Ridge Boys Fencers Capture Overall Title At District 5 Championships

Febuary 12th, 2023

Patch report

The Ridge boys fencers captured the overall team title on Sunday, February 12 at the District 5 Championships held at Montgomery High School. In one of the more competitive districts in the state, the Red Devils went up against Voorhees, Christian Brothers Academy, Governor Livingston, Watchung Hills, Bernards, Pingry, Gil St Bernards, and Bayonne.

The foil squad of senior Dayaal Singh, senior Lawrence Han, and junior Alex Ligos turned in a brilliant performance to win gold. All three fencers were perfect on the day with 8 wins each, and had a combined impressive indicator score ( points won vs. lost) of +96. This was 64 points more than the second place foil squad.

The epee squad of freshman Reid Kokenge, sophomore Ethan Zhang, and junior Ben Chang brought home the silver medal. Kokenge was perfect on the day with 8 wins, while Zhang won 7 and Chang had 5 victories. Both Ridge and first place Voorhees finished with 20 wins, but the Ridge squad was outscored on indicator points.

Ridge’s saber squad of senior Daniel George, senior David Elian, freshman Tadas Vilemaitis, and senior Brandon Wong, held their own for a 5th place finish. The team effort of all combined weapons gave Ridge boys the overall gold.

Ridge girls fencers were also in action and both the epee and foil squads came home with silver medals. The epee squad of senior KKushi Verma, senior Chloe Yang, and freshman Charlotte Lui finished strong with both Yang and Liu winning 6 out of 7 bouts. The foil squad included sophomore Yasemin Ocak, freshman Aria Chahal, and freshman Eunice Kim. 

The following fencers also punched their ticket to the State Individual Tournament at Bernards High on Sunday, February 26th based on their district performance: Dayaal Singh, Lawrence Han, Alex Ligos, Reid Kokenge, Ethan Zhang, Chloe Yang, and Charlotte Liu.

With their performance the Ridge boys fencers will be positioned as a top seed in the state team tournament. The opening round of 16 begins on Tuesday February 14th.