Ridge Boys Fencing Wins District Title, Ridge Girls Take Second

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Ridge boys fencing team captured the overall team title at the District 5 Championships held at Montgomery High School on Sunday, Feb. 11.

Ridge battled Voorhees, Christian Brothers, Watchung Hills, Bernards, Governor Livingston, Dr. Ronald McNair, Gil St. Bernards, Bayonne, and Pingry to take the title.

The epee squad of sophomore Reid Kokenge, junior Ethan Zhang, and senior Max Wang turned in an impressive performance to win gold. Kokenge went 9/9 on the A strip, Zhang was 7/9 on the B strip and Wang was 9/9 on the C strip.

The foil squad of Alex Ligos, Girish Arul, and Christopher Zheng brought home a bronze medal, while the sabre squad of Tadas Vilemaitis, Tristin Orthmann, and Ben Schuchman placed 6th. The team efforts of all combined weapons gave Ridge boys the overall gold.

The Ridge girls earned runner-up honors in the overall team competition with stellar first-place finishes from both the foil and epee squads.

On the gold winning foil squad, freshman Maya Zamlynny went 7/8 on the A strip, junior Yasemin Ocak was 6/8 on the B strip, and sophomore Aria Chahal was 5/7 on the C strip.

On the gold winning epee squad, sophomore Charlotte Liu was 7/8 on the A Strip, junior Ashley Maschhoff was 4/8 on the B strip, and junior Claire Muisener was 6/7 on the C strip.

The sabre squad of Eva Chen, Kaavya Padhi, and Emerson Rever took 6th place.

The following fencers also punched their ticket to the State Individual Tournament at Hunterdon Central High School on Saturday, March 2 based on their district performance: Alex Ligos, Max Wang, Ethan Zhang, Reid Kokenge, Maya Zamlynny, Yasemin Ocak, Aria Chahal, Charlotte Liu, and Claire Muisener.

— Submitted by Ridge High Fencing Association