By Ankit Khosla’16, Staff Writer

The middle school fencing team has swept away all of its competitors throughout this season with a strong record of 6-1. A large factor in their success is the terrific coaching by Ivanka Lucchetti, an Olympic fencer who runs a fencing club, and Mr. Drew Kesler, a new physics teacher, who has fencing experience. The success also stems from the captains of the three disciplines. The captain of the Sabre weapon class is Kevin Mittal ’15. The captain of the Epee weapon class is Michael Lee ’15. The captain of the Foil weapon class is Hamilton Wyatt-Luth ’15.

Before the final meet, a rematch against Bernardsville, head coach Ivanka Lucchetti commented, “I feel very excited about today’s meet because it is the last meet to show the Newark Academy community the middle school’s knowledge of fencing.” After the meet, Coach Ivanka reflected, “The entire meet was very nail-biting since the score was very close. I was very proud of the Sabre squad for winning so many of their bouts. Also, I am very pleased with Michael Lim ’17’s last bout. He won, which secured our win against Bernardsville.” The final score was 14-13, in favor of Newark Academy.

The team is already looking forward to the next year, since there will be new team members. Coach Ivanka predicted that, “Next year, the fencing team will be more selective on picking people for the team. Also, we will have an A and B team, so the people who are really dedicated and committed to fencing will be on the A team. As always, I feel lucky for the great turnout of eager and energetic fencers throughout the years.” When asked to look back on the year Coach Lucchetti replied , “I was very happy with the 8th graders, optimistic with the 7th graders and was glad with the enthusiasm of the 6th graders Finally, I am very happy with the team’s progress from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.” Fencing, both at the Middle School and Upper School level, is without question worth keeping an eye on in the coming years.