The Guilford fencing team had one goal in mind when heading into the Team State Championships this season: to win the state title. After ending the campaign last winter with state crowns in hand for both the men’s and women’s teams, it was time for the Grizzlies to get back to prominence, a mission they conquered on March 11.

Prior to Team States, every fencing team in Connecticut participated in the Individual States Tournament, and the results helped to determine each squad’s qualification for the team competition.

As they hoped, both the women’s and men’s teams walked away with overall team wins on the strip, recording their second straight state victory. Grizzlies Assistant Coach Mark Kissinger was proud of the work the fencers put in daily this season and credited the coaching staff for sharing their knowledge with the athletes.

“Repeating our overall wins at Team States for both women and men capped off a great season that proves that hard work and effort pays off. A lot of credit must go to Head Coach Jeremy Goun and volunteers Ben Kissinger and Dexter Lourenco,” said Kissinger. “They each shared the perfect amount of experience, enthusiasm, and love of fencing with the team, and through their efforts, the fencers have been able to continue to excel in the sport.”

As well as earning the well-desired championship hardware, the women’s foil and men’s saber squads also placed first in their respective weapons. The women’s foil squad included Catherine Zhou (sophomore, First Team All-State), Ella Greenleaf (freshman, Second Team All-State), Taylor Smith (captain, senior), and Leila Ruser (senior). The first place men’s saber squad was comprised of Shivai Kumar (captain, senior), Jason Li (junior, Second Team All-State), and Julian Fencil (senior). These fencers really stepped up to help lead Guilford to the top of the board, but Kissinger knew it took a full team effort.

“While the women’s foil and men’s saber squads won their divisions, everyone performed well in winning their first matches and getting to the top of the bracket. Everyone contributed to this success,” said Kissinger. “The varsity fencers and the team members who helped with their training all worked hard throughout the season to achieve this successful result.”

More notable fencers that placed in the top three were the women’s épée fencers (third place overall) of Melek Top (senior), Riley Weed (captain, senior), Flora Zhang (junior), and Tessa Kissinger (junior).

Fencil, who was overjoyed to claim a first place title in his final season on the strip with the Grizzlies, kept his foot on the gas for the entire duration of the competition, helping to keep his teammates motivated throughout.

“At the Team States Tournament, senior saber fencer Julian Fencil stuck to the basics. He fenced incredibly hard regardless of who he was facing, and it paid off,” said Kissinger. “That motivated his squad and helped contribute to the win.”

In addition to Fencil surpassing the coach’s expectations, Kylin Broderick (junior, First Team All-State) had to transition to a new weapon, but it was a change she handled with ease.

“Over the duration of the whole season, women’s saber fencer Kylin Broderick definitely exceeded our expectations,” said Kissinger. “In midseason, she switched from foil to saber and achieved a second place finish in Individual States, a great accomplishment.”

Broderick was part of a women’s saber team that took second overall at Team States. Sharing that honor with Broderick were Cassandra Granata (junior), Erica Zhang (freshman), and Anna Hastings (freshman).

The men’s foil team also placed second overall, consisting of Ryan Lynch (captain, senior), Paul Greenleaf (junior, Second Team All-State), Ayra Nadgouda (senior), and Jack Rasmussen (junior), while the men’s épée squad (Max Banning (captain, senior), Avery Spagone (junior), Jackson Howard (junior), and Conor O’Leary (sophomore) took fourth.

Despite the more than 50 fencers that Guilford houses on its roster, the task of winning another state championship was always in the front view mirror for every individual as the team climbed to the top throughout the course of the winter.

“Our challenges were not unlike those of any large teams; our focus was just always on improving and repeating our wins in the Team States Tournament,” said Kissinger.

As Kissinger and the Grizzlies relish in their Team State titles and look ahead to next season, he hopes they can find the same success they had this winter on the strip while inspiring younger kids to learn the technicalities of the sport.

“We are looking forward to repeating our success in the Conference and State tournaments,” said Kissinger. “We are also focused on inspiring the team to keep improving by working hard to train the next generation of fencers and having fun doing so.”

The Grizzlies roster on the women’s side included Maddie Markle-Ward (senior, foil), Cassandra Pringle (senior, foil), Joy Qiang (senior, foil), Ruser, Taylor Smith, Top, Broderick, Granata, Kissinger, Kateryna Romanenko (junior, épée), Clara Arpie (sophomore, saber), Sophia LaBelle (sophomore, épée), Makenna Sullivan (sophomore, saber), Kyra Amani (freshman, épée), Tessa Antonakis (freshman, épée), Greenleaf, Hastings, Olivia Koumpouras (freshman, saber), Riley Maturo (freshman, saber), Lyra Monaco (freshman, saber), Emily O’Sullivan (freshman, saber), Sydney Pierson (freshman, saber), Brooklyn Smith (freshman, épée), and Zhang.

For the men’s squads, the fencers included Jack Audet (senior, foil), Banning, Fencil, Jack Fusco (senior, saber), Ryan Greiner (senior, saber), Kumar, Lynch, Nadgouda, Josh Cooper (junior, saber), Greenleaf, Howard, Li, Rasmussen, Spagone, Charles Canapari (sophomore, foil), Benjamin Libby (sophomore, saber), O’Leary, Rohan Patel (sophomore, foil), Raymond Schmidt (sophomore, épée), Logan Shay (sophomore, saber), James Donohue (freshman, foil), Luke Kissinger (freshman, épée), Edward (Teddy) Morris (freshman, foil), Logan Plancon (freshman, saber), and Tao Pradith (freshman, épée).