Great Neck South's Gabe Magidson, Steven Grams and Herricks' Jeremy Lau take fencing titles

Gabe Magidson might not have been thinking about this moment every day, but he admits that he was looking forward to it.

One year after losing in the final round of the Nassau boys individual fencing championship, Great Neck South’s Magidson achieved what he called a “minor victory on the road to a major victory” on Saturday, defeating Syosset’s Tyler Chan in the title match to become county foil champion.

Teammate Steven Grams took the title in epee, and Herricks’ Jeremy Lau took the sabre title in the program’s inaugural season on the fencing circuit.

“I’m pretty proud,” Magidson said. “From coming in as a freshman and not knowing how to fence, going from bench warmer, to playing a little, then to a full-time starter . . . I’m definitely happy with how far I’ve come and I’m happy to see how far we [GNS] go.”

Magidson, the top-seed in the tournament at Manhasset, ousted Garden City’s Sebastian Vasquez in a semifinal, 15-11, before beating Chan,15-6, in the title bout.

“Chan is definitely a really strong fencer, I think we were both just tired by the final bout,” Magidson said. “Maybe luck was on my side today.”

There was certainly no luck involved with Grams’ dominance. An ‘A’ rated fencer, Grams breezed through tournament play with scores of 15-3, 15-6 and 15-2 before beating Great Neck North’s Alex Zhuang, 15-4, in the final.

In the sabre bracket, Lau began his path to the title with a friendly beatdown of his eighth-grade brother, Justin, in the round of 16. He defeated Jericho’s Jacob Khim, 15-10 in the final. Lau was not only the best fencer on his team this season, but he also served as a special form of player-coach for the newly founded Herricks fencing program.

Along with his brother, sister Jovana (who won the girls sabre title), first year coach Kristen Silk and athletic director Jim Petricca, the group worked to establish the program at Herricks.

“The Laus are three special kids and I couldn’t be more grateful,” said Silk, who had no prior fencing experience. “Jeremy took the reigns and really told the kids exactly what to do.”

Like Magidson, Lau also had been looking forward to this day.

“I woke up today and said, I kinda wanna win this.” Lau said. “This is my senior year, my last year . . . so I had to go and get it.”