Epee
Donald Grunewald
Donald Grunewald, Head Coach of Greenwich High School, began fencing in 1996 at St. Luke's School in New Canaan. He was a four-year starter in foil at Haverford College, leading the team to a MACFA conference championship as captain in 2004. He was a NCAA regional qualifier for four years, and was 6th place in MACFA individual foil. He then spent two years fencing for Oxford, which won the UK national championships in 2006. He began coaching as an Assistant at Haverford in 2007, and secured another MACFA championship. He began coaching at Greenwich High School in 2009. Over the years, his students have won individual state championships 9 times, and several other runners up in Individuals. In the past two seasons, Greenwich has won titles in Boys' Foil twice, Boys' sabre, Girls' sabre, and the 2014 Boys' Overall Team Championship. Grunewald has coached at numerous programs, focusing primarily on foil. He has been coached by Jim Murray, Dave Litttell, and Tomek Walicki.
Epee Schedule
The Epee
A hundred years have passed since duels to the death settled disagreements. Imagine it is now nineteenth-century France and duels have evolved. Gentleman, still seeking to defend their honor, duel to “first-blood.” This duel requires patience, tactics, and, to some extent, contradicts the dueler’s natural instinct to “kill or be killed.” The dueler’s target has expanded to include their opponent’s entire body. To act impatiently would likely result in just one drop of blood signaling instant defeat. The epeeist requires steadfast patience and an unyielding ability to be both proactive and reactive to maintain grace under fire. Little has changed today with the modern epee substituting a "beep" over blood.