North Salem Fencing Team Debuts
Falls to Salem Homeschool, 42-13

On Friday, November 18th, the North Salem Viking fencers made their
competitive debut against the Salem Homeschool Byzantines. The Vikings were represented by freshmen Travis Neidig (captain) and Kris Lancaster and junior Arianna Dunning. Fencing for the Byzantines were veteran fencers Gary Girod (captain) and Alex Kohan (both 15), and Josh Keatley (14).

1. Kohan vs. Lancaster: 1-0 bout, 1-0 match
2. Keatley vs. Neidig: 3-1 bout, 4-1 match
3. Girod vs. Dunning: 10-1 bout, 14-2 match
4. Keatley vs. Lancaster: 5-3 bout, 19-5 match
5. Kohan vs. Dunning: 3-3 bout, 22-8 match
6. Girod vs. Neidig: 5-0 bout, 27-8 match
7. Keatley vs. Dunning: 8-5 bout, 35-13 match
8. Girod vs. Lancaster: 5-0 bout, 40-13 match
9. Kohan vs. Neidig: 2-0 bout, 42-13 match

Final score, 42-13, victory for the Salem Homeschool Byzantines.

The Byzantines' defeat of the Vikings, 42-13, doesn't tell the entire
story. The Byzantines have an average of three years of fencing, while
the average experience for the Vikings is about a year. Despite the
mismatch, the Byzantines had to work hard for their touches, with seven
out of nine bouts going to the time limit. The Byzantines definitely
were not in top form.

Gary Girod again led the Byzantine offense with 20 points, followed by
Joshua Keatley and Alex Kohan with 16 and six points, respectively.
Defensively, Girod and Alex Kohan were brick walls, giving up only one
and three points, respectively. Keatley gave up nine points, mostly in
his bout against Arianna Dunning.

The inexperience of the Vikings was their undoing, with this being the
first fencing competition for both Dunning and Lancaster. Arianna
Dunning led the Viking offense, scoring a total of nine points, with
Kris Lancaster contributing three points and Travis Neidig scoring one
point. On the defense, Travis Neidig was the leader for the Vikings,
giving up ten touches in three bouts. Lancaster was right behind,
giving up eleven touches. Dunning paid dearly for her offensive
leadership, though, as she was touched 21 times.

The win puts the Byzantines in second position for the season so far at
1-1. In first position are the West Salem High School Titans at 2-0,
with the North Salem Vikings and the Blanchet Catholic School Cavaliers
both at 0-1.