Millburn Fencing Kicks off

Millburns fencing season is in full swing and the boys team has started off strong. 

Beginning in mid-December, Millburn traveled to Governor Livingston and posted their first win at 17-10. The epee squad, led by starters Ricky Eschenbach, Albert Reiss and Keegan Caulfield, along with subs Josh Novick, Carrick Irwin and Alex Holmes led the team with an 8-1 record.  

The team then traveled to Jersey City to meet up with St Peters Prep at Cobra Fencing Center. After a first round with Millburn leading 5-4, St Peters Prep returned the favor by winning the second round 5-4. St Peters Prep continued to fence strong and upset Millburn to win the third round 6-3 and the meet 15-12, handing Millburn their only loss of the season so far.

The following three meets, all at home, were won handedly by Millburn. The boys defeated Randolph 21-6 with saber squad Alec Tabatchnick, Dan Dembner and Ben Goldman along with subs Martin Krastev, Andrew Singer and Drew Vreeland going 9-0 on the night.

Next matchup was a 23-4 win over Somerville. This time the foil starters, Andrew Brod, Andrew Afable and Alex Brod, with the help of subs Alex Ren, Jan Piotrowiak and Michael Tai posted a 9-0 showing.

The foil squad had another 9-0 night against Montclair Kimberly, this time with subs Alex Ren and Tobias Simon. The epee squad posted a 7-2 night in the 20-7 victory.

A 16-11 win over Livingston on Jan. 10 gave Millburn their sixth win of the season. Alec Tabatchnick, Ben Goldman, Andrew Afable, Alex Brod and Albert Reiss all went 2-0 to help the Millers in the victory.

The  Millers traveled to Bernards High School and added another victory to their record. An 8-1 night from the saber squad and a 7-2 posting from epee assisted in another 16-11 win. Alec Tabatchnick and Ricky Eschenbach had 3-0 nights while Dan Dembner, Ben Goldman, Andrew Afable and Albert Reiss all went 2-0. 

Millburns match up against West Essex on Jan. 15 had the Millers posting another 16-11 victory.  The saber squad starters, Dembner, Tabatchnick and Goldman all went 3-0 along with foil starter Andrew Brod.

The Millers last meet was a 21-6 win over Morristown. Millburn dominated and was able to put in early substitutions. Zack Sustiel, Anand Thandi, Daniel Gold, Misheel Boldbaatar, Ethan Hu, Satyen Gupta, Zachary Vinik and Wilson Chang all saw some action and helped Millburn with the win.

On Saturday, Jan. 12, Millburn fenced in the annual Cetrulo Tournament at Voorhees High School. Forty-eight teams from around the state competed in this all day event.

After the morning competition, all three of Millburns squads advanced to the top eight final pools. After the long day of fencing, the Millers had fenced well and ended up tied for 2nd with Watchung Hills in the annual event. 

Millburn girls fencing have had some exciting meets this season with all their wins coming down to their last few bouts.

The season started off with a 10-17 loss to Governor Livingston and a 11-16 loss to Oak Knoll. Chaerin Ahn went 2-1 in the Governor Livingston meet for Millburn.

Before the holiday break, Randolph came to Millburn and won a 15-12 decision over the Millers. Saber starter Dana Leichter went 3-0 with foilist Leyla Aytaman and epee fencer Karen Fich both going 2-1.

After the holiday break the girls came back focused and ready to fence. Somerville came to Millburn on Jan. 4 and were greeted with a 12-15 decision loss to the Millers.

Saber starters Dana Leichter, Rachel Legow and Jordan Hsu went 7-2 for the night. Julia Burzynski and Josie Brown each went 2-1 on the foil strip.

The next match up against Montclair Kimberly proved to be very exciting. After losing the first round 3-6 to the Cougars, the Millers rallied to win the second round 5-4. 

The Millers battled to bring the score to 10-11 only to be followed by two straight losing bouts.

With wins by foilist Josie Brown and epee fencers Jacqueline Zhu and Karen Fich it came down to the final bout tied at 13.  Senior Saachi Gupta took the strip and battled to win a 5-3 decision and mark the second win for the Millers. Fich and Zhu each went 3-0 in epee and Saber fencers Leichter and Hsu were 2-1 along with Gupta.

An 18-9 loss to Livingston on Jan. 10 put the Millers record at 2-4 for the season. 

Millburn epees had the best night for the team winning 6 of 9 bouts with Zhu posting a 3-0 record. Missing some starters for this match-up allowed for some substitutions with Evalina Patino, Grace,Chang, Ilina Ghosh, Naya, Ubushin Kiera Sullivan and Elizabeth Kuiken getting some time on the strip.

On the road for the next two meets, the girls first faced a very strong 13-0 Bernards team. Bernards proved to be dominant and handed the Millers a 22-5 loss. Leichter had 2 of the 5 wins for Millburn.

The team traveled to West Essex  on Jan. 15 where despite 3-0 performances by Leichter and Julia Burzynski, the Millers lost 17-10.

Millburns last meet against Morristown proved to be very exciting.

In the home meet, the Millers came out ahead with a 5-4 lead after the first round. The Colonials returned the favor and won the second round 5-4. Starting the third round, the sabers took 2 of the 3 bouts to bring the score to 11-10. Morristown fought back taking 2 of the 3 foil bouts.

As the crowd gathered and both teams boys and girls rooting for their fencers, the epees took to the strip. Morristown's O’shea fought for the first win 5-2.  Millburn's Karen Fich was up next and in a very close bout tied at 4, Fich scored the winning touch to bring the match to 13-13.

Final epee fencer Jacqueline Zhu met up against Morristowns Van Euwen. After Van Euwen scored the first 2 touches, Zhu came back to tie it. Another touch by Van Euwen and then one by Zhu brought the bout to 3-3 when time ran out. The 1-minute overtime coin toss gave priority  to Morristown. Zhu needed to get the final touch to win. 20 seconds into the last minute, Zhu scored and the gym erupted with cheers. The Millers record is now 3-6.

Millburn fencing's next meet is 6 p.m Tuesday, Jan. 22 at Millburn High School against Newark Academy.