MHS fencing tops Ridge in strong start
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Nick Bradley was anticipating a good season for the Montgomery High School boys fencing team, and three matches in, it’s already better than he could have expected.
The Cougars went into their winter break after a 14-13 win over Ridge on Dec. 21.
”Winning against Ridge was probably the biggest win we’ll have this season in a dual meet,” said Bradley, a senior captain of the Cougars along with Austin Heath. “Last year, we got beat badly by them. To win against them, even if it was close, it bodes well for the season.”
Last year, the Red Devils took the pre-break matchup, 17-10. In that match, the Cougars didn’t win any of the weapons. It was a far cry from this season when they got 3-0 days from A strip fencers Nicholas Sledeski (sabre), Mir Ali (epee) and Paul Won (foil) to pace the third win in three matches to open the season.
”I think the key against Ridge was definitely our foils and our epees,” said Bradley, who is the B strip sabre. “Their sabre is really strong. Only our A got wins. Our foils and epees have come up so much since last year. The sabers, we were fighting, but the foils and epees stayed strong the entire meet. If they had had been weak or off their game, we very well may have lost that meet.”
The Cougars didn’t lose much from last year, save for sabres Alex Kass and Bill McKechnie. That put expectations high for the fourth-year program.
”I have my whole team back,” said MHS boys coach Tim Sullivan. “A couple kids really improved and I have a superstar freshman (Won).
”One weapon that was a problem last year was foil. Ridge’s foil, going into the Santelli (tournament), they were ranked No. 1 and we beat them, 6-3. That really helped us. Ridge is also the No. 1 team going into the tournament. We went in there, we said we have nothing to lose. It turned out to be one of the best wins for the boys program. Right before the break, it was a good experience.”
Bradley thinks that the Cougars could surprise some teams this year, but that’s less likely to happen now that opponents can judge for themselves the strength of MHS after a 20-7 win over an albeit short-handed West Windsor-Plainsboro South team and the upset of Ridge. The Cougars are gaining momentum with each match.
”I think that we were confident going into the meet,” Bradley said. “The meet before that we had just beat West Windsor South really badly. We were really confident going in having two straight wins. I think we were really surprised to have won. I think we were expecting a close loss.”
Instead, it’s a close Cougars win and a boost of confidence as they head back into competition. MHS will host Pingry on Tuesday, Hunterdon Central on Thursday, then fence in the Santelli tournament Jan. 9.
”Santelli is the key indicator of how a team will do in the season,” Bradley said. “If they’re hot, they’ll stay hot. We’re looking forward to it.”
Added Sullivan: “We’ll find a lot out the weekend after we come back. In the Santelli, you get to see how you stand against pressure. My foil is really young. My top two are a freshman and sophomore, but my next two are seniors. The epee should be strong. There’s no really dominant A strip fencers, but there’s a lot of really good B strip-type fencers.”
Bradley is hoping to help the sabre squad sneak up to surprise some teams. He’s put in work since last season at the Fencing Academy of South Jersey.
”I fought hard to hold onto C strip last year,” Bradley said. “The first half, I didn’t fence varsity all the time. This year, I’m B strip now and I don’t want to sound too confident, but I think I’ve got that locked down.”
Bradley began fencing epee as a freshman, but not being tall and lanky like many of the best epeeists, he switched to sabre in his sophomore year.
”Since then, I’ve been learning how to fence sabre,” he said. “There are a lot of nuances that I had to pick up (sophomore) year. Last year, I went from learning to fine-tuning it.”
This season, he’s continued to improve, as has the Cougar team overall.
”A lot of kids have really stepped up,” Sullivan said. “Our epee team, everyone came back and last year we finished No. 3 overall in the state. One kid who was B strip, he’s A strip now — Mir Ali. A kid who was No. 5 or 6 has stepped up to the B now. So the competition is really strong among the epee team. There are five guys that every team would love to have start for them. That’s going to be the hardest part for me, picking who starts. They’re all strong in their own ways.”
The foil also received a boost with the influx of Won. The freshman made a quick impact, particularly with his 3-0 day against Ridge.
”He’s come up really big so far,” Sullivan said. “He took out a kid who’s one of the top fencers in the state from Ridge. He’s young. I know he’ll have some mistakes, but he’s a nice addition. We really received no points from the foil last year. We’re a much better team.”
Said Bradley: “Johan Zhang, our B strip, improved so much I can hardly believe it’s the same person.”
It’s what Bradley was expecting when the year began. Even after losing a couple of sabre fencers, he saw early the potential for Montgomery.
”After last year, I really had high hopes for the team,” he said. “I knew almost the entire guys team would be coming back. We were a tight group last year and I knew we’d be tight group this year.”
Sullivan is counting on Bradley and Heath to be strong captains for this year’s group. They have gotten the Cougars off to a good start.
”They’re doing well so far,” Sullivan said. “They’ve been around since the start of the program and seen how far we came this year. They see the potential of what we have in front of us this year. It’s a great group of kids. A lot of good kids are stepping up. There are four or five seniors that are going to contribute a lot this year.”
Montgomery hasn’t taken long to impress the state, and with a schedule full of quality opponents, there won’t be time to rest on one big win. Fortunately, the Cougars have all the makings to earn some more accomplishments.
”We have depth and we also have balance among the different weapons,” Sullivan said. “A team really has to come in with everything. If you have a weak weapon, we’re going to take it to you. There are some tough teams out there. The kids stepped up against Ridge. That was a surprise to win that one.
”It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be one of those years where there’s going to be some ups and downs, but I’m expecting more ups. We have to get ready for the long haul. It’s early in the season. People are gong to be ready for us. I don’t think Ridge expected to get such a tight match.”
Few, even among the Cougars, anticipated that Montgomery would come away with the big early season win. The victory only has the Cougars more convinced that it’s going to be a special season.
”I think we’re going to take New Jersey fencing by storm,” Bradley said. “I have really high hopes for the team and I think we’re going to surprise people.”