Ramapo Fencers Win Three Meets in a Row

Coming off of earlier victories this season against Nyack, West Milford, and Passaic Valley, the Ramapo fencing team has enjoyed three back-to-back victories over the past week, including one against its rival from Don Bosco. Team Coach Paul Apostol provided Patch with the following recaps of he team’s matches this week.

Ramapo Overwhelms Don Bosco 20-7 (14-7)  - January 7

Ramapo fencers trained very hard for this meet against archrival, Don Bosco. The Team was determined to avenge last year’s 13-14 loss to Don Bosco when Ramapo was missing one of its starters. This time, fencing confidently with all nine of their starters, the Green Raiders were unstoppable.

In an unusual turnabout, Ramapo sabreists, did not deliver their usual sweep of the first three bouts, instead going 2-1.  But in a happy reversal of recent hard times, the foil squad went 2-1 against Don Bosco foilists who scored much higher than Ramapo in the recent Cetrulo tournament. Ramapo epeeist were expected to carry their own against a comparably strong Bosco epee squad and they came through with a 2-1 record to give Ramapo a 6-3 lead at the end of the first round.

Against an opponent as strong as Don Bosco we made only one substitution in the second round. Again, all three squads went 2-1 to bring the score at the end the second round to 12-6. Then sabreists again scored two victories in the third round, with Junior Adam Carcione delivering the crucial 14th victory to clinch the meet at 14-7. Losing so decisively must have taken the wind out of Don Bosco’s sails because they were unable to win another bout putting Ramapo ahead 20-7 at the end of the meet.

The most exciting development at this meet was that Ramapo foilists, who have been struggling, fenced better that they halve all season to produce a 7-2 record.

Foilists, seniors, Dan Kim and Eugene Won took their fencing to a whole new level in this meet, as they both made three victories today. Two of Dan’s victories were by decisive scores of 5-0 and 5-1, while two of Eugene’s victories were 5-0. They both have developed lightning fast counter attacks that catch their opponents in the middle of their attacks, leaving them helpless to score on offense. Junior Jacob Tatz produced the seventh victory for the squad in the 3rd round by relentlessly attacking his opponent. Wherever the foil squad’s talent has been hiding until now, the Team is delighted to have it burst onto the scene in time for the Districts in three weeks.

Ramapo epeeists also produced an excellent 7-2 record behind outstanding fencing by Squad Captain, senior Matt Martone who had convincing 5-1, 5-2 and 5-2 bouts. Junior Adam Polevoy delivered two victories but not without causing some serious edge of your seat tension. In his first bout Adam was behind 0-3, then 2-4, but tenaciously held on to produce a 5-4 victory. In his second bout he was behind 0-3, then 3-4 before landing the last two touches to win. Third round subs Matt Rizzo and John Lim delivered strong performances, winning 5-2 and 5-1, to round out the epee squads winning performance.

In sabre, Overall Team Captain, senior Alex Gorloff fenced brilliantly, as usual. He dominated all three of his opponents with scores of 5-2, 5-1 and 5-2. At 6’2” with an extremely long reach, Alex repeatedly surprises opponents by hitting them from great distances when they think he is too far away to score.  Junior Adam Carcione also scored impressive victories with scores of 5-0, 5-3 and 5-2. Adam’s greatest asset is his speed.  He rarely meets an opponent who can cover short or long distances on the strip as fast as Adam. Unfortunately, senior Chris Muller who has done an excellent job on the C-strip, jammed his thumb and had to withdraw from the meet.

Ramapo Dominates Pompton Lakes 19-8 (14-0) – January 15

Ramapo fencers maintained the high caliber fencing that they demonstrated in their victory over Don Bosco and won the first fourteen bouts to clinch the meet against Pompton Lakes at 14-0. The dominant performance by our starters allowed us to substitute all nine of them in the second round. The subs also fenced well and produced a 6-3 record. Ramapo subbed all nine positions again in the 3rd round so that a total of 27 fencers got to compete.

Sabre starters, seniors, Alex Gorloff, Overall Team Captain, and Chris Muller, Sabre Squad Captain, as well as junior, Adam Carcione all produced decisive wins. Chris won his bout 5-0 with a quick series of touches.  Second round subs, senior Greg Duch, and juniors, Dan Carione and Josh Pokorny also swept their opponents with strong 5-2 bouts. Third round subs junior, JJ Marcus and freshman Chris Caparusio also added two more wins to bring the squad total to 8-1. Chris’ win was his first in a Varsity meet.

The foil squad produced a 6-3 record behind a first round sweep by starters, seniors Dan Kim and Eugene Won, and junior Eric Sloezen. Second round subs, juniors Jacob Tatz and Nick Bonini both won their bouts 5-2. Finally, third round sub, freshman, Spencer Yacos produced the sixth win. This was Spencer’s first win, with a score of 5-3, in a Varsity meet . His excitement on landing the winning touch animated the whole Team.

Epee starters, seniors, Matt Martone, Squad Captain, and Michael Daly, along with junior, Adam Polevoy swept their first round opponents. Matt won his bout convincingly with a 5-1 score. Junior, Matt Rizzo was the only second round sub to win his bout but he did it with a decisive 5-1 score. Sophomore, Yanni Panagiotopoulos added the final win in the epee squad’s 5-4 performance. This was Yanni’s first win in a Varsity meet.

Their was also a JV meet in sabre and foil only which Ramapo won 12-6. Sabreists, Dan Carione, Josh Pokorny, Chris Caparuscio, Brian Lim, and David Hong all won their bouts. Epeeists, Matt Rizzo, John Lim, Gerry Stamatelatos, Yanni Panagiotopoulos, and Lucas Sherwin all won their bouts. Cameron Breckenridge fenced twice and won both bouts.

Ramapo Defeats Fair Lawn 21-6 (14-4) – January 16

Ramapo fencers encountered some strong opposition in both foil an epee in the first round and finished the round with a 7-2 score. We made one substitution in sabre and one in foil for the second round and the Team went 7-2 again, with senior, Matt Martone, delivering the winning 14th victory with a decisive 5-0 bout. For the third round all nine fencers were subs and they produced a 7-2 record to bring the overall score to 21-6. All told, 21 Ramapo fencers competed in the meet.

Sabre starters, seniors, Alex Gorloff, Overall Team Captain, and Chris Muller, Sabre Squad Captain, as well as junior, Adam Carcione all produced decisive wins. Alex won his bout 5-2 while Chris and Adam overwhelmed their opponents with 5-0 scores. Both bouts were over in less than a minute of fencing time. Senior, Greg Duch entered the lineup for the second round, secured a quick victory, and brought the squad’s record up to 6-0. Third round subs juniors, Dan Carione and JJ Marcus both won their bouts 5-0 to bring the sabre squad’s record to 8-1.

Ramapo epeeists also produced an 8-1 record. Starters, senior, Michael Daly and junior, Adam Polevoy each went 2-0. Some of their wins were strong, like Michael’s 5-2 and 5-1 bouts, but others like Adam’s come from behind 5-4 win in his second bout were cliffhangers. Senior, Matt Martone contributed one win as did third round subs senior, Ed Lim, and juniors John Lim and Matt Rizzo. The epee squad’s recent strong performances are very encouraging. A strong epee squad would add tremendous strength to the overall Team in events like the upcoming Bergen Tech 5 way meet on 1/25 (essentially a Bergen County Championship) and the District Championship on 2/1).

The Ramapo foil squad encountered some strong opponents. Senior, Dan Kim fenced extremely well, as he has in recent meets, and produced two victories, both by scores of 5-0.

Eugene Won ran into some difficulties with the unorthodox style of one of the Fair Lawn foilists, but beat his other opponent by 5-0. Subs, juniors Jacob Tatz and Nick Bonini also produced decisive 5-1 victories to bring the squad’s record to 5-4. Even at 5-4 the foil squad’s contribution would be an enormous help in the upcoming tournaments.