The Drew University fencing teams will host the 40th Annual Santelli and Cetrulo High School Fencing Tournaments this Saturday and Sunday in the Simon Forum, starting at 8 a.m. each day.

The Santelli and Cetrulo Tournaments are recognized as the largest high school team fencing tournaments in the world. This year almost 100 teams from the New Jersey and New York area will take part in the event.

This is the fourth year in a row that the Rangers will host the tournaments, and it has proven to be a big benefit to both the University and to the high school teams which participate.

"We are bringing together some of the best high school-aged fencers in the country right in our facility," said Vincent Paragano, head coach of the Rangers program. "New Jersey is the hotbed of high school fencing and we are right in the middle of it."

Paragano should know. Before taking the helm at Drew in 2015, he was the first New Jersey high school fencing coach to lead two different teams to Santelli team championships - first as head coach at Governor Livingston High School (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) in 2011 and then as head coach of Bernards High School (Bernardsville, N.J.) in 2013.

"USA Fencing has been using New Jersey high school fencing in general, and the Santelli/Cetrulo Tournaments in particular, as part of their model to promote and grow high school and middle school fencing at the grassroots level," said Paragano. "Even more important, USA Fencing recognizes that successful high school programs help fill successful college program rosters. Look at what it has done for our team and for the University. Our familiarity with New Jersey-New York high school teams and coaches – and our promotion of events such as the Santelli and Cetrulo that attract local fencers – have been the bedrock for the re-emergence of our program."
 
Admission is free to these events, which are open to the public.