This article was submitted by a team parent.
The Columbia boys and girls fencing teams traveled to Morris Hills High School on Wednesday, Feb. 25, to defend their state titles. The girls succeeded, prevailing against Pingry to earn their 12th state championship—a record. The boys fell short by one heartbreaking touch, falling to Ridge, which they had defeated at the state final just last year.
For the girls, the evening could be summed up in one word: unstoppable. That would also be a good descriptor for their inexorable march to the state final. And though the common disclaimer “past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results” applies to most things, for the girls’ team this year, past performance did indicate the likely outcome of the girls’ title meet. Having won the Santelli trophy as well as the inaugural District 5 title; having placed 5th in saber, 2nd in epee, and 1st in foil at Squad States; and having defeated all of their opponents in the postseason by a wide margin, Columbia’s odds were very good.
Seventh-seeded Pingry arrived at the state final having shown tenacity in upsetting second-seed Ridge in the Elite 8 and edging out sixth-seed Montgomery in the Final Four.
But that perseverance was not enough to stop the onslaught from Columbia. The first round started with a saber sweep by Blessing Olaode, Celia Accardi, and Natalie Martinez. The foil round, which had a much more even matchup, saw a rare defeat of A-strip Sam Viqueira by Pingry’s Kate Northrop in a tense bout that went into overtime and ended with a score of 2-1. Marissa Viqueira also faced a tough opponent but was able to notch a 3-2 victory. Camille Pham closed out the foil round with a 5-1 win. Pingry was able to score two victories in epee, but C-strip Brigid Lynch prevailed with a 5-0 win to prevent an epee sweep.
The second round began with yet another saber sweep, followed by wins by the Viqueira sisters in foil. Victories by Nina Kambili and Lynch in epee gave Columbia a 13-5 lead. Martinez had the honor of clinching, and seniors Olaode and Accardi wrapped up the final dual-meet bouts of their high school careers with two more wins, for an impressive 9-0 sweep in saber for the night. Sam notched the final Columbia win, for a final score of 17-10.
On the other side of the gym, a much different clash was taking place. The Columbia boys’ fencing team has been no stranger to hard-fought meets all year. Five of their 15 wins came with clutch epee performances in the 25th or 26th bout. No one doubted that this year’s state championship rematch against undefeated Ridge would indeed be a battle of equals.
Columbia’s strength was its saber squad. Andrew Doddo, Gordon Rutledge, and Harrison Woods proved that with a first-round sweep. Ridge’s strength was its foil squad, which followed with a commanding sweep of their own. Epee was the toss-up, but only Bryn Hammarberg could record a first-round victory. Ridge led 5-4 going into the second round.
Doddo and Rutledge notched saber wins, but Ridge again swept foil, giving them a 9-6 advantage going into second-round epee. Hammarberg, Sam Gomberg, and Marcus Jamison then dug in their heels and countered with a sweep of their own to knot the score at 9-9 going into the final round.
Once again Columbia’s saber and Ridge’s foil teams swept, setting up a last-round epee showdown. “Miracle” Marcus Jamison couldn’t pull off the A-strip/C-strip upset this time, so Hammarberg’s dominating 5-0 victory put the deciding bout in the hands of B-strip Gomberg. Patiently and deliberately, Gomberg and his opponent, Felix Yin, fought to a 2-2 draw when time expired. Priority went Ridge’s way, so Gomberg would be forced to press. He did just that and tactfully backed Yin to his end of the strip. But with 19 seconds to go, Sam’s last attack fell just short and Yin’s counter landed. Point, match, meet.
Columbia High School Boys Fencing team after winning the silver in the state championships.
Though disappointed by no “three-peat,” Columbia’s seniors can look back on a combined four-year record with only three losses, two of which were in the last bout of the state championships. A job well done.
