Fencers of the Year: Peter Tyson & Sarah Barger
Ward Melville enjoyed a flawless season in which the boys and girls teams claimed the Long Island titles and had accolades heaped upon them. At the epicenter, though, were stalwarts Peter Tyson and Sarah Barger, the Fencers of the Year.
Tyson went undefeated and led the boys team to its fourth championship in five years, and Barger (28-1) led the girls to their sixth straight perfect season. Tyson ranks 31st in the nation – one slot ahead of teammate Keith Feldman – Barger is 21st in the women’s bracket. 
The storylines of the two saber standouts, both of whom compete in the Junior Olympics, not only parallel, but are interwoven.
The two met in second grade at Setauket Elementary School and have been friends since, and in high school, the honor students had similar advanced placement class schedules.
But Tyson didn’t take up fencing until after a coaxing session in French class.
“We’re just chatting in class and Sarah tells me that I should try out because I’d always wanted to,” said Tyson, who went 31-0. "I said, ‘Fine, I might as well.’”
Fencing first piqued his interest in seventh grade, but he didn’t pursue it. At the time, he was busy with soccer. He quit that in 10th grade and wanted to take up another sport.
According to Barger, 17, who by then had already developed into a star fencer, Tyson had been considering trying out for gymnastics. “It didn't take too much convincing, though,” she said. “Hitting people with swords is appealing for guys. Beats gymnastics.”
Barger, who went 7-0 in the Suffolk championships, got into fencing as a seventh-grader, after years of watching her sister, Diana. “I didn’t want to be like her, I just wanted to beat her,” said Barger, ever emulous. 
So when Tyson tried out – and made the team by impressing coaches Jeff and Jennie Salmon with his footwork and receptiveness – he and Barger added another strand of similarity.
Tyson, 18, was placed on the junior varsity team to start off, and although he was promoted to varsity the following year, he sat behind the starters, most of whom were established stars. Ironically, Feldman was among them.
While he waited in the wings, Barger was helping guide the girls’ teams to 99 consecutive victories – a record that surpassed the 1990-98 Brentwood teams. She went 22-0 and was an All-Long Island selection in 2007.
But even then, the two continued to influence and motivate each other, honing their skills in competitive sparring matches. “Getting to go against each other is part of what makes us so good,” Tyson said. “Some of the best competition we faced was internal.”
“There was a friendly rivalry, but he’d whoop me,” Barger joked. “I’d get a couple touches off him sometimes, but he’d beat me pretty badly.”
Lack of commitment, Tyson said, is the reason he didn’t thrive as a soccer player. His summers were spent relaxing or playing at day camps. That doesn’t happen anymore, with Barger pushing him.
He now dedicates his "free" time to meliorating his skills. And this year, he reached the summit of Long Island fencing. Waiting there to greet him was his buddy.
