M. squash defeats Yale, but title goes to Trinity

From the looks on the Tigers' faces late Sunday, it was hard to tell they had just lost.

The men's squash Class of 2003 ended its career at Jadwin Gym this past weekend in the Intercollegiate Squash Association Team Championships. They left quite a legendary season behind them. Among the seniors' triumphs were this year's Five-Man Team Championship and their third Ivy League title in four years.

Though the Tigers could not add national champions to that list of honors, they have nothing of which to be ashamed.

Seeded No. 2, Princeton (7-1 overall, 6-0 Ivy League) started the tournament last Friday night against No. 7 Penn, a team the Tigers beat 9-0 earlier this season. The Quakers again did not challenge the Tigers much, as Princeton repeated history and swept Penn, 9-0.

The next day in the semifinals, the Tigers faced third-seeded Yale in a rematch of their closest match of the year. In that contest, freshman No. 1 Yasser El Halaby edged out Julian Illingworth, 3-2, to give the Tigers a 5-4 victory. Saturday's match was a test to see if Princeton could remain undefeated in the Ivy League for the season.

The team passed the test, although two early 3-1 losses by junior No. 6 Aaron Zimmerman and sophomore No. 8 Nathan Beck at first appeared to set the two teams up for another match, which would go down to the wire.

Fortunately for the Tigers, several big wins soon clinched the overall victory for Princeton. El Halaby, senior No. 3 David Yik and sophomore No. 7 Dent Wilkens each took his match, 3-0, while senior No. 2 Will Evans and No. 5 Eric Pearson chalked up 3-1 wins for the team. Sophomore No. 9 Rob Siverd pulled off an exciting 3-2 comeback, and senior No. 4 Dan Rutherford's opponent ceded victory to him due to an injury for a final score of 7-2.

"There's no team that we like beating more than Yale, probably because our last few matches have been so tight," Yik said.

Riding high on that incentive, the Tigers earned a berth in the national championship match.

Trinity Troubles

Waiting for Princeton were the No. 1 Trinity Bantams. The defending national champions breezed their way into the final match with a 9-0 win over No. 8 Dartmouth and an 8-1 victory over No. 4 Harvard.

The Tigers were ready to do some damage against this team which had beaten them, 8-1, the previous week.

"Our final goal of the season was to make the finals and to play as well as we possibly could," head coach Bob Callahan said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Tigers refused to let Trinity's reputation as a squash powerhouse distract them from their goal. The two teams started off the first shift, in which Nos. 3, 6 and 9 competed. At No. 3, Yik battled for a 3-1 win over Nick Kyme. No. 6 Zimmerman and No. 9 Siverd were both overwhelmed by their opponents, who each earned a 3-0 victory for Trinity.

The second shift of Nos. 2, 5 and 8 then entered the courts to play. Evans fought for a long 3-2 victory over Mike Ferreira at No. 2, but his teammates Pearson and Beck could not hold out against Reggie Schonborn and Pat Malloy. Pearson lost, 3-0, while Beck fell to Malloy, 3-1.

Down 4-2, Princeton couldn't afford another loss. At No. 7, the Bantams' John Smith overpowered Wilkens, 3-0, to clinch the national title for Trinity. Shortly afterwards, No. 4 Dan Rutherford fell to Yvain Badan in a close 3-2 match.

Though the No. 1 competition was technically a "dead match" — it had no effect on which team won overall — it was nevertheless exciting. A large crowd watched as El Halaby defeated Bernardo Samper by a final score of 3-0.

When all was said and done, Princeton's top three players provided the only wins for the team. The Bantams proved too deep for the Tigers, taking the bottom six matches.

But even the Trinity coach acknowledged the strength of the Princeton squad, joking, "This was a group of seniors like we've never seen before — we're very happy to bid them adieu."