West Essex Boys Fencing Has a Rebuilding Year
Under the leadership of veteran coach Mark Trudnos, the West Essex Boys fencing team is having a rebuilding year. With a team composed of many freshmen, the team currently has a 1-8 record, but many of those matches were decided by only a few points and had strong showing against perennial powerhouses Columbia and Livingston. The team’s lone victory came over Montclair Kimberley Academy on January 26th. Fencing at the varsity level encompasses three sword types; the epee, the foil, and the saber. The boy’s epee squad is led by junior captain Brett Bachenheimer, with an individual 15-11 record. The other two prime epee players are sophomore Alex Chen with an impressive 22-5 record, and senior Danny Martire.
The foil group is led by senior captain Michael Speraza. The other members of the foils are freshman Alan Hu with a 17-10 record and freshman Dominic Baily. Alvin Johnson and Logan Decanay saw some varsity time as well this season at both foil and epee The saber squad is led by senior captain Jack Sceppaguerio. The sabers are rounded out by
junior Max Chueng and sophomore Gabriel Slodyczica. Other saber fencers seeing time in varsity matches include seniors Hayden Becker and Jason Calick and freshman John
Wrocenski. With a young squad and few graduating seniors, Coach Trudnos is looking forward to the future
growth of the boys fencing team.