saber), Banning, Riley Weed (épée), Lynch, and Smith led not only their specific weapons but their team as a whole throughout the tournament.
“The captains were instrumental in keeping their squads motivated throughout the tournament and during the season overall,” said Kissinger. “They kept them focused on their training and motivated them on the fencing strip.”
Lynch, Zhou, Ella Greenleaf, and Top all have a season win percentage of over 90% in their respective weapons. Zhou also went undefeated on the campaign.
Fencers that finished in the top eight at the Individual State Championship included Zhou (first place, women’s foil), Broderick (second place, women’s saber), Ella Greenleaf (fifth place, women’s foil), Paul Greenleaf (sixth place, men’s foil), and Li (eighth place, men’s saber).
Additionally, Erica Zhang (ninth place, women’s saber), Top (ninth place, women’s épée), Kumar (10th place, men’s saber), Lynch (11th place, men’s foil), Smith (11th place, women’s foil) and Banning (12th place, men’s épée) all finished in the top 12.
Seeing the fencers earn the medals they had worked so hard for all season was a rewarding feeling for Kissinger, who was proud of every single one of the athletes.
“My reaction after the tournament after every team placed well was that it shows that hard work and effort pays off,” said Kissinger. “It also helps that we get support from the school administration and athletic director, as well as having a very supportive booster club.”
Despite the Grizzlies having a successful season thus far leading into the postseason, the team has still faced several challenges, including training new fencers. Kissinger admired everyone’s ability to overcome those obstacles and continue to perform well every day.
“Our challenges were not uncommon for any large team, but we met them with perseverance and a positive mental attitude. We also had to integrate a large number of Novice fencers into the team,” said Kissinger. “Training them took effort, which will pay off in future years when they are junior varsity and varsity fencers.”
Next up for the Grizzlies is the Team State Championships on Saturday, March 11. Kissinger wants to make sure the team is locked in and focused on utilizing their best skills to match up with the competing teams.
“Over the next week’s practices we aim to review our performance in the Individual tournament and hone our skills, with the focus on defeating the teams we will face next Saturday, the 11th, in the Team States competition,” said Kissinger. “For next week’s Team States tournament, we are looking forward to seeing our hard work pay off and repeating our overall men’s and women’s wins.”
The Grizzlies who competed in individual States were (men’s foil) Ryan Lynch (senior) Paul Greenleaf (junior), Arya Nadgouda (senior); (women’s foil) Catherine Zhou (sophomore), Ella Greenleaf (freshman), Taylor Smith (senior); (men’s épée) Max Banning (senior), Avery Spagone (junior), Jackson Howard (junior); (women’s épée) Melek Top (senior), Riley Weed (senior), Flora Zhang (junior); (men’s saber) Shivai Kumar (senior), Julian Fencil (senior), Jason Li (junior); women’s saber) Kylin Broderick (junior), Cassandra Granata (junior), Erica Zhang (freshman).