The Guilford fencing team has been known for success. Breading a variety of talented athletes always eager to win, the squad enters every season hoping for championship hardware.

On the strip this winter, the Grizzlies, who found themselves as state champions a year ago, reached that same accomplishment. As both the men’s and women’s clubs won the Team State Championships, Assistant Coach Mark Kissinger was proud of the athletes and their focus all season.

“The season went great, we met our goal to win overall men's and women's in the Team States tournament, and we also took home the overall men's trophy in our Conference Championships,” said Kissinger. “We had a fantastic day at the Team Championships, where we competed in a bracket with the top eight schools in the state in each of six divisions. For the women’s squads, foil placed third, epee placed fourth, and sabre placed second. For the men’s squads, foil placed fourth, epee placed fifth, and sabre placed third.”

On March 2, the Grizzlies traveled to the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Woodbridge, where they competed at the Individual State Championships. Guilford went into this tournament knowing they wanted to qualify all six squads for the team competition, and they were able to do just that.

Fencers that finished in the top eight at the Individual State Championships included Addie Weed (junior, tied for third place) in the women’s foil, Paul Greenleaf (senior, second place) and Fox Howard (freshman, eighth place) in the men’s foil, Flora Zhang (senior, captain, sixth place) in the women’s epee, Jackson Howard (senior, second place) in the men’s epee, and Kylin Broderick (senior, tied for third place) in the women’s sabre. Weed, Broderick, Greenleaf, and Jackson Howard were members of the All-State First Team, and Zhang and Fox Howard were named to the All-State Second Team.

The team leaders helped keep the Guilford club in check all winter long, as they each played a role in making sure everyone stayed motivated and locked in on the team’s goals.

“There were a number of top contributors, but standouts were Kylin Broderick in women's sabre, Paul Greenleaf in men's foil, and Jackson Howard in men's epee,” said Kissinger. “The captains and squad leaders were instrumental in keeping their groups focused and working hard all season, and the results paid off.”

On Feb. 24, the Grizzlies held the Central Connecticut Fencing Conference (CCFC) Championships.

“We were happy with the results of the conference championships. There were a lot of fencers that not only placed in their squads but also received All-Academic and All-Conference awards,” said Kissinger. “It is a single elimination tournament, so it is high-pressure, but the fencers stayed focused and did their best.”

The men’s overall team won first place and took home a piece of hardware. For the individual squads for the men’s team, foil placed second, and epee and sabre both placed first.

The women’s overall team finished in third place, tying with Hand in placings, however, Guilford started with a higher seed, eventually placing second. For the individual squads for the women’s team, foil placed first, epee placed fourth, and sabre placed second.

Cassie Granata (senior, sabre), Zhang, Jason Li (captain, senior, sabre), Greenleaf, and Jackson Howard received academic awards for the CCFC.

First Team All-Conference fencers included Greenleaf, Ella Greenleaf (sophomore, foil), Zhang, Jackson Howard, Granata, and Li. Fencers on the All-Conference Second Team were Jack Rasmussen (senior, foil), Fox Howard, Weed, Avery Spagone (senior, epee), Erica Zhang (sophomore, sabre), and Ben Libby (junior, sabre).

The Grizzlies achieved several of their goals that they had set in the beginning of the season, but it didn’t come easily. The team had to be prepared for any situation in the campaign, and they found themselves having to make adjustments when fencers came down with injuries or sicknesses.

“We had a very good season morale-wise, and our Armorer John Greenleaf kept our gear functioning perfectly so there were no challenges there. The only minor challenge we had was needing to adjust and fill in for varsity starters when fencers got ill or could not make meets,” said Kissinger. “We managed this by filling in varsity alternates when necessary. We really appreciate their contributions in training hard and being ready to step in at a moment's notice, even if they feel they are over-matched at the varsity level.”

The Grizzlies will be graduating 12 seniors in the spring, but they hope to return all of the remaining fencers, especially now that they all have experience under their belts.

“Next year, we are looking forward to continuing our success at the individual and team level and working hard to get our novice and JV fencers the training and experience they need to fence at the varsity level,” said Kissinger. “We are also excited to work with a new set of captains and squad leaders, as they motivate their fencers and learn leadership skills that will help them excel in their future endeavors.”

The Grizzlies are coached by Dexter Lourenco, and he is assisted by Mark Kissinger and Ben Kissinger.

The Grizzlies full team roster is comprised of Broderick, Josh Cooper (senior, sabre), Granata, Jackson Howard, Tessa Kissinger (senior, epee), Li, Rasmussen, Kate Romanenko (senior, epee), Zhang, Charlie Canapari (junior, foil), Libby, Conor O’Leary (junior, epee), Rohan Patel (junior, foil), Ray Schmidt (junior, epee), Weed, Tessa Antonakis (sophomore, epee), Ella Greenleaf, Anna Hastings (sophomore, sabre), Luke Kissinger (sophomore, epee), Riley Maturo (sophomore, epee), Lyra Monaco (sophomore, epee), Teddy Morris (sophomore, foil), Emily O’Sullivan (sophomore, sabre), Sydney Pierson (sophomore, sabre), Tao Pradith (sophomore, epee), Brooklyn Smith (sophomore, epee), Jack Trotter (sophomore, epee), Allison Underwood (sophomore, epee), Addy Woodhouse (sophomore, foil), Erica Zhang, Aiden Anatra (freshman, epee), Syd Batters (freshman, foil), Ridhaan Chavan (freshman, epee), Jazzy Douglas (freshman, foil), Lia Faria (freshman, sabred), Fox Howard, Lily James (freshman, epee), Mars Kje Sin (freshman, sabre), Zeno Kockleman (freshman, sabre), Aarav Nadgouda (freshman, sabre), Maddy Ojeda (freshman, epee), Irene Opoku-Gyamfi (freshman, foil), Masa Toma (freshman, foil), Luca Toomre (freshman, foil), Michael Zeranski (freshman, sabre), and David Zhang (freshman, sabre).