High school fencing may be a winter sport, but that doesn’t stop some of Long Island’s best fencers from collecting hardware in the summer months.
Three Long Island high schoolers medaled at USA Fencing’s Summer Nationals tournaments in Milwaukee. Nathaniel Justus Crespo of Bay Shore placed second among 240 competing epeeists in the DII Men’s Epee tournament on July 2.
“I was very excited,” Crespo said. “I sort of expected to do good at Summer Nationals, but this result was beyond my expectations. I’m really happy about it.”
Crespo, a rising sophomore at Bay Shore High School who represented Hills Fencing Institute, won five of six bouts in pool play before winning five consecutive direct elimination bouts — three by a single touch — before falling in the championship.
“I was trying to push past the fatigue,” Crespo said. “All my [direct eliminations] were the same skill level as me, if not a tad bit lower or higher. It was very, very difficult.”
Vincent Gao of Jericho also tied for bronze in the DII Men’s Epee tournament. Representing Long Island Fencing Center, Gao overcame three losses in pool play before winning five consecutive direct elimination bouts as the 123rd seed, only being eliminated by eventual champion Zoryan Petrow.
East Meadow rising junior Lucas Sun won the DIII Men’s Epee tournament among 170 competing fencers on July 5, winning all six bouts in pool play before winning seven direct elimination bouts to take gold. Sun, who represented North Shore Fencer’s Club, also placed 29th in the DII Men’s Epee tournament.
“It was a surreal feeling, like something straight out of a dream. It all happened so fast,” Sun said. “Five hours ago, I was some random fencer. Then five hours later, I was a national champion.”
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.