Many college athletes have been playing their sport for most of their lives, but for Wheaton College fencing commit Solomon Taylor, that’s not the case. He first started fencing his freshman year, after seeing a poster for the team at the Activities Fair and thinking the sport “just looked really cool.”

Taylor quickly gained enthusiasm for fencing. He knew by sophomore year, only his second season, that he wanted to continue competing in college

“The team did really well, and I just kind of fell in love with the sport,” he remarks.

Although he began his fencing career later than some, Taylor made up for his lack of experience with his skill and passion.

“I made JV my freshman year, had a pretty good season. And then sophomore year I got on the varsity team … Junior year, I kept on excelling. … Senior year, I did really good individually,” he recounts, referring to his sixteenth place finish at the Conference meet.

As much as it was a product of hard work and ability, Taylor’s ETHS fencing career would not have been possible without the help of his coaches.

“Coach Jake [Nowak] and the head coach, Coach [Andrew] Stencel, [were] both super supportive, and I go to their club in the offseason. They literally taught me everything about the sport,” says Taylor

At Wheaton, he looks forward to competing at a higher level and continuing to improve.

“They’ve got a lot of strong fencers, a lot of good talent. So I’m going to have to work for that spot,” Taylor remarks.