The Buckin' Elks completed the 2007-08 campaign with an 18-1 overall record, keeping reign over the league they've dominated since 2004.
Coach Walter Triplett's team, which has no seniors, twice avenged its loss to East Chapel Hill, which finished second. Bishop McGuinness placed third. The season concluded Saturday.
"We had a young team this year," Triplett said. "Captain Brian Rector is a junior -- and the team old guy. The other starters -- Steve Deck, Brett Pardue, Cameron Blackburn and Grant Justis -- are all sophomores. The rest of the team is all freshmen and sophomores.
"Things look rough for the rest of the league for the next few years."
Rector finished the regular season with a 38-3 overall record, the best mark in the league. He placed second in the end-of-season individual tournament this past Saturday at Morehead High in Eden
Blackburn placed third in Saturday's finale, followed by Deck in sixth, Pardue in seventh and Justis in 14th.
"In the future we will have the most difficulty with East Chapel Hill," Triplett said. "They are a 3A school, and they have two former UNC Chapel Hill fencers as coaches. Their fencers get to train with the university team twice a week.
"We will probably be competitive with them for the next couple of years but it is hard for a 1A school to spank a 3A school in the long run, especially one that gets to train with one of the best college programs in the nation."
Elkin fencers also have competed against college-level fencers, with success. The Buckin' Elks beat Davidson and narrowly lost to Appalachian State this past season. Last winter, the team beat Virginia Tech and Western Carolina in exhibition duels.
"As our team gets comfortable with the athleticism and aggression of college fencers, the high school league does not seem so intimidating," Triplett said. "We will try to schedule more colleges in the future."
Whether East Chapel Hill emerges as the next high school power remains to be seen. Elkin has plenty in its future pipeline as well.
Some of the Elks' elementary school fencers are so skilled that they were allowed to compete in the high school division part of the time. Matt Schumak, Drew Shinkle and Abby Triplett all had winning records against high school foes.
Triplett, a sixth-grader, won the high school girls division, which featured 22 fencers, this past weekend. Schumak, who is in fifth grade, placed 10th in the high school boys division at Morehead (out of 42 competitors). Shinkle, also a sixth-grader, was 15th.
Eighth-grader Catherine Schumak placed 11th in the high school girls division.
"They were allowed to fight in the high school division because during the season they preferred to fence people at their skill level rather than take easy victories in the elementary school division," Coach Triplett said.
Hannah Rector placed second in the high school girls tournament. Briceida Rodriguez earned fifth. Both are sophomores.
Daniel Wilson took 16th in the high school boys division, followed by Sam Motsinger in 25th and David Longworth in 28th.
Luke Andrews placed third in the elementary boys division for Elkin. Teammates Lindsay Shinkle, Ava McRitchie and Anna Taylor swept second, third and fourth place, respectively, among the elementary school girls.
"The school administration and the school board have been exceedingly supportive of the program," Coach Triplett said. "They have gone out of their way to provide us with good facilities and have personally attended several matches. It is no wonder that Elkin City Schools won a silver award for excellence."
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