Chatham Fencing Coaches, Team Members Bring Home National Medals

CHATHAM, NJ — A pair of siblings who had been members of Chatham High School’s boys varsity fencing team, plus one of them now as a team coach with two fellow Chatham High School coaches, have all taken home medals from the USA Fencing Summer Nationals’ season championship event in Philadelphia.

Darren Yen - now part of the NYU fencing team and a coach at the high school - and his brother Preston, who plans to participate with Case Western Reserve University’s fencing club in Ohio this fall, competed in several events each during the championship, from July 3 through 12.

Darren Yen took first place, a gold medal and renewed a national A rating during this past Saturday’s Division-1A of men’s sabre.

Preston Yen took second place, a silver medal and a national B rating, which he upped from a C rating he grabbed in May.

The Yen brothers, who are coached by Al Girof of Chatham’s Integrity Fencing Studio and made it to the gold medal championship, were part of the high school’s varsity fencing team all four years, where they'd each served as saber squad captain and team captain.

Darren Yen, who also competed at the coach level with a group from his college in the Senior Men’s Sabre Team, took home a bronze medal on July 5.

Chatham High School coaches Hunter Stusnick and Jerry Duffey additionally competed and were bronze medals winners. Stusnick, with the Medeo club in the Senior Men’s Epee, took home his bronze on July 5, with Duffey as part of the Men’s Sabre Team grabbing a bronze medal on July 8.

“We always want to fence more,” Yen said. “This was a great way to add some extra bouts during Nationals with a little more fun and we worked well together. The bronze was a nice extra."

"It was a lot of fun to fence with the top tier of fencers and match their level,” said Stusnick. “We won most of our bouts by sticking to a strategy and being very disciplined.”

“We had a lot of good energy as a team which we knew was important to keep our momentum going especially for the bronze medal bout after losing in the semi-final round,” Stusnick added.

"My team came together at the last minute but we clicked right away,” Duffey said. “The camaraderie really helped us push further together.”

“Team support is key,” Duffey also said. “The high school team members constantly inspire us to push our own fencing further to prepare for the next Winter season with our Chatham kids."

For students interested in a role with Chatham High School’s fencing team, whether as fencers, armorers, videographers or photographers, they are welcome to a picnic the team is hosting on Wednesday. No experience or gear is required to attend. Contact [email protected] for more information about the picnic.

To learn more about Integrity Fencing Studio, click here.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at [email protected].