Shenendehowa High student Luca Savoy began fencing at 9 years old. He was inspired by the lightsaber duels in the Star Wars films and fake sword fighting with his father, Daniel, in the basement of their Rexford home.
“One day, he said, ‘Luca, there’s, like, a sport for this,’ ” Savoy recalled Friday. “Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated by it and the fact that it could be like an actual sport.”
They located a fencing school, Beaches Sabre Club in Troy. That set Savoy on a path that led him to his first national championship last week.
Savoy, 16, entering his junior year at Shenendehowa, won the Division III men’s sabre title on July 5 at the 2023 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge in Phoenix.
In a field of 200 competitors, Savoy went undefeated in 13 matches, including a 15-11 victory over Alex Piwowar of Massachusetts in the final. The first fencer to reach 15 points wins.
“It feels really, really good,” Savoy said. “Obviously, I’ve been looking a long time for this and I feel like every day I wouldn’t think about, ‘Oh, I really want to be a national champion.’ I would just stick to my game plan and that obviously paid off in the long run.”
Division III is an open division that is below Divisions I and II based on experience in national tournaments. His competitors in Arizona ranged from his age to about 25 years old.
“I would be nervous, but then rather than dwelling on things that could go wrong, I sort of emphasized more on what my strengths were, and when I was able to do that, I feel like I was able to really crush the competition,” Savoy said.
Savoy’s mother, Angela, and coach, Carolyn Lapham, were in attendance in Phoenix. His father watched via a live stream.
Angela called herself a “proud mom,” as much for Luca being a straight-A honor student as for his fencing.
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