Ridge Girls Fencing Wins District Championship

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Ridge girls fencers captured the overall team title on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the District 5 Championships held at West Windsor Plainsboro South High School.

Ridge was up against teams from Governor Livingston, Watchung Hills, Voorhees, Kent Place, Somerville, Pingry and Bayonne.

The foil squad of senior Yasemin Ocak, junior Aria Chahal, and junior Eunice Kim turned in a brilliant performance to win gold. Ocak and Kim were perfect on the day with 7 and 6 wins respectively. Chahal was 5 for 6 with one loss.

The saber squad of junior Eva Chen, junior Alexandra Mendieta, and junior Sienna Yurkovic brought home the silver medal as did the epee squad of junior Charlotte Liu, senior Ashley Maschhoff and senior Claire Muisener. The team effort of all combined weapons gave Ridge girls the overall gold.

The Ridge boys were also in action with the foil squad of senior Girish Arul, sophomore Christopher Zheng, and junior Alexander Sloan winning gold.

The saber squad of junior Tadas Vilemaitis, senior Tristin Orthmann, and junior Benjamin Schuchman claimed silver, and the epee squad of junior Reid Kokenge, sophomore Christian Mulry, and freshman Ethan Nie finished in 6th place.

With all weapons combined Ridge boys had an overall 3rd place finish in the district.

The following fencers also punched their ticket to the State Individual Tournament at Hunterdon Central on Saturday, March 1: Yasmine Ocak, Aria Chahal, Eunice Kim, Maya Zamlynny, Eva Chen, Charlotte Liu, Girish Arul, Tristin Orthmann, Reid Kokenge, and Alex Yang.

With strong performances, both girls and boys teams qualify for the state team tournament. The opening round of 16 begins on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Ridge girls will be home against Morris Knolls and the boys will be on the road vs. Montgomery.

— Ridge Fencing