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Masi States His Case for Second Straight Year

Last winter, Indians' fencer Paul Masi emerged from the woodwork by earning First Team All-State honors with his fourth-place finish in épée competition at the Individual State Championship, an achievement made all the more impressive considering it was his first go-round at that meet.

But after experiencing such success last season, Paul wasn't going to catch anyone by surprise at this year's championship, entering the tournament while wearing the target as one of the state's best épéeists. The problem for Paul's opponents is that his target is extremely difficult to strike, and so even with the pressure on, the senior captain again finished fourth to become a First Team All-State fencer in consecutive seasons.

"It makes me smile to know that all my hard work helped me make All-State twice," says Paul, who was also named the Indians' MVP. "I'm glad that my coaches had me start with épée as a sophomore and I love using the combination of strength and the mental game to keep my opponent away, get my touches, and finish them off as fast as possible."

There are two swords used in high school fencing in foil and épée, and typically, tall people with a long reach fare better in épée, which is why coaches Pete Solomon and James Salzano opted to have 6-foot-5 Paul try that weapon as a sophomore.

Paul wasted no time in establishing himself as the Indians' primary épéeist, but didn't fence at the Individual State Championship that year and so there was no telling how he'd fare at the meet as a junior. But when the final touch had been struck, Paul came away as the state's fourth-best boys' épée fencer out of the 100 competing athletes, a feat he repeated at this year's state meet.

"I was nervous going in last season because I was fencing kids who'd been doing épée for years, but I'd been working hard all year and so I felt I could beat most of them," Paul says. "The biggest bout was the one that got me fourth as I was fencing a kid who was better than me technique-wise, but who was shorter than me and I came back down 7-0 to win 15-8. My height and long arms give me an advantage in épée, but my coaches have also taught me that you can't just chuck your arm out there in a frantic paranoia; you have to harness that ability and know how to use that length to your advantage."

According to Coach Solomon, Paul's physical characteristics have undoubtedly aided him in becoming one of his program's best épéeists and he's also been impressed with Paul's leadership as he constantly honed his skills during the offseason and then showed great poise on the strip during the season. Both of those traits were displayed during North Haven's Senior Night duel with Guilford in which Paul went up against a fellow stellar épéeist in David Slattery-who had defeated Paul at last year's individual tourney-but not this time as Paul claimed victory to snap a tie and lead his team to a 5-4 win.

"Paul came into his own as a fencer and a person this year, using his dedication and maturity to step up on numerous occasions, especially that night against Guilford," says Solomon of Paul, who plans to study mechanical engineering and ideally continue with fencing in college. "That victory showed me Paul has a lot of heart and that he's the guy you want out there when the match is on the line."