Kokenge Wins State Epee Title

February 26th ,2023

After over 5 hours of fencing at the New Jersey State Individual Fencing Championships at Bernards High on Sunday February 26th, freshman epee Reid Kokenge walked away with the gold medal. Battling a field of 38 qualifying fencers from around the state through 3 rounds of pools, it came down to the final pool of 8 to determine the state champion. Both Kokenge and defending state champion, junior Lawrence He of Princeton, tied at the end of the final round with 6 wins each. It came down to a 3 minute fence off which was tied 1-1 after regulation. In the overtime 1 minute period Kokenge got the final touch on a counterattack to win the state title.

The foil and saber fencers also did battle on Sunday for a claim on a state championship title. Ridge foil fencer, senior Lawrence Han, grabbed the 2nd place finish. His final pool round of 8 also resulted in a tie. In a fence off with Sam Fu of Millburn, Han fell just short, settling for the silver medal. Ridge foil fencer, junior Alex Ligos, finished strong in 7th place, while on the girl’s side epee fencer Chloe Yang closed out her senior season in 7th place as well.