The Columbia High School Boys’ and Girls’ Fencing teams both had challenging — and rewarding — weekends.
On Saturday, Jan. 14, the men’s team won the Cetrulo Tournament for the 5th consecutive year, beating Ridge by just one point.
The nine-hour tournament is a test of stamina — something Columbia prepares for in advance, according to Head Coach Daryl White. White told NJ.com: “We have specific conditioning drills that are geared to an all-day tournament. Our conditioning really helps us and our balance.”
NJ.com gave shoutouts to CHS’s Elijah Navlen (epee), Matt Rothenberg (sabre), Sebastian Clarke (foil) and sophomore Aaron Waldner (saber).
Read the full NJ.com story on Cetrulo and see more photos here.
The women’s team took 3rd place in the Santelli Tournament, missing out narrowly to 2nd place Ridge. Bergen Tech won the tournament for the first time ever — a major accomplishment as CHS has dominated in recent years.
In fact, Columbia loomed large in the minds of its competitors. As Bergen Tech junior Madeline Chang (foil) told NJ.com, “Columbia, especially their foil squad, is just really good,” Chang added. “It meant a lot for us to beat them. We do a lot of practice. As we went through the day, it became more and more tiring to fence.”
NJ.com features a number of photos of CHS’s Isabelle Wendt (epee) in its coverage of the tournament.
Read the full NJ.com story and see photos from the Santelli Tournament here.
About 50 schools compete in these statewide tournaments. Both were held at Drew University.
Click on photos to enlarge:
