North Springs To Host Fencing Tournament

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- On Saturday, North Springs Charter High School will host the Round 6 Tournament for the Georgia High School Fencing League.

A total of 97 fencers from seven area high schools are expected to descend onto Sandy Springs for the Dec. 17 event.

North Springs currently has three fencers with points qualifying for the state tournament: Amarai Mosby, Ashley Green and Elaine Wen.

Wen, 15, a sophomore from Sandy Springs, fences both competitively and in the high school league. This year she has already won two gold medals in epee and is ranked fourth out of 85 fencers in the women’s league. She hopes to continue her quest for gold as she competes at home on Saturday.

Last summer at nationals she placed 17th among more than 100 girls competing in the women’s foil in her 14-year-old age group.

Seniors Matt Diamond and Nathan Buffington started the North Springs club team in 2015, and this marks the first tournament the club has hosted and the first fencing tournament in years at the school.

Wen said she's very excited to be able to fence at home and is looking forward to many of her classmates coming to watch.

“I really enjoy fencing," she said. "It’s an individual sport but it’s so nice to have a club here so you have more of a team feeling."

Had a club not been established, she had planned to start one, the student added.

The tournament will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the school’s main gym and is free to spectators. For more information or to volunteer to help with the tournament contact nschsfencingteam@gmail.com.

Photo 1: Spartan Elaine Wen, a left-handed fencer competes with the epee in a high school tournament on Dec. 3.

Photo 2: Elaine Wen won gold at her most recent tournament and hopes to win again this Saturday in front of friends and family at North Springs Fencing League Tournament, the first for the school's new club team.

Photo credits: North Springs Charter High School