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03/10/2024 11:46 PMThe Hand fencing team has spent the winter surmising quite the well-rounded squad across all disciplines. So it comes as little shock that the products of the team’s labor came into full fruition in a successful postseason.
On March 2 at the Individual State Championships, the Hand fencing team sent three fencers per weapon and gender to the Connecticut High School Fencing Association Championships that took place at the Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge.
The girls’ team sent seniors Arianna Takyar, Addy Morada, and Norah Stotz for épée, seniors Anna Ferrucci, Lily Paine, and junior Ella O’Malley for saber, plus senior Sarah Hagan, and juniors Maeve Wiles and Shay Ryan for foil.
The event began with a pool round, where each fencer will fence another five or six fencers in their pool. Each fencer is then seeded based on those results for the direct elimination round, with only the top 80% of the fencers qualifying for the direct elimination round.
For the épée squad, Morada was seeded first, Stotz was 16th, and Takyar 38th. Morada had a first-round bye, while Takyar faced Sadie Walker from Simsbury, who Takyar beat 15-5. In the next round, she faced the No. 6 seed Eva Slossberg from Staples High School, where she fell 15-12, finishing in 29th place overall.
Stotz also won her first round, beating Maria Cardenas from the Center for Global Studies High School 15-12. She then faced off against Devyn Perillo of Griswold and lost a close 14-15 bout, finishing in 19th place. Perillo then went on to face Morada, who had already won her first direct elimination 15-10 over Josie Caron of Lyme-Old Lyme. Perillo upset Morada, with Morada ending the day in ninth place.
The foil team saw Hagan just miss the cut to direct eliminations (DE). Ryan entered the round tied for the 10th seed, however, after receiving a bye in the round, was upset in her first DE and lost 15-7 to Emily Cerasoli of North Haven. Ryan finished tied for 17th place.
Wiles entered as the 13th seed. After a first-round bye, she faced Hananko Moffat of North Haven, where Wiles came away with a quick 15-4 victory. Next up for Wiles was Sara Morrissey of Morgan, the fourth seed, who Wiles defeated 15-10. Wiles then faced the fifth seed, Catherine McDermott of Fairfield, where she fell 15-8. Wiles finished the day in third place.
In saber, all three women finished well enough to receive a first-round bye. O’Malley took on Jay Cusson of The Hopkins School and fell 15-8, finishing in 11th place. Paine faced Madeline Babcock from Foran, and won 15-10. Meanwhile, Ferrucci faced Anita Sajan of North Haven and also won 15-10, setting up a matchup against Paine. Ferrucci was victorious with a very close 15-13 win, ending Paine’s day in fifth place. Ferrucci then faced the No. 1 seed, Noelle Kohlberger. Ferrucci was winning at the halfway mark but fell 10-15, ending an incredible run and finishing in third place.
Head Coach Michael Ginsburg greatly expressed his gratitude towards his senior class, who entered their Tigers’ tenures quite green on the strip, but turned their opportunities into plenty of gold.
“We are going to graduate half of our girls’ fencing team this year. I cannot underscore the impact these amazing young women have had on our program,” said Ginsburg. “None of them had any prior fencing experience, and have earned a collective five All-State Team recognitions, four conference titles, and multiple state titles. The young women we are graduating this year will be missed by the team and myself. They are hard working, competitive, passionate, intelligent, and really funny people. I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know them and work with them for three or four years.”
The boys’ team sent senior Hanley Tapia, junior Max Stein, and sophomore Robbie Ginsburg for épée, juniors Ricky Chamarro, Will Rode, and Truman Looby for foil, along with juniors Will Butler, Noah Lynch, and freshman Owen Swift for saber.
Both Tapia and Ginsburg made it out of the pool round for épée. Ginsburg entered the DEs as the 22nd seed. In the first round, he faced Lucas McMillan of Lyme-Old Lyme, who he defeated 15-8. In the second round, he took on the 11th seed, Charles Morgan of Waterford, and fell 11-15, ending his day in 21st place.
Tapia, who was tied for the fourth seed, had a first-round bye. In the second round, he faced Julio Goitia of the Center for Global Studies, and won 15-4. In the next round, he faced Kaden Lovdahl of St. Bernards, with Tapia coming away with a 15-5 victory. In the third round, Tapia faced the reigning state champion Gianni Torres, also of St. Bernards. Tapia gave Torres, the eventual champion of the event, his toughest challenge of the day, with Torres defeating Tapia 15-14 on a touch that was centimeters apart. Tapia finished the day in fifth place.
The foil team had a tough day, with only Looby and Chamarro advancing out of the pool round. Looby lost his first round match 15-9 to Caleb Groth of Southington.
Chamarro entered DEs as the seventh seed. After a bye, he faced Mohsin Arhsad of Waterford, with Chamarro winning 15-4. In the next bout, Chamarro faced Groth, who he defeated 15-5. Then waiting in the wings was Eric Wilson of Staples High School. Chamarro once again came away victorious, with another 15-4 win. In the semifinal round, he met an old foe in Paul Greenleaf of Guilford High School. Greenleaf was able to defeat Chamarro 15-6, as he finished the day in third place.
Finally, in saber, Butler took on Demani Howard of Morgan High School. Howard defeated Butler in a close 15-12 battle.
Lynch faced Dylan Amos of Greenwich in the first round and won 15-3. In the second round, he took on the No. 1 seed in Mateus Witczak of The Hopkins School, where he fell 15-6 and claimed a 14th-place finish.
Swift came out of pools as the No. 4 seed. After a bye, Swift defeated David Zhang of Guilford 15-9. In the next contest, he faced Alexander Francois of the Center for Global Studies, where he fell 15-7, and Francois went on to win the tournament. Swift finished the day in seventh place.
The boys will part ways with an incredible senior captain in Tapia–leaving an indelible mark on the program as its most decorated épée competitor. Hanley, along with fellow senior Lily Paine, will be attending and fencing for Vassar College next year. Himself, along with several additional seniors, certainly cemented their stamp with the Tigers by attaining multiple accolades.
“Hanley burst onto the scene as a sophomore. He leaves Hand as our most accomplished men’s épée fencer, with a team state title and multiple All-State Team honors. Everyone loves Hanley; he has an affable personality, commitment to improving, and compassion for his teammates. His presence will be missed next year for sure,” said Ginsburg. “Paine and Anna Ferrucci leave us as easily the most accomplished saber fencers in Hand history. They have accounted for multiple state titles, conference titles, and All-State Team honors. They both take the initiative to work with our novice fencers, share their expertise, and obviously work hard to be good at what they do. Our women’s epee team has been led by seniors Arianna Takyar, Addy Morada, and Norah Stotz for the last two years. They have been a force to be reckoned with, both in the conference and the state.”
The top eight placeholders in each discipline nabbed All-State Team honors at Individual States. With six finishes in the top eight, Hand tied Guilford for the most All-State reps for the year. Based on the results of this tournament, all of the girls’ teams qualified for the Team State Championships, along with the épée and saber teams on the boys’ side.
On March 9, Hand traveled to Morgan High School for the Team State Championships. There are three rounds in the tournament. Each round is a best of nine meet, which ends as soon as a team reaches five victories.
In the girls’ bracket, the foil team entered the event seeded in sixth place. The team featured captain Hagan and juniors Ryan and Wiles, and Kassidy Layton was the alternate. In the first round, Hand took on the No. 3 seed, Waterford, and fell 5-2. In the second round, the girls faced New London, where the Tigers were victorious 5-3. In the final round, Hand took on host Morgan, where they fell 5-4, ending their day in sixth place.
The saber team began the day seeded in first place. The squad was led by Ferrucci, Paine, and O’Malley, with senior Jacqui Vyce as the alternate. The two-time reigning champions first took on Simsbury in the first round, defeating them 5-1. In the second round, they faced Guilford, where they lost a heartbreaking 5-4 meet. It put the women in the third place bracket, where they fell to The Hopkins School 5-3 to finish fourth.
The épée team, seeded third, featured Stotz, Morada, and Takyar, with sophomore Amber Kittel as the alternate. They took on Morgan in the first round and defeated them 5-1. In the second round, they faced second-ranked Guilford, where they came away with a 5-2 upset. In the gold medal clash, they took on an old foe in the women from North Haven. Hand came up just short, losing 5-3, finishing the day in second place. Overall, the girls finished the year in second place, as Guilford finished in first.
On the boys’ side, the foil squad finished in ninth place, with only the top eight teams moving on to the state tournament. The men’s foil squad featured Chamarro, Looby, and Rode. Sophomore Noah Enjalran was the alternate.
The saber squad entered the state tournament in fourth place. The team was led by Lynch, Butler, and Swift. Junior Will Cassidy was an alternate. In the first round, the men faced a fifth-seeded Greenwich team, winning 5-3. In the second round, Hand took on top-seeded Hopkins. Hopkins proved to be the better team, coming away with a 5-3 win. In the third-place medal round, Hand took on Guilford, with the Grizzlies winning 5-2 to have Hand finish fourth.
Finally, the épée team was led by Tapia, junior Max Stein, and Ginsburg. Junior Mason Johnson was the alternate. The seventh-ranked Hand team faced No. 2 St. Bernard in the first round. Hand was able to pull off the upset, via winning 5-3. In the second round, Hand faced third seeded Cheshire, who was undefeated as a team this season. It was an incredibly competitive match, but Hand fell by a close 5-4 margin.
Meanwhile, the Tigers faced Morgan in the bronze matchup. With the score tied 4-4, Stein took on Anthony Strungo. Strungo took a quick 3-1 lead, but Stein hung in there, scoring the next four touches to win the bout and the meet for Hand, giving the squad third place. The boys finished second overall on the day as a group.
The boys’ foil (posting a record of 10-6 overall, 4th in the Central Connecticut Fencing Conference, or CCFC) roster is comprised of Chamorro, Looby, Rode, Matt Stella, Sean Brassington, Jude Cappiello, Enjalran, Gedeon Lariviere, Aidas Sullivan, Griffin Brodie, and Jake Gordillo. Boys’ sabre (14-2; conference runner-up) includes Butler, Cassidy, Lynch, Joshua Lee, Alfred Parkyn, Adam Stotz, Jack Varone, Eli Boyer, Pabloe Correa, and Swift. Boys’ épée (13-5; third in conference) includes Tapia, Mason Johnson, Nicholas LeBlanc, Stein, David Bixon, Henry Diana, Robbie Ginsburg, Alexander Johnson, Maksym Bonalsky, James Boyd, and Jack Johnson.
The girls’ foil (13-3; second in CCFC) roster is made up of Hagan, Layton, Cameron Cohen, Cora Davia, Ryan, Wiles, Caroline Farmer, and Kathryn Franson. The sabre squad (13-3; top seed for Team States) includes Ferrucci, Paine, Vyce, O’Malley, Kasey Chen, Claire Morris, Maewyn Griswold, and Nevaeh Hastings. The épée club (15-3 as CCFC conference champions) was Tess Kayal, Morada, Stotz, Takyar, Kittel, Emeline Mannix, Brynn Vuolo, Jaynet Dopico, Alyssa Gentil, and Madison Peete.