Bobcats Fencing Rebuilding Base

Taylor Gerst (left) and Melinda McKenzie are captaining a Bacon Academy fencing team with a bright future.

Bacon Academy High School fencing head coach Max Levesque is continuing a fencing legacy at the school.

Levesque, a 2012 graduate of Bacon Academy, first started fencing while in high school under the team’s inaugural head coach David Comas-Diaz and is now continuing the teachings of the program’s founder 

“I’m getting a feel for what best I could do for the kids,” said Levesque, who is in his second season since taking over as the head coach. “It’s neat to be here; I do enjoy being back.”

At the turn of the century, fencing made its debut at the high school as a club sport under Comas-Diaz.

In 2015, Mike Vinickas took over the program the same year that fencing became an officially recognized sport through the Connecticut High School Fencing Association.  

The following season Cooper Johnson became the program’s third head coach and he brought in Levesque as an assistant coach in 2017. 

Following Johnson’s departure, Levesque officially took over the reins prior to the 2021-2022 season. 

Vinickas and Johnson also fenced and learned the ropes under Comas-Diaz, making Leveque the fourth branch on the coaching tree of Comas-Diaz.

“We are all his disciples,” said Levesque, who attended Rochester Institute of Technology and fenced for the school’s club team, eventually becoming the club’s Vice President for three years, before returning to Colchester

Now in charge at Bacon Academy, Levesque’s goal is to rebuild a program that previously won an Eastern Connecticut Conference (ECC) championship as a team and have had several individual conference champs from 2011-2019. 

Levesque currently has a dozen promising fencers on his roster, yet he does not have a single senior and seven are novice (first-year) fencers. 

Luckily he has a pair of experienced captains in juniors Taylor Gerst and Melinda McKenzie. 

Gerst competes as a foil, using a light rectangular blade where points are scored when the tip of the blade lands within the torso of the body.

She first joined the team as a freshman after searching for a sport to do during the winter months. 

Gerst, who also plays soccer and is on the track team for the school, said the sport of fencing has shaped her as a person and called the team “a big family.” 

“Looking back, I'm two complete different people.  I have changed both mentally and physically, in fencing and in general,” stated Gerst, who received a Sportsmanship Award at the conference championships a year ago.

McKenzie is an epee, using a slightly larger and stiffer blade where the target area is the entire body.

She was selected as a Scholar-Athlete a year ago and said her rise through the sport has been swift.   

“I came in as a freshman knowing nothing about fencing. My only exposure to the sport was from books and that one scene from The Parent Trap,” recalled a smiling McKenzie. “I’ve learned so much and I’ve met a lot of really good people. I think we have a really good group of kids this year; it’s a really good environment.”

Gerst and McKenzie formed a friendship prior to fencing, having both competed in taekwondo.

The captains agreed that a lot of disciplines they learned in the Korean martial art sport have translated to fencing. 
With three years of fencing under their belts, they have become both leaders and successful in competition, each winning over 60% of their bouts. 

“When I decided on captains it felt natural to choose them. They seemed obvious to me,” stated Levesque, who added the two have been helpful in his transition from assistant coach to head coach. 

On the boys’ side, sophomore Bennett Holloway is leading the way. Holloway, an epee, has won 69% of his bouts and has shown major improvement. 

During a Dec. 17 tri-school bout against Norwich Free Academy and Waterford, Bennett won only two of six bouts. However, in the rematch with the two schools on Jan. 28, Bennett won all six of his bouts. 

Levesque said he is excited to see where Holloway and the rest of the young fencers can take the program over the next couple of years.  

“We are very young and it’s a rebuilding year, but we’re doing well,” stated Levesque. “Next year I definitely could see some more success.”

With his entire roster scheduled to return next winter, Levesque said the goal is to keep improving the athletes within the program and hopefully grow the number of fencers.      

Levesque said the team has created fundraisers and reached out to local businesses to help spread the word about the program and build better relationships with the community.

Up next is a ‘Novice Only’ tournament for first-year fencers this Saturday, Feb. 11 at Waterford High School (8:30 p.m.). 
The team’s regular season finale will take place at New London High School against New London and Griswold on
Saturday, Feb. 18 (9 a.m.) before competing in the ECC tourney and state competition to close out the season.    

For Gerst and McKenzie, they just want to keep improving individually and helping the novice fencers. 

“The best part is the people,” Gerst said of the sport of fencing. “Someone on Waterford that I went to club with was helping our squad out and giving us pointers against another team. Everyone comes together and at the end of the day, we are all friends.”

McKenzie, who also does cross-country and track at the high school, added that it’s nice to be on the ground level of rebuilding the fencing program. 

“It’s a cool experience for me to be able to help in some ways,” added McKenzie. “When I first started no one knew there was fencing team and now I’ve been one of the people that have helped spread the word.”