Xu helps South maintain high standards
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Jerry Xu finally got to experience what he’d been missing, and he made the most of it.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior helped the boys sabre squad finish third at the Cetrulo Boys Relay Championships on Saturday at Morris Knolls High.
”We were pretty excited that we got third overall,” said Xu, the Pirates’ A strip fencer this season. “Since it’s a new squad, and me being a senior, and Stefano Lucchetti new, I was pleasantly surprised we got third. We always aim for No. 1, but it was a good start for us.”
Xu had missed the last two Cetrulo tournaments. As a sophomore, he was the fourth sabre on a three-person squad that won the championship. Last year, he missed all but a couple of matches due to a back injury. Missing the chance to fence with Steven Yang and the Pirates last year was particularly frustrating.
”Right now, I’m fine,” Xu said. “It was too much training and not enough rest. I fence all four seasons. It was tough sitting on the bench, especially with Steven still being there. I wanted a chance at the Cetrulo title.
”I was forced to watch from the sidelines. We still made it to the final pool. And even with Steven being the great fencer he is, he couldn’t carry the rest of the squad. We had a chance, but it was really tough.”
Last year, the Pirates sabre squad came in eighth place. This year, Xu, freshman Stefano Lucchetti and Sam Lorenz, who was on the B strip for last year’s Cetrulo, came in third place.
”I was pretty pumped up right before this tournament,” Xu said. “It was the first major tournament of this whole high school season. I know a bunch of fencers from around the state and I wanted to see how they were doing compared to us at South.”
The Pirates also finished in the top 16 in epee. The Montgomery High boys were fourth in foil, ninth in sabre and 26th in epee to earn seventh place overall among all teams. Full results were still not available Monday morning to determine where WW-P North, Hun School and Princeton Day School finished as well as new program, Princeton High School. The girls squads from the area will compete in the Santelli Girls Relay Championship next Saturday at Morris Knolls.
”We’ve always though of Cetrulo and Santelli as a gauge of where we can finish in districts and states,” said WW-P South head coach Ed Chang. “As a gauge, this looks good for how the season is going to be.”
Chang had felt good about his sabre squad from the preseason. The addition of Stefano makes up for the loss of Yang to graduation and with the return of a healthy Xu, the squad can compete with anyone in the state.
”Luckily for us, Steven was the only one from boys sabre we lost,” Chang said. “Last year, we were hopeful we could have a season like this with Steven and Jerry.
”We’re very happy to be where we are,” he added. “Those that know high school fencing, know Ramapo, Livington, Columbia. We’re happy to be mentioned in there with them. A lot of it has to do with Jerry being healthy and Sam having another year of confidence and Stefano coming in and being our rock.”
Xu did his part to show he’s back to full strength. Once the Pirates reached the second round of the Cetrulo, he was able to help them move up in the rankings.
”Against Livingston, Jerry pulled out an amazing win against Ed Chin,” Chang said. “That got us through, but they’re a really tough team. These are teams we knew and had faced in that first quad. Part of it was the boys fighting and the other part is there’s always a little bit of luck involved to do that well.”
Said Xu: “That was the most electrifying win of the day. It got our squad pumped us. I wasn’t going to fence the guy, but their original A strip got hurt, so I was fencing their B. They’re both good. It was a close bout and I managed to win at the end. That was my favorite bout and it stimulated us to get to third place.”
The third-place finish has the Pirates gearing up for another big year in sabre. Xu knows all about the standards set by the A strip fencers that he is following. Like both Alex Guo and Yang, he also fences for the Fencing Academy of South Jersey outside of school
”It’s definitely pretty exciting,” Xu said. “I just want to continue the tradition of excellence we’ve had with Steven and Alex.”
Xu got his start as a freshman at South. He has grown steadily since then to become a squad leader. He is hoping that the encouraging showing at the Cetrulo continues to push his sabre squad toward new heights.
”Two years, we were a really good squad when we had Alex Guo and Steven Yang,” Xu said. “Coming into this year, I was expecting a really solid squad. Our goal is to surpass their level. That’s a tough goal, but we have a chance of doing that.”
It helps that every day in practice, the sabre squad has each other to push itself. The Pirates benefit from their daily work.
”We try to help each other out,” Xu said. “We fence 15-point bouts. After that, we criticize each other and give each other tips at the end. We do most of the pushing on the strip. In five-point bouts, where anything can happen, we give each other advice all the time.”
After a third-place performance at the Cetrulo tournament, the Pirates feel ready for the challenges ahead of them as they try to lead a WW-P South that is steadily improving.
”I think we did pretty well overall,” Xu said. “Last year was more of a rebuilding time. We’re still rebuilding, but it’s the beginning of the season. It’s still early in the season. Foil finished in the top 16 and epee is coming along. We’re doing OK.”