Fallen Giants Seek to Regain “Untouchable” Status

Attempting to revive the legacy that had earned them a 13-year unbeaten streak, the Untouchables find their dominance in the Manhattan/Queens division faltering; Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity fencing team finished second to the newly-promoted Beacon for the second year running.

After impressively finishing over Hunter College High School (with an 8-2 record) in the league in the previous two years, Beacon earned promotion to Stuyvesant’s division in the 2018-2019 season. Fielding three nationally-ranked players, it should not have come as a surprise that they would offer Stuyvesant’s most successful team a run for their money. Unfortunately, they managed to strip the Untouchables of their invincible streak on the penultimate game of the season, as Stuyvesant lost 90-77 to Beacon and lost their grasp on the division that they had possessed since 2006.

Entering the 2019-2020 season, it became evident that the division would be a two-horse race, with both Beacon and Stuyvesant expected to sweep traditional underdogs—Long Island City, NEST+M, Millenium, and Information Technology HS—with maximum points.

Stuyvesant’s opportunity for revenge over their new rivals came on the first game of the season (after the Untouchables’ first two games were postponed); unfortunately, the Untouchables collapsed yet again, losing 86-77 on Beacon’s home ground, despite Beacon losing their nationally-ranked Filippo Vanni.

Their next opportunity for redemption came at the midway point of the season, and yet again, Stuyvesant succumbed to a 91-73 loss to Beacon. Even with one game left in the season for the team, it has become mathematically impossible for them to overtake Beacon, whose only loss of the season came in an 84-83 thriller against Long Island City.

Despite their failure to defeat their new-rivals on two accounts, the Untouchables have earned a playoff berth, and they still have one game left of the regular season (against NEST+M) to fine-tune their squad. Furthermore, though Stuyvesant again failed to claim the divisional title, their only losses of the season were those against Beacon. The former Untouchables managed to create a silver lining in their crushing victories over the rest of the league (including a 90-37 win over NEST+M and a 90-47 win over Informational Technology HS). The Untouchables will look to end their season on a high and carry momentum into next season in an attempt to reacquire the success that had earned them their “untouchable” status.