UPDATE: CHS fencing teams win state tournament openers

It was déjà vu in the first round of the state high school fencing tournament with Columbia High School’s boys’ and girls’ teams quickly knocking off their opponents to move into the second round.
On Tuesday Feb. 7, the boys faced Bergen Tech, clinching the meet just 16 bouts into the 27-bout session, finishing with a score of 21-6. It was the girls’ turn on Wednesday Feb. 8 as they clinched against Ridge in the 19th bout and finishing with a score of 18-9.
As usual, Andrew Kelly, A-strip sabre, started the meet and quickly got the first touch. The Bergen Tech A-strip responded with a quick touch of his own, making the score 1-1. But Kelly came right back, overwhelming his opponent with four quick touches to win 5-1 and Columbia was on the board.
Stowe Hammarberg was up next and just as quickly dispatched his opponent 5-0, making the overall score 2-0 and bringing up C-strip sabre Dan Heffley. He took a tad longer but defeated his opponent 5-2, and mere minutes into the meet Columbia had a commanding lead.
The foils, as usual, fence second. Unlike sabre, where the time between the beginning of an attack and the fencers disengaging is so short the time clock is rarely used, foil is slightly more deliberate. Even so, one of the fencers usually has the requisite five touches to win before the clock hits the three-minute mark and the bout ends so it was unusual for A-strip foil Jared LeBron to take the full three minutes, winning his bout by a score of 3-2 when time ran out. B strip John Kirk didn’t need the full time, dispatching his opponent 5-0, setting the stage for Basile Antoine, who had four touches before his opponent got on the board. Antoine quickly responded, winning 5-1 and Columbia was up 6-0 for the meet.
That brought up the epees. The rules of engagement for sabre and foil lend themselves to faster attacks and retreats, and there are limited areas that are legal to hit. With epee, the entire body is a target. Hit somebody with the tip of the blade, hold it long enough for the electronic sensors to register and you’ve got a touch. All this leads to bouts that usually are slower, more deliberate.
Evan Accardi, Columbia’s A-strip epee, got on the board first with two touches. His opponent rallied, getting three touches of his own. But the next two were double-touches, where both fencers score, and Accardi went down 4-5 and Bergen Tech was finally on the board. Bryn Hammarberg was up next, getting the first touch. But then it was a double touch, and the score see-sawed, with Hammarberg finally going down 3-5. But Max Gould came up next, getting five unanswered touches and that was basically it for the night.
Columbia won everything in the second round, with Bryn Hammarberg getting the clinch. It wasn’t until late in the third round when Columbia, by now represented by substitutes, lost its next bout. The sabres were 9-0 on the night, with a strong assist from foil, undefeated until late in the final round.
The girls made an equally strong start against Ridge, with Celia Accardi on sabre kicking off the night with a 5-3 victory. Holly Barszcz dominated her opponent, winning 5-0, and Alex Viqueira rounded out the sabre lineup with a 5-2 win. Her sister Rachel, not to be outdone, started the foils off with a 5-0 victory, followed by another 5-0 rout by Najiyyah Clark. Chloe Fogelson struggled against her opponent, finally falling 1-5 as the Ridge girls finally got on the board.
Haley Hart started the epees with another impressive 5-0 rout.  Alexis Auer and Nicole Mee fenced valiantly but still fell and the first round ended with the CHS girls up 6-3.
The sabres came back with their usual clockwork precision, with Barszcz winning 5-4,  Alex Viqueira winning 5-1 and Celia Accardi winning 5-3. The foils took the wind out of Ridge’s sails, with a 5-0 from Clark, a 5-1 from Fogelson and another 5-0 from Rachel Viqueira. Auer and Mee lost nail-biters, but Hart won her bout 5-4 and Columbia was just one bout away from another team victory. 
Alex Viqueira got that victory at the start of the third round with a 5-1 win that looked more like a fencing lesson. Celia Accardi kept up that motif with a 5-0 win and the coaches started pulling starters.
The boys will face Ridge at the New Jersey Fencing Alliance on Tuesday Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. The girls will be on the road, facing the Bergen Tech girls team, also Tuesday Feb. 14 at 6 p.m.