MHS’ Dang secures boys epee title
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Fencing has taken Stefano Lucchetti all over the world, but he had yet to make a district championship meet closer to home.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior made his district debut a success when he won the boys saber individual title and helped to bring the saber squad team title back to the Pirates at the District 2 championship last weekend.
”It’s a little late, but better than never,” Lucchetti said. “It’s really good. I love the feeling. It was a good team effort.”
Lucchetti had missed the last three district fencing meets due to outside fencing commitments, and while he still has plenty of those, his schedule is freer this year after moving up from the Cadet level to Junior and Senior events. It helped to open the door to participate in the district fencing meet.
”I’m extremely, extremely happy and proud of my teammates,” Lucchetti said. “It’s very important for me.”
Lucchetti, Kevin Gao and Frank Huang captured the saber squad title. The Pirates will advance to the state squad championships, where they have twice won the saber squad title, the last being when Lucchetti was a freshman.
”I think it’s a huge deal,” said Pirates head coach Rebecca Lehrman. “Now that we came in first for the saber team, I feel like we have to maintain this. Stefano is a senior. He’ll be graduating. Kevin is a junior and Frank is a sophomore. I think moving forward we can keep the sabre team going strong.”
The only other area winner was Rohan Dang of Montgomery High School, who won the individual boys epee crown.
”Rohan was a big surprise,” said MHS head coach Tim Sullivan. “Everybody had at least four foilists ahead of him before it began. He went 18-1 for the day. He really had a great day. He put it together. He was focused. I was proud to see him win it. He was an upset winner. Last year, Paul Won won it, and now Rohan.”
The WW-P North boys team advanced to the state tournament with a second-place finish overall. Montgomery High was fourth to earn the district’s final berth into states. WW-P South placed sixth and Princeton High was 10th.
”They all gave it their all,” said WW-P North head coach Gail Kedoin. “They all worked so hard. I was proud of them all. They all did so great.”
Added Sullivan: “Ridge is head over heels one of the most dominant teams. I think they’ll give Columbia a run for their money. North has a great group of kids. I’ve watched them mature over the last two or three years and it was great to see them do well. Bernards, it was a bout here or there and we could have made that up, but I was happy to get through.”
As the fourth-place team in its district, Montgomery had to fence a play-in match to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Cougars defeated Governor Livingston, 14-13, Wednesday to advance to face Columbia.
”They’re good, “Sullivan said of the four-time state champions. “You want to go against the best.”
Lucchetti won seven bouts to claim the top honor in the boys saber. His Pirates teammate Kevin Gao placed second with six wins. WW-P North’s Raymond Zhang took fifth to just miss the final qualifying spot for the Tournament of Champions.
”The environment, it’s like the World Cups I fenced in,” Lucchetti said. “It’s competitive. It’s a lot of pressure. You only have five points, so there’s no room for mistakes. Anybody can beat anybody in five points. It all comes down to who’s the most focused mentally. Your skills don’t play as much of a factor as your mental readiness.”
Montgomery’s Rohan Dang was unbeaten in the finals pool to win the boys foil. WW-P North’s William Zhang won the boys epee. His Knights teammate Amit Sarma placed third on indicators. Trevor Lawrence was fourth. Montgomery’s Brennan Casey and Sahib Singh were fifth and sixth respectively.
”I thought both William and Amit have been fencing super throughout the season,” Kedoin said. “I think Amit has one loss and William has two loses on the season. They’ve really been solid for the whole team. For them to do this well for the district, it shows they’re really strong.”
WW-P South won the boys saber squad title over WW-P North. Montgomery placed sixth and Princeton was 10th.
”We dominated pretty much,” Lucchetti said. “Our district, in the pre-individuals pool, I went undefeated. C strip only lost one match, it was kind of tough for him, it was his first match. But he was able to overcome it and able to go undefeated the rest of the day until the individual round. Kevin did solid too. He only dropped two matches. Overall we were pretty dominant.”
Montgomery placed third in the boys foil squad championships. WW-P North finished fifth, WW-P South was seventh and Princeton took 10th.
Montgomery came in second in the boys epee squad championships. WW-P North also advanced to states with its fourth-place finish. WW-P South took eighth and Princeton was 11th.
”I didn’t expect our foil to get in,” Sullivan said of MHS. “I knew our epee would get in. It’s a talented group of epee. Anyone could have won that epee. I’m glad all four teams moved on. I’m curious to see what the state situation will be. All four of us could be right there again.”
Lucchetti is looking forward, too, to the chance to fence in the squad state championships. He sees a South squad that should be in the running for another title. They did finish the district with the top two individuals and Huang wasn’t far behind. Derek Ge, who did not fence Saturday, has also proven himself.
”All four of the starters are competitive fencers who go to club outside of school and go to national events,” Lucchetti said. “A couple years back when we won the squad states, I’d say it’s about the same or better this year.”
Having Lucchetti back is a bonus for the Pirates. He has fenced more than half of the regular-season meets, and makes an effort to make the meets when he is not traveling for international or national competitions.
”I think it gives them a huge boost,” Lehrman said. “It gives them a huge level of confidence to know he’s going to fence for us. He’s such a good team member and has such good sportsmanship. He shows the other fencers how they should act. He’s so well rounded and experienced in the fencing world.”
Lucchetti was back on the road after districts for the Pan American Championships, but he is happy that his travel schedule hasn’t been as hectic, though each event he goes to has high stakes potential.
”This year has been a lot more relaxed,” he said. “The events are much more important and are harder. The Senior events in April begin the Olympic Trials. Right now is preparing for the Olympic Trials. They’re trying new training techniques, and working on new strategies.”
Lucchetti continues to develop himself as he prepares for the Olympic Trials. He hopes to represent Argentina. Next year, Lucchetti will fence at Brown University, where he expected to be one of the top fencers in their program. For now, he’s trying to make his mark with WW-P South in his final scholastic season.
”I can’t wait and I really hope I’ll be there for the individuals and the states so we can reclaim the title for the squad,” Lucchetti said. “And I can hopefully contend for the title for the individual champs.”