Watchung Hills Boys Fencers Fall in State Tournament

The boys fencing team of Watchung Hills Regional High School lost to No. 3 seeded Montgomery, 11-16, in the NJSIAA/Bollinger State Tournament playoffs Tuesday night at Montgomery High School.

Watchung Hills was seeded sixth in the tournament and is currently ranked No.7 in the Star Ledger Top 10 boys fencing teams in New Jersey.

The sabre squad got off to a good start with Coles Degeorges and Sampson Ho defeating their opponents. Foil had a rough time against Paul Won & Co. but epeeists Eric Gardner and Cassius Ali pulled the Watchung fencers within one-point at the conclusion of the first round.

Spirits rose as Alex Sadowski and Degeorges both won their bouts, followed by dramatic come-from-behind wins by Yash Srivastava and Yi-ming Lee.

Sporting an 8-7 lead with Watchung’s epee squad taking the strip, Gardner lost a 5-4 decision to Mir Ali, as Watchung fell behind 10-8 with losses in the final two bouts of the round.

Nick Sledeski and Montgomery’s C strip both won their bouts, giving the home team a 12-8 lead. Ho and Srivastava won the next two bouts in sabre and foil to give the Warriors a chance, but Montgomery's Won and Zheng closed out the foilists to garner the victory at 14-10. Sophomore Joey Cline added a victory in his epee bout to earn Watchung its final point.

Watchung Hills Boys Fencing finished one of their best seasons with a 9-3 record, second place in District 1 and a Star Ledger Top Ten ranking this season.

The epeeists will fence Saturday, Feb. 25 in the Squad State Tournament at North Hunterdon High School. The  Individual State Championships will be held in March; Gardner and team captain Joe Kong will compete for honors in epee and Degeorges will seek to medal in sabre.