The Lowell boys’ and girls’ fencing team captured the Visconti Memorial trophy, for the best performance over the regular season and All-City Tournament on April 15. Junior Benjamin Hadler took second overall in the Junior Men’s Foil, but was unable to defend his city title.

“This season has been a huge success,” head coach Scott Cunningham said. Both girls and boys were tied for first in their leagues. The girls finished the season in a three-way tie for first with the Covenant Cubs and University Red Devils. The boys also finished in a three-way tie, but with the Urban Blues and Wallenberg Bulldogs.

Going into the All-City Tournament, both teams finished the regular season 7–1 and were looking to continue their success. The Cards were on equal footing throughout the entire tournament; the most challenging fencer to beat was Wallenberg’s anchor Aidan Chu, an A-rated fencer. The girls had to out fence Covenant and University, both teams who presented tough competition in the regular season.

The first half of the tournament consisted of pool play where seedings would be determined for the second half of the tournament, the direct elimination bracket. Juniors Hadler and Jim Wang and seniors Chang Kim and Jacky Huang represented the boys team. Defending state champion, Hadler swept his pool and earned the overall number one seed, Kim placed fifth, Huang placed twentieth, and Wang placed thirty-second. The girls were represented by seniors Jocelyn Chu, Selena Weng, and Rebecca Nguyen, junior Ella Houweling, and freshmen Esme Cohen and Jordyn Kosai. In pool play, Jocelyn Chu earned the overall fifth seed, while Kosai earned the sixth, Cohen placed seventh, Weng placed ninth, Houweling placed tenth, and Nguyen placed nineteenth.

In the girls’ bracket, Kosai, Jocelyn Chu, Cohen, and Houweling took care of the lower seeds to advance to the round of 32. Weng was upset by the twenty-sixth seed, and Nguyen defeated a higher seed to move on. Kosai and Houweling were the only ones to make the round of eight. Kosai was matched up against the Covenant’s Erika Wong in the round of eight, who was eventually the girls’ bracket overall number one seed. Houweling was also eliminated in the round of eight.

In the boys’ bracket, Kim and Hadler breezed through the first three rounds, and into the round of eight with ease. Huang and Wang were both matched up against higher seeds and eliminated in the round of 32. Kim was eliminated in the round of eight while Hadler continued to dominate, finishing the semifinal match 15–7. In the finals, Hadler kept it close but eventually fell to Aidan Chu 15–12.

Afterwards, the Lowell fencing team was awarded the Visconti overall team trophy for the best performance over the regular season and All-City Tournament on April 15.

The Cardinals will compete in the All-State Fencing Tournament on April 29 starting at 9 a.m. at The Academy.