Patterson, Karlen Team Up, Win National Squash Title

Proving their mettle against a pair of Trinity doubles teams, junior Dylan Patterson and co-captain Peter Karlen walked away as national collegiate squash doubles champions at the George Cummings Invitational. The University Club of New York hosted 15 teams from 11 colleges for its annual tournament, held between Christmas and New Year’s.

With no effect on collegiate rankings, the competition was a matter of pride. The Harvard duo battled their way through fifth-game tiebreakers in both the semifinals and finals against the Trinity foes.

“We’re tired of losing to Trinity,” said Patterson, who played in the No. 3 spot in Harvard’s last collegiate competition. “We didn’t want them to get this one away from us.”

Unlike in singles, doubles tournaments are hardball competitions that rely more on brute strength than finesse. The ball bounces much more quickly in a court that is over twice the size of a singles court.

“I was hitting the ball as hard as I could on every shot,” Patterson said. “I felt like my arm was going to fall off.”

The Invitational actually consisted of both the doubles tournament and a singles soft-ball tournament, and Karlen reached the finals of both.

Karlen suffered debilitating cramps in his left calf and hamstring when he was just three points away from victory, up 6-1 in the fourth game over Trinity No. 5 Lefika Ragonste in the championship match. Karlen ended up losing the game 9-7 and took a five-minute injury timeout between the fourth and fifth games.

Ragonste cramped up in the fifth game as well, and Karlen shared his tiger balm with his competitor before resuming play. Ragonste then pulled out the final game 9-7.

In a testament to his endurance and willpower, Karlen played five hours of squash in one day with little downtime because the semifinals and final of the singles competition were the same day as the doubles championship.

“I was hurting,” Karlen said. “Dylan carried me in the finals.”

With Patterson fresh that day and Karlen overcoming his fatigue, the Harvard team defeated the Trinity team of Carl Baglio and Nadeen Osman to capture the championship. The Crimson pair surmounted a 13-11 deficit in the final game to win 17-15.

Osman had defeated Patterson in the quarters of the singles tournament before falling to Karlen in the semis. Harvard’s other singles entry, junior Thomas Storch, lost in the round of 16 to Dartmouth No. 1 Hamed Anvari.

To start the tournament, the Harvard team coasted over the Yale team of Aftab Mathur and Ziad Haider, winning 3-0 in the quarters following a first-round bye. The duo then faced the first Trinity pairing of Patrick Malloy and Noah Wimmer in the semis.

In a tight match, Patterson and Karlen pulled out a 17-15 victory in the fifth game. They survived a 14-12 Trinity gameball that forced Karlen to dive to the court, setting up a Patterson winner.

The victory was sweet redemption for the Crimson teammates, who had lost in the finals to a Trinity team including Malloy last year.

“Pat was completely overconfident that he would beat us again,” Patterson said. “He thought he was going to crush us. Last year slipped out of our hands, and we figured we would take nothing for granted this year.”

A little additional motivation came from the size and nature of the crowd.

“My dad was videotaping the match, and I would have thrown away the tape if we had lost,” Patterson said. “Both Pete’s and my parents were there, and a lot of people were in the audience.”

This championship marks the second victory on the national front for the Harvard pair. Two years ago, the Crimson won the USSRA Five-Man Championship.

With a busy schedule of three matches in 10 days starting Jan. 24, the team trained in Jamaica for a week over the break. Harvard sponsors an overseas trip for the team once every four years.

The coaches refused to lighten up in the vacation-type surroundings, cutting off the air-conditioning for practices and yoga sessions in preparation for the much-anticipated Trinity match on Feb. 2. The Bantam lineup features several players from warm climates, and their court is notoriously hot.

“No one could breathe inside,” Karlen said. “We trained for about five hours every day, and people just slept when we had breaks.”

During their stay, the Crimson also defeated the Jamaican national team, with No. 2 James Bullock, who hails from Kingston, treated as the favorite son.

“He’s a hero to Jamaican squash,” Patterson said. “The girls love him down there.”

The Harvard men next face Williams on Jan. 24 and Dartmouth on Jan. 30. Both teams have tough players at the top of their line-ups, but the Crimson expects to prevail.

“We have superior depth,” Karlen said. “I expect to win those matches 8-1 or 9-0.”