Ridge Epee Fencers Win Cetrulo Title

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — In what is touted as the world’s largest high school fencing tournament, the Ridge epee fencers came out on top.

The annual Cetrulo fencing tournament was held on Sunday, Jan. 21 at Drew University and 55 teams gathered to compete for titles in each weapon (sabre, foil, and epee) and the overall title.

In the morning preliminary pools, the Ridge fencers posted a 16-2 record, good enough to get them into the afternoon pool of the top 8 teams.

In the final afternoon pool, sophomore Reid Kokenge, fencing on the A strip, went 5-2 against some stiff competition. Junior Ethan Zhang on the B strip was 6-1, and Senior Max Wang was stellar on the C strip with a perfect 7-0 record. Freshman Alex Yang also contributed a win on the C strip in the morning competition.

After approximately 8 hours of fencing, Ridge’s overall record of 18-3 gave them the title over second place, The Hun School, with 15 wins.

Other notable performances came from the Ridge boys overall team (all combined weapons) finishing in 6th place, and the Ridge girls foil squad with a 7th place finish at the Santelli Tournament, which was held on Saturday, Jan. 20.

— Submitted by Jodi Kokenge