Like All Good Things, M. Squash Dynasty Comes To An End

Yesterday marked the dawn of a new era in men's intercollegiate squash.

No. 1 Trinity defeated No. 2 Harvard 8-1 at the NISRA Team Championship. The victory makes Trinity, undefeated on the season, the undisputed national champion for the first time in school history. TRINITY  8 HARVARD  1

But, for Harvard, the loss marks the first time in six years that it has not achieved at least a share of the national title. In the entire existence of the eleven-year Potter Trophy history, Harvard has won it seven times. But it was not to be this year.

"We were disappointed, but Trinity has one of the best teams ever assembled in men's intercollegiate squash," said freshman Peter Karlen. "We feel our season was very successful."

Indeed, Trinity has one of the strongest squash teams in history. The Bantams dropped only three individual matches all season, and they defeated the Crimson by the same 8-1 margin Feb. 6 at Harvard.

Although the Murr Center war packed with Harvard fans yesterday, the Crimson could not pull out the victory.

"It was an exhilarating experience to be playing with so much fan support," said sophomore Grayson Witcher.

Harvard's lone win was at the No. 2 slot, a decisive 3-0 trouncing by co-captain Tim Wyant over Trinity's Akhil Bell.

At the No. 1 spot, sophomore Deepak Abraham played despite an injury. After taking the first game, Abraham dropped the next three to lose 3-1 to the two-time defending national champion Marcus Cowie.

Other four-game losses for Harvard occurred at the No. 3 and 6 slots. At No. 6, sophomore Shondip Ghosh lost to Charles Saunders, and Witcher lost his match at No. 3 to the Bantams' Lefika Ragontse.

"I came out really strong and played well," Witcher said. "But in the end my fitness was just not there."

In the previous match-up between Harvard and Trinity, Karlen had been Harvard's sole winner. This time, Trinity's Rohan Bhappu got his revenge. Both Krelen and junior Eric Lauer lost by a score of 15-13 in the fifth game, thereby falling just short of winning their matches. With these two five-game matches. Harvard came extremely close to pulling the match to a 6-3 margin.

"We were a lot closer than it looks on paper," Witcher said.

The road to the finals was smooth for both Harvard and Trinity, Eight teams--Trinity, Williams, Western Ontario, Princeton, Yale, Amherst, Dartmouth, and Harvard--were invited to the NISRA team championships.

While Trinity annihilated both William and Princeton 9-0 en route to the finals, Harvard soundly defeated both Dartmouth and Yale 8-1.

"We came out really prepared against Yale," Witcher said. "It was a good win for us."

Harvard now looks forward to next weekend's NISRA Individual Championships at Penn. The Crimson will send its seven top players, with four of them--Abraham, Wyant, sophomore Andrew Merill and Witcher--expected to be seeded in the top sixteen. Furthermore, Waynt should receive a seed in the top eight.

In the long term, Harvard is already excited about next season's prospects.

"We are only graduating one senior, Dave Beitchman, who plays at the No. 8 position," Karlen said. "Also, we are getting two or three good recruits, so we should come back really strong."

Perhaps Harvard can reclaim the Potter Trophy next year, but in the meantime, it is enjoying its success as the No. 2 team in the country.