Fencers Win Silver for CCHS

The Culver City Centaurs boys épée fencing team with their trophy(left to right: Matthew Tran, Nico Pogorzelski, Darius Gadhvi, and Florian Bertel).

Not many people know that CCHS has a fencing team, but earlier this month, four Centaurs proved it deserves attention.

The Centaurs Fencing team isn’t official or affiliated with the school athletics program, but Centaurs who fence as a sport outside of school are able to compete as a team representing Culver High. That’s what Darius Gadhvi (‘28), Nico Pogorzleski (‘27), Florian Bertel (‘29), and Matthew Tran (‘28) did at a local team fencing tournament on Sunday, February 22. The team took second place in the men’s high school Varsity A épée fencing event, facing 6 other teams, of which 5 were from private schools (the 1st place team was from Harvard Westlake).

Unlike individual fencing tournaments, at team tournaments every member of one team fences a corresponding fencer from another in a bout that ends when one fencer scores five points. The side that wins more individual bouts wins the match. Over the course of the day, teams face each of the other schools, and the one with the best overall record wins the tournament.

“There aren't too many team tournaments, but when they do happen, the tournament is definitely different. I feel more motivated to win when there's teammates supporting me, and enjoying the trophy with them is more fun than enjoying it alone,” says Darius Gadhvi, the team captain. He has been fencing since he was 6, and plans to continue through high school and college. Gadhvi placed 30th out of 325 fencers in his division at USA Fencing’s Summer Nationals tournament in July 2025.

Fencing isn’t a CIF-approved sport, so it’s very difficult to get official teams established at public schools. CCHS used to have a lunch-time fencing club for those interested in fencing, but none currently exists, and most students use their own resources to pay for equipment or lessons if they want to fence at private fencing clubs. The members of the CCHS team practice at different fencing clubs in the LA area, but knew each other through school and were able to coordinate to compete as a team.

There are three distinct events within fencing as a sport that differ based on the shape of the sword, the target area on the fencer’s body, and what rules apply. The CCHS team fenced épée (the largest type of sword for which the target area is the entire body, including feet), but Matthew Tran, another member of the team, usually fences foil (a thinner weapon with a more limited target area). Tran actually won gold in the men’s high school Varsity B foil team fencing event with a different team the previous day.

The SoCal Scholastic Fencing League hosts team tournaments like these annually. After this year’s success, hopefully the CCHS team can compete again next year and maybe even find more Centaurs who are interested in fencing or who already fence and are hiding among us to join them on the team. These tournaments offer the perfect opportunity for students to use their outside-of-school talents to represent Culver City High School.