Tosan Rone didn’t grow up in fencing. It’s not a sport most kids in the South Suburbs dream about, but after almost a decade in the sport, the 2018 Homewood-Flossmoor High School graduate is having international success. 

When he was a sophomore in high school, a friend convinced him to come out for the club team. 

“My first reaction was ‘What is fencing?’” said Rone, who now lives in South Holland. 

It wasn’t until the end of his junior year, when he lost in the state championships, that Rone decided it might be something he’d stick with. He was down 5-0 because of a technical issue with his equipment – which he was borrowing – but was able to tie it 14-14 before eventually losing.

“I remember the conversation with Coach (Dave) Green after that,” Rone said. “It really just inspired me to get back up after that loss. He really inspired me to say ‘This is something that I enjoy doing, and I should try to see how far I can take it.’”

Fast forward a few years, and Rone fences for the Nigerian national team. He was born in the USA but his parents are immigrants so he holds dual citizenship. 

Rone is currently ranked No. 116 in the world in the senior foil. Fencing doesn’t pay the bills, though. He does it for the love of the game while working as a software engineer. 

“That international opportunity has really opened a brand new world for me. It’s enabled me to travel the world but also make some really close friends in the (fencing) community,” Rone said. “We all love fencing. That’s the thing that we all have in common.” 

Last month, he finished 12th in the African Zonal Championships in Lagos. It was a disappointing finish, Rone said, but his draw was less than ideal. He was eliminated by Egyptian Abdelrahman Tolba, ranked No. 9 in the world.

Tolba was the eventual gold medal winner.

“I didn’t fence as well as I wanted to. There were definitely some points where I made some poor decisions,” he said. “But I’m happy with my result because I was competing against Olympians.”

Rone is paying things forward, too. He trains primarily at Eminence Fencing Academy in Lake Forest but also at Northwest Indiana Fencing Club. When he’s not training, he helps out with coaching younger kids.

A future in coaching the sport he calls “physical chess” isn’t out of the question, he said. 

“I really do care about the development of fencing,” Rone said. “Fencing only survives if the current generation, once they age out of competition, they can train that next generation. Fencing is extremely niche so if we don’t develop that next generation it’s going to die out.” 

Rone will take some time off for the next few months to train and recover from tendonitis in his knee. He wants to be 100 percent healthy when he returns to competition. A good squatting stance and lateral movement are important in fencing.

When he does get back into things, he hopes his presence in the sport helps encourage others to try it out. 

“For people that may want to get into the sport but may not have the means, it matters that there is accessibility because it’s a sport that historically was niche because of the barriers to entry,” Rone said. “Give it a shot. You never know what you’re capable of until you do it.”