RHS Coach to Rep U.S. at Fencing Championships

Paul Apostol, a Wyckoff resident and fencing coach at Ramapo High School, won the Veterans National Championship in the 60-69 age group earlier this month.

Apostol won in a come-from-behind battle against a former national champion when he landed the winning touch to clinch his final bout 10-9. The win was Apostol's fourth gold in the National Championships, his first coming in 1973 in the Open division and his second and third in the Veterans division in 2005 and 2007.

Apostol's victory secures his place on the four-man team that will represent the United States in the Veterans World Championship on Oct. 2 in Porec, Croatia.  Apostol is no stranger to the World Championship teams: he won the Veterans World Championships in 2006 in Bath, England, and in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, and finished second in 2008 in Limoges, France.

Apostol also fenced in the 1972 Munich Olympics (eighth place) and 1976 Montreal Olympics (13th place). 

Standout teen

One of Apostol's Ramapo High School fencers, sophomore Charles Copti, also struck gold recently when he and his teammates won the Under 19 National Team Championship. Copti also finished 15th in the Under 19 Individual Championship but has two more years to fence for individual gold in this age group.

Copti was named High School Fencer of the Year by the Bergen Record at the end of the 2010 season. In the 2009-10 season, Ramapo fencers won the District Championship for the seventh time in a row and the League Championship for the sixth time in the last seven years.

The squad returns seven of nine starters next season.