M. squash finishes season at No. 4

Men's squash just did not cut it this weekend at the College Squash Association National Team Championship hosted by Yale. The Tigers (8-3 overall, 4-2 Ivy League), a very young team this year, entered the tournament with the hope of placing in the top three in the nation. An 8-1 loss to the No. 3 seed Yale squashed that hope.

Junior co-captain Dent Wilkens came through with the only win for the Tigers in their match against the Elis. Wilkens, playing at No. 5, was pitted against sophmore Avner Geva and came through with a 3-0 win.

Sophomore No. 1 Yasser El Halaby lost for the first time this season to Julian Illingworth, 3-1. This was a jaw-dropping result from El Halaby, who recently competed in an international tournament where he defeated the Nos. 91 and 69 players in the world. El Halaby might have a second chance to face Illingworth this weekend in the ISA singles tournament.

"My match was very disappointing," El Halaby. "It was difficult to stay focused in my own match knowing that we had lost the match already."

Freshman Parker Sutton put up the best fight of all for the fallen Tigers. Sutton, who has been named as a "freshman to watch" by the College Squash Association, went 5-1 this season in the league with his only loss coming to Yale's Ryan Byrnes. He faced fellow Brunswick School graduate Trevor Rees this past weekend but ended up losing a tough 3-2 decision.

At No. 7, sophomore Will Boothby lost, 3-1, to Andrew Vinci and in the No. 8 position Rob Siverd fell, 3-1, to Ryan Byrnes. All other Tigers competitors fell in their matches against the Elis, 3-0.

The results of the Potter Division — comprised of the highest seeds in the tournament — went according to the those placements. The Tiger loss to Yale put them in fourth place. Yale finished the tournament in third as it lost to second-seeded Harvard.

The finals pitted the top two seeds as Harvard and perennial powerhouse Trinity battled for the championship. Trinity edged out the Crimson, earning a 5-4 win and the national title.

This exciting Sunday conclusion was preceded by two days of competition. Princeton entered the Potter Division as the fourth seed with a match against No. 5 Dartmouth.

In their previous meeting, Princeton dominated the Big Green, 9-0, and this matchup proved to be no different. The Tigers once again swept Dartmouth as only three matches made it past the three-game mark.

This win propelled Princeton into a match against Trinity. The Bantoms matched their 8-1 win earlier in the season with another dominating triumph by the same score.

"Trinity's match was expected to be tough and the team's performance was mediocre," El Halaby said.

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Despite the Tigers' growth over the course of the season, the outcome was the same as the Tigers simply could not keep up with the defending national champs. Just as in their previous meeting, El Halaby was the only player to earn a victory.

Although this past weekend marks the end of the season for many of the Tigers, a few are just getting geared up for the ISA singles tournament this coming weekend. El Halaby will be defending his title as national champion.