Wayne Valley’s Phenom Fencer, Carina Festa, Continues to Rise on National and International Stage
- May 2
- 4 min read
written by Julian Irizarry
WAYNE, NJ — Success in fencing is rarely loud. It shows up in repetition, long weekends on the road, endless practice and matches sometimes decided by a single touch.
That steady progression has defined the rise of Wayne Valley senior fencer Carina Festa, whose path from local tournaments to the international stage has unfolded one competition at a time.
Carina Festa (left) Faces Her Opponent Across the Piste, During International Competition - Photo Credit: Rowena Festa
Festa, who competes with the sabre, fenced for Wayne Valley High School in her freshman and sophomore years, garnering an incredible 47-1 record and earning a TAPinto Wayne Athlete of the month honor for Feb 2023. Since then, she has focused on competing only for her club team and has built a strong résumé that spans regional, national, and international competitions.
This January, she will be competing in the Junior Olympics in Kasas City, another step on a journey that began when she first started fencing around age 10, and will continue into competing at the University of Notre Dame, where she has recently committed to attend.
According to her father, Steven Festa, “in the beginning, it was just like any other kid's sport.” But early progress showed that Carina had something more than her peers and that's when she started competing in regional tournaments where the young fencer found continued success.
By the time Carina reached high school, she was already competing regularly, and with success, on the North American circuit, often against older and more experienced opponents.
Despite an undefeated record at Wayne Valley in her sophomore year, results on the larger stages dipped, forcing her to reassess her approach and stay patient through a difficult stretch.
“I would say I had a little rough patch in my sophomore year,” she said. “But I just kept on training and having confidence and working with my coaches and my team. The season after that, I noticed a huge improvement in my results in my fencing. It had just been a slump. I learned from those mistakes that whole season.”
That persistence paid off at the North American Cup in Fort Worth, Texas, in March, 2023 when Festa reached the podium for the first time at the national level while competing against older athletes.
“She had never really podiumed before," said Steven Festa. "She’d been in the top 32, but she’d never been up there. And out of nowhere, she poured it on and came in third.”
“She really hit the scene in the national tournaments,” the proud father added. “She started getting on the podium and made the international travel team going around the world. I knew she was really special at that point.”
Since that breakthrough, Festa has remained a consistent presence at major events on the national and international calendar, collecting podium finishes and strong results across multiple age groups.
Wayne, NJ's Carina Festa Victorious in International Competition - Photo Credit: Rowena Festa
“Some of my best accomplishments include bronze at the 2024 October North American Cup in the Division 1 age group, second at the 2025 Junior Olympics in the Juniors age group, and fifth at the 2025 Busan World Cup in the Juniors age group,” she said. “I also have multiple team gold medals from international tournaments. I am currently training for two upcoming World Cups, one at the senior level and one at the junior level.”
Her current schedule balances schoolwork, international travel, and preparation for the next competitive cycle.
“She’s always been physically gifted among her peers,” her father said. “But she really developed mentally. It’s a multifaceted sport. There’s an intellectual component to it, and she has become an incredible competitor. She just really wants to win.”
“This kid works seven days a week between school and everything,” he added. “She has an incredible work ethic and drive.”
Carina Festa a Double-Medaler for Fencing - Photo Credit: Rowena Festa
Carina was able to draw inspiration from a former Wayne Valley fencer who reached the sport’s highest levels: Olympic athlete Fran Russo. Although they did not compete at the same time, they trained at the same club under the same coach — both with the sabre, giving Carina a clear example of what was possible.
TAPinto asked Carina about her own Olympic dreams.
“I’m focusing on my collegiate fencing career,” she answered. “From there, I will see if I can maybe shoot for the Olympics. It’s really time-consuming, and I do want to balance my academics as well.”
Support from family and friends has remained a constant as her competition schedule has expanded.
“It’s super important because they not only keep me humble, but they motivate me,” she said. “When I look behind me while I’m fencing and see friends and family cheering for me, it really amps me up.”
With the Junior Olympics coming next month, she has the whole township of Wayne behind her too, wishing her nothing but success.
