The boys’ fencing team beat their rivals Oyster Bay away last Friday, Jan. 4, by a score of 15-12. The Rebels came into the meet having lost three in a row to Oyster Bay. Two were 14-13 loses in the county finals, and one ended the boys’ three year undefeated streak. Oyster Bay had been coming off their first loss of the season to Cold Spring Harbor and was looking to upset the Rebels’ undefeated season.
The Rebels got off to a surprisingly hot start by getting ahead in the first round 7-2.  Senior Dominick Kaczor was able to beat Oyster Bay’s number one sabre fencer, Matt M., 5-3 to set the tone for the Rebels in the first round.
The second round was almost as successful as the first for the Rebels as they were able to rack up six more wins.
The Rebels held a 12-6 lead going into the third round and only needed two more wins to win, but Oyster Bay wasn’t going to go down without a fight. The Oyster Bay sabre team opened the third round by sweeping the Rebels to bring the score to 12-9. Then the Rebels’ number one foil fencer, Kody Horiuchi, faced off against Oyster Bay’s number one foil fencer, Nick L. Both fencers came into this meet with impressive records, only having one individual loss all season. The bout went back and forth; however, Nick L. was able to pull out the win 5-3 to bring the meet to 12-10.
Next Matthew Kipnis came to the strip against Berkley G.; the two had fenced against each other two years ago in the finals of the underclassmen tournament. Berkeley beat Kipnis handily in the finals before and got the best of him this time by winning 5-0. The Rebels lead was cut from 12-6 to 12-11.
Oyster Bay had gone a six bout-winning streak. The Rebels were nervous. Captain Kaczor and Kipnis were pacing at the back of the strip trying to discuss strategy. Andy Shu was next and was able to beat Oyster Bay’s third ranked foil fencer 5-4 to give the Rebels some breathing room. Jeremy Kramer won the first epeé bout to clinch the victory for the Rebels; this was the second time this season that he clinched a meet for the Rebels.
The Rebels improved their record to 6-0. Their next meet is Wednesday, Jan. 9, against Garden City, whom they previously beat 21-6.