Junior Sanjay Sugarek lifts his arms in triumph, signifying to the world that indeed, he is the man. After coming back from a 7-2 deficit to defeat Gabe Dominguez of Washington, 15-12, at the All-City Fencing Tournament on April 16th at Washington, Sugarek feels elated.

“That bout was probably the best I have fenced in three years,” Sugarek said. The men’s team placed second at the tournament, but their undefeated season puts them first in the overall standings.

Sugarek, who rounded up second place with his masterful flicks and his undying patience, will be joined at the All-State Tournament by junior Michael Hsu and senior Leonard Harpster, who placed fifth and sixth respectively. Senior team captain Michael Pearce was absent from the All-City effort because he was competing in a national tournament in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but he will be present at All-State.

Among the rival athletes at the tournament were Dominguez along with Wallenberg ace Gary Chen, a prodigious fencer who is solely school-trained. Chen placed first at All-City after beating Sugarek, 15-8.

“Chen was good,” Sugarek said. “His fencing style is like a lefty, even though he’s right-handed. But I don’t think I had the mental drive to defeat him. Gabe (Dominguez) took a lot out of me.”

The women’s side was dominated by Washington, which swept the top three positions. Lowell’s sole fencer in the top eight was junior Sarina Tu. Senior Elizabeth Nguyen will join her at All-State as a coach’s pick.

The mode of competition at All-City is different from league competitions. The day began with fencers dividing into five pools of five, and then bouting each opponent fencer in their pool. Pool fencing determines seeding in the actual elimination section of the tournament. Both Hsu and Sugarek went 4-0 in pool combat.

Then, the freshly seeded fencers engage in a bracketed elimination tournament, with each match going to 15 touches with three minutes of fencing and one minute of resting for a maximum of nine minutes.  If no one reaches 15 touches in those nine minutes, a one-touch sudden death period follows. The winner moves on towards the finals and the losers go home.

Washington’s gymnasium was packed with fencers chatting and relaxing between their matches. Others were getting psyched up by their coaches, and still others actually fencing on the long fencing strips, or pistes. Coach Kathy Krusen, who also coaches the Urban team, watched as her warriors waged war.

Krusen said: “The men’s team did very well,” she said. “We had three of our five fencers make All-State and we were rock-solid. Sanjay (Sugarek) had a great bout. He hit to the target, was patient and held focus. Once he started building momentum, he couldn’t be stopped. Lenny (Harpster) and Mike (Hsu) have also been terrific all year.

“The women’s team improved a lot over the season, but we had a bad day today (at All-City). We went 2-2 in the regular season, losing our first two matches but then winning the final two.”

Krusen emphasizes the upcoming All-State Tournament, where four male Cardinals and two females will fence opponents from all around California.

The main competition will be Jonathan Spivak of University High, Kyle Beffel of Stuart Hall, Daniel McPhee and Justin Offermann of Urban, as well as SoCal schools such as the prestigious Chaminade College Preparatory from West Hills, according to Krusen.

However, Krusen puts forth her trademark optimism.

“I expect all of my fencers to make the finals and hopefully Michael (Pearce) will win like he did last year,” she said. “If we focus, we’ll do great.”

The All-State Tournament will be held at 9 a.m. tomorrow at Lowell.