Boys fencing: Ward Melville's William Dreyer, Half Hollow Hills' Jerry Wu are repeat as gold medalists
William Dreyer of Ward Melville stands atop the podium at the Suffolk boys fencing championships at the Mission Fencing Center in Rocky Point on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. Credit: Sam Johnston
Only two Suffolk fencers entered Saturday’s county individual championships with a chance at defending their titles. None of the four returning boys and girls gold medalists in Nassau had done so.
Yet sabreist William Dreyer of Ward Melville and epeeist Jerry Wu of Half Hollow Hills managed to do just that, taking gold at Rocky Point’s Mission Fencing Center.
Top-seeded Dreyer won all four of his pool bouts by a touch difference of 14 before defeating No. 4 Joseph Losquadro of Centereach, 15-9, in the semifinals. He then bested No. 2 Ciaran Coyne of Sayville, 15-8, in the championship bout.
“A lot of people get worked up and in their own head, but if you can be relaxed and angry at the same time, that’s how you can put yourself over,” Dreyer said.
Wu -- who beat No. 2 Patrick Klinkenberg of Whitman, 15-11, in the final -- also claimed the top seed with just one loss in pool play. Despite the triumph, Wu said the feeling between this year’s win and last year’s win felt about the same.
“I did good,” Wu said. “Ok, job’s done.”
Back-to-back gold medals aren’t the only similarity between Wu and Dreyer as both made it a point to stress their desire to improve. Dreyer focused on eating right and sleeping well in the nights leading up to Saturday after dedicating years to his craft, and Wu said he practiced a couple techniques he wanted to try Saturday.
“[Winning back-to-back gold medals], I’d hope it was something I had earned,” Dreyer said. “With the amount of time I put into fencing, I would be very upset if it didn’t pay off because I care a lot about it. It’s a big part of my life, so I’m very glad it worked out the way it did.”
“I still have more work to do,” Wu said. “National rankings, stuff like that. It’s a good award for what I have right now, but I got more to do.”
Dreyer wasn’t the only fencer for Ward Melville’s fencing team to take home gold as top-seeded sophomore Yannik Reyes won the foil title in a thrilling 15-9 bout against No. 2 Marc Lindemann of Newfield. Lindemann took a 7-4 lead before Reyes battled back to tie the bout at nine. He then rattled off six consecutive touches for the win.
“[It feels] great,” Reyes said. “Last year I wanted to win, but I really couldn’t … I took my time – sometimes I feel like I’m rushing – but I locked down and spread the touches out, one at a time.”
Centereach sabreist Joseph LoSquadro, Newfield foilist Conrad Lindemann and Huntington epeeist Franklin Rathbun all took bronze.
Reyes, a Rocky Point sophomore, said he couldn’t quite remember the feeling of that final touch; the adrenaline overwhelmed him. But he’ll at least have a large cutout of the foil bracket he conquered that’ll serve as lasting keepsakes.
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
