Trinity crushes m. squash in second consecutive match for championship

For the second weekend in a row, it was Princeton versus Trinity for the men's squash national championship.

Once again, Trinity defeated the Tigers, 8-1, to claim the title.

Last weekend at Jadwin, Trinity was able to claim the regular season championship, and on Sunday won the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (NISRA) title at Harvard - adding another title to a growing list of national championships.

While Princeton solidified its claim of being the second best team in the nation, Trinity once again made an emphatic declaration that it is the best team in college squash, and the rest will have to keep trying.

On Sunday, it was junior No. 3 Dan Rutherford who posted Princeton's only win as he defeated Trinity's Lefika Ragontse. Ragontse, from Botswana, is ranked seventh in the nation.

"It was close at some matches," head coach Bob Callahan '77 said. "We put up a good fight, but they are too strong."

Princeton made it to the finals of the tournament by posting wins over No. 7 Cornell and No. 3 Yale.

The Tigers opened the team championships on Friday against Cornell. Princeton had beaten Cornell 9-0 in its second match of the season and the Tigers again rolled to an easy victory over the Big Red, 8-1.

Princeton coasted to a 4-0 lead after the even set, with junior No. 2 David Yik leading the way with a 3-0 win over Neil Soo. Senior Peter Kelly and freshmen Dent Wilkins and Rob Siverd followed, as all posted 3-1 wins.

Junior No. 1 Will Evans, Ruth-erford, junior No. 5 Eric Pearson and freshman No. 9 Nate Beck also posted wins against Cornell.

The quarterfinal win set up a semifinal matchup against Yale. Princeton had defeated the Elis 5-4 late in the regular season on its way to an Ivy Title.

On Saturday, history repeated itself almost exactly, as the Tigers once again pulled out a nail biting 5-4 win. In addition, just as they did back on Feb. 2, Princeton relied on the play of the top five to carry it to victory.

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At the end of the even set, the two teams were tied at two. Princeton's Yik and Kelly both posted 3-0 wins and finished No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. Meanwhile, Yale's Aftab Mathur and Albert McCrery kept the Elis in the match, placing No. 6 and No. 8.

In the odd set, Rutherford and Pearson posted 3-0 wins. However, with Beck losing at No. 9 and sophomore Aaron Zimmerman going down at No. 7, the match and a birth in the finals rested on the shoulders of Evans. Evans fell behind 2-0 before bouncing back to save the day with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Anshul Manchanda to clinch the victory and set up the final match with top-ranked Trinity.