West Morris Mendham Pushes CHS To Edge

By Steven E. Brier

Dec. 22, 2006 -- It was a cliffhanger most of the way, but both the Columbia High School boys and girls fencing teams managed to beat Mendham Thursday night in the home opener.

“Sometimes you don’t do your best but have to find a way to win, and we did,” said volunteer coach Arthur “Doc” Paulina.

With 27 separate bouts for each team, the first to win 14 wins the meet. The CHS boys team trailed most of the night and was at one bout back, 12-11, when foilist Matt Noll stepped on the strip. In a hard-fought bout, with the roar of the crowd drowning out the bout director, Noll pulled off a win, 5-3, to even the tally.

With the tension palpable, epeeist Ian Gammon’s three-minute bout was tied 2-2 when time ran out, but he eked out a win as the seconds ran out in the one-minute overtime, putting Columbia up 13-12 with two bouts to go.

With the crowd roaring and chanting, epeeist Russell Valle lost the first touch, bringing yet more cheers from the Mendham crowd and cries of anguish from the CHS backers. Valle and his opponent had to repeatedly shush the crowd so they could hear the director’s instructions as they returned to the ready position. Valle’s bout, too, went into overtime and once again, the CHS fencer pulled out a win, clenching the victory for the boys team.

As the team cheered, Daryl White, coach of the boys team, sagged into a chair, looking visibly relieved. “All-in-all, it’s a victory,” he said with relief. “We fenced well when we had to.”

Valle, a junior, went 3-0 for the night, as did foilist Ethan Kresofsky, a senior, keeping the boys team in the match.

Although not quite the tension-producer of the boys match, the girls team went to the edge on a number of bouts winning on either on time or in the final seconds in a number of bouts, not clinching until they’d fenced 20 bouts.

“We had a lot of close bouts where the girls didn’t lose their cool,” girls coach Nichole Lechner said. “I’m very proud of them.”

The foilists, Abby Caparos-Janto (senior), Erin Hynes (senior) and Becky Grohman (junior) swept their bouts, as did epeeists Tiffany Austin-Ginlock and Michelle Micallef, both juniors, helping extend the team’s winning streak to 55 matches.

All three coaches expressed their admiration for the Mendham team, pointing out that the two teams meet again in February. “It will be even tougher then,” Paulina said.

The team’s next meet is at home against Pingry on January 3.