Both the girls' and boys' fencing teams were eliminated from the team state competition after two heart-breakingly close defeats. The girls lost against The Academy of the Holy Angels in the Sweet Sixteen competition, while the boys lost to Hunterdon Central in the Elite Eight competition. Both matches were close calls, as both teams lost 13-14.

The girls' team fenced The Academy of the Holy Angels to move on the top eight on Feb. 16. While the girls had to face defeat, the victory did not come easily for the Holy Angels as the Ridge Devils kept it close the entire match. The Angels claimed their win in the penultimate bout, clinching at 12-14. Sara Jones won the last bout of the meet to conclude the match with a score of 13-14.

"We definitely gave all we had at the Holy Angels meet. Throughout the entire meet the wins went back and forth; we really never gave up the entire time… Fencing after the team has lost is always hard, but I still felt the support of everyone –support that had been there throughout the entire meet" Jones said.

Stellar performances included 3-0 individual records from sabre fencers Katherine Simeon, Nicole Daukszewicz, and epeeist Jones.

After a victory against Don Bosco, the boys' fencing team had a tough time against Hunterdon Central in their meet on Feb. 17. Although Ridge's sabre and epee squads defeated their opponents 5-4 and 7-2 respectively, Hunterdon Central's strong foil squad pulled the opposing team through.

However, Ridge kept the score tight the entire meet, keeping the outcome unclear until the last round. Epee fencers Jon Wong and Paul Padian both posted 3-0 records. But after foil fencer Tim Gaziano brought the score up to 11-13 in the third round, Hunterdon Central took the next win to clinch the meet at 11-14. Ridge's strong epee squad, however, finished strong to bring the overall score to 13-14, with Hunterdon Central advancing to the final four. 

"The loss against Hunterdon central was a good loss if there ever was one; both teams have great fencers and it was very close right until the end and it could have gone either way," commented Gaziano.

Although the girls' and boys' teams were denied a place in the top eight and four in the state respectively, they had a strong season thus far, and there is still more to come. Five of six total squads between both teams will be competing for a state title at the Squad State Championships on Feb. 27 and 28. Additionally, five individual members of the team will be competing in the State Individual Championships at Rider University on Mar. 13.