Herricks High School won gold at the Nassau boys individual fencing competition, held at Garden City High School on Feb. 1.
After long and hard matches, senior Om Thakur won gold for epee, and sophomore William Wei won gold for sabre.
Thakur has been fencing since he was in seventh grade, and it’s not the first time he has won gold. During the 2023 Nassau fencing competition, Thakur won his first gold for epee.
Going head-to-head against previous champion Luke Kugler of Oyster Bay, Thakur couldn’t gain much of a point difference to feel secure in the match.
“Some people in the crowd were definitely like, ‘It’s definitely game over, Kugler will definitely come out on top,’ but I changed my mindset. I’m like, let me have some fun, let’s ignore all the outside noise,” Thakur said.
Standing in the center of Garden City High School, the 2025 Nassau fencing individual championship came down to a sudden-death match, where Thakur took the gold, winning 14-13.
“Getting that last touch, seeing the light, seeing my club and schools from all over the county just jumping with joy and cheering—that was truly an amazing feeling. Knowing I’ve become friends with and an integral part of Nassau County fencing, and the fencing community as a whole,” Thakur said.
William Wei only started fencing his freshman year of high school.
He didn’t have an easy match either. After falling behind 5-0 to open the championship and suffering two bouts to the back of his head, Wei staged a comeback.
Wei secured the gold, winning 15-13.
Griffen Healy and his brother Tyler Healy stepped into the role of Herricks fencing head coaches this season.
“When we got there, they weren’t really run by fencing coaches, so they didn’t really have proper structure to practice,” Griffen Healy said.
The team practices six days a week, Monday through Saturday, in preparation for competitions.
“All we really did for them was give them an environment where they could also help build other fencers. I think both of them taking on those leadership roles—Om in epee and Wei in sabre—not only helped our team grow, but it also helped them become more confident in what they do on the strip,” Healy said.
Healy said much of Thakur and Wei’s fencing credit goes to their fencing clubs outside of school. Thakur attends North Shore Fencers Club, and Wei attends Allegro Fencing Center.
