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(03/07/19 10:52am)
The 19th-ranked Middlebury men’s squash team concluded their successful season with a strong 15-6 record against the best teams in the country. The Panthers, led by three junior captains, concluded play on February 17 with a third-place finish and win over Williams at the Summers Cup. While the team is finished, freshman Justin Ghaeli traveled to Rhode Island this past weekend to compete in the CSA Individual Championships.
Ghaeli and junior Jacob Ellen were named first team All-NESCAC, and Junior William Cembalest was named to the second-team. Ghaeli, who earned a 12-9 record, was also named NESCAC Rookie of the Year. The squad can be expected to come back even stronger next winter as they are not graduating any seniors.
(02/21/19 10:51am)
The Middlebury men’s squash team concluded the CSA Team Championships Summers Cup with a 5-4 triumph over 17th-ranked Williams to claim third place in their bracket. To start the match off, freshman Teddy Best won a point for the Panthers at No. 6 in a swift three games and junior captain William Cembalest won another at No. 3 in four games. After Williams took a point to make the score 2-1, junior Jacob Ellen advanced the score to 3-1 in a three-game win at No. 2. With the score at 3-3 after two more points went to the Ephs, the Panthers responded with a win by first-year Justin Ghaeli at No. 1 and a match clinching three-game victory by junior John Epley at No. 7.
This match marked the third time the Panthers faced the Ephs this season. The Middlebury squad embraced the challenge with open arms, eager for redemption after the Ephs won the previous encounter by a 4-5 margin during the NESCAC semifinals. Epley commented, “It feels great to finish the season with a winning record against Williams. We view them as perhaps our biggest rivals and always enjoy beating them. This win will give us confidence going into next year, as we aren’t losing any seniors”.
Prior to Williams, the Panthers faced 23rd-ranked Bowdoin in the quarterfinal round of the tournament, sending the Polar Bears home with a blistering 9-0 defeat. Returning the following day for their semifinals match, the squad slipped to 19th -ranked Brown by a 6-3 margin. Alex Merrill ’21 scored one point for Middlebury at No. 9 in a four-game victory, and the other two Panthers points were won by Nick Bermingham at No. 5 and John Epley at No. 7, both in five sets.
A select few will return to the courts from Thursday, Feb. 28 to Saturday, March 2 to compete at the CSA Individual Championships hosted by Brown University and Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island.
(02/14/19 10:52am)
The Middlebury men’s squash team earned third place in the NESCAC Championships. Hosted by the Panthers in the Bostwick Family Squash Center, the weekend was claimed by No. 2 Trinity, who now holds a 14-2 record. Middlebury reached the semifinals by picking up a win over 24th-ranked Tufts on Saturday, Feb. 2 before returning to the courts the same day to fall to 18th-ranked Williams. The squad swept Tufts in a swift 9-0 victory with only three matches requiring more than three games. Back at it against Williams, the team suffered a close 5-4 loss. Middlebury posed wins in the second and third positions by juniors Jacob Ellen and William Cembalest, as well as in the sixth and ninth spots by first-year Teddy Best and sophomore Alex Merrill, respectively. Unlike the match against Tufts, this battle only saw one three-game match. Both Best and Cembalest fought through their five-game matches to claim points for Midd.
The team returned to the Bostwick Family Squash Center this past Saturday, Feb. 9, to challenge 19th-ranked MIT. The first two points were won by a five-game comeback from Cembalest and then another five-game victory by Best. The Panthers then edged the Engineers further by claiming yet another two five-game wins, this time from sophomore Wiatt Hinton and junior Jacob Ellen. Sophomore John Epley clinched the match at No. 7 in a four-game win to round out the match at 5-4 and secure a 13-5 record for the Panthers.
Following this excitement, the team will travel to the CSA Team Championships hosted by Yale from Friday to Sunday, Feb. 15-17.
(01/24/19 10:51am)
The 18th-ranked Middlebury men’s squash team entered this past weekend with a strong five-match winning streak against several top-tier teams before playing against Hamilton and Brown. The Panthers took advantage of this momentum on Thursday at home and claimed a 9-0 victory over Hamilton. John Epley clinched the sweep in a swift three-game win. The team then traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday to compete against No. 15 Brown University.
Middlebury started the day off strong, going up 4-1 against the Bears, and saw victories from Jacob Ellen ’20, Nick Bermingham ’20, John Epley ’20 and Wiatt Hinton ’21. After Brown claimed three more points, rounding the score to 4-4, junior Jack Kagan clinched the match at number four with a five-game comeback after being down 0-2. Returning from studying abroad in the fall, Kagan has secured himself an impressive 6-1 record this winter.
The squad will travel to No. 25 Dickinson College on Friday, and then to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to play No. 14 UVA on Saturday. On Sunday, the Panthers will play No. 17 Franklin and Marshall. Coach Lewis states that the key to the team’s success against these three highly competitive schools is “keeping everyone healthy, motivated and continuing to work on their games. Any opportunity to compete against a school that is close in ranking to us we see as an opportunity to put into play all of the hard work we have already put in.”
(01/17/19 10:55am)
Returning from break on Jan. 5, the 20th-ranked men’s squash team defeated 21st-ranked Williams by a tight 5-4 margin. The Panthers claimed victories in the first two spots from first-year Justin Ghaeli and junior Jacob Ellen and took three more points with wins from first-year Teddy Best, sophomore Wiatt Hinton, and junior John Epley. Ghaeli clinched the match with a three-game victory at the No. 2 spot.
Coming off of that strong victory, the squad dominated their four following matches this past weekend. They eased passed Amherst on the road on January 11 with a 7-2 score. Freshman Nate Moll pulled out a tight five-game win at No. 8, and Ghaeli clinched his match with a swift three-game take down.
The team returned to Middlebury on Saturday, Jan. 12 to host Bowdoin and Colby. The Panthers did not lose a single match against either team, claiming 9-0 victories against both. Then, to round out their successful weekend, the hosts dominated Bates by an 8-1 margin. Jacob Ellen clinched the match at No. 2 with a three-game win.
Coming off of these wins, the team enters this coming weekend holding a five-match winning streak.
They will face 30th-ranked Hamilton at home on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and then travel to Cambridge, MA to play 15th-ranked Brown on Saturday.
With a 7-2 overall record, the squad pushes into the second half of the season with building momentum and optimistic eyes on the upcoming NESCAC Championships, set to be hosted at home in the Bostwick Family Squash center over the first weekend of February.
(12/06/18 10:56am)
The 20th-ranked men’s squash team came out with a bang for their first weekend of the season with a tightly contested 5-4 loss against 10th-ranked Navy. Compared to their 9-0 loss to Navy last winter, the squad appeared to show massive improvement. Some of their points came from a speedy three-game win from Thomas Wolpow ’20 at No. 8, and a thrilling five-game comeback from Wiatt Hinton ’21 at No. 6. Likewise, John Epley ’21 took a four-game victory at No. 7, and first-year Teddy Best scored his first collegiate win at No. 5.
Following Navy, the team returned to the courts on Saturday, Dec. 1 to take on 23rd-ranked Tufts. The Panthers eased past the Jumbos with an 8-1 victory. Wolpow claimed a three-game win at No. 7 to clinch the match for Midd. Three of the team’s points were won by first-years Justin Ghaeli, Teddy Best and Nate Moll. Coming into the match, captain Jacob Ellen ’20 said, “Our first-years are fitting into the team culture very well.” These first-years came out ready to play, scoring their first-ever personal and team collegiate wins.
Before heading off for their short winter break, the men will travel to Connecticut to face No. 31 Wesleyan on Saturday, Dec. 8 and 14th-ranked George Washington University on Sunday, Dec. 9. There, the team will have another chance to see where they stand against a top-15-ranked team.
(11/29/18 10:52am)
Coming off of a successful 2017-18 season, the Middlebury men’s squash team is optimistic leading in to this 2018-19 season. At the end of the CSA Team Championships in February, the team clinched a 9-12 record and a top-20 national ranking. Dedicating countless hours to training this preseason and maintaining their 19th spot in national preseason rankings, the group is eager to get started. Although the squad has lost five important seniors, there is no doubt that the three first-years, Teddy Best, Justin Ghaeli and Nate Moll, will hold their own and make a mark.
This very young team consists of no seniors. Instead, they will be led by juniors Nick Bermingham, Jacob Ellen and Thomas Wolpow. Consistently playing in one of the top positions last year, Ellen is expected to be a strong leader on this team. With a respectable 10-10 record while primarily playing in the second spot last season, Ellen is a crucial asset to this team.
William Cembalest is another junior star to watch. Consistently playing at the top position last winter, Cembalest earned his way to the College Squash Association Individual Championships in Washington, D.C. back in March. Junior Jack Kagan was another Panther invited to the Individual Championships where he finished his season. Kagan sat at #3 and had a strong 14-10 record.
Likewise, sophomores John Epley and Wiatt Hinton saw success in their first season as Panthers and are ones to watch out for as they look to repeat their strong records.
The Panthers will begin their season by hosting #16 Navy in the recently dedicated Bostwick Family Squash Center on Friday, Nov. 30. Falling 9-0 to Navy on the road last February, the Panthers are looking forward to seeing them at home. A consistently solid team, Navy is already 9-0 for the season with a 5-4 win over #13 University of Virginia.
After their face-off with Navy, Middlebury will host #27 Tufts at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1. Like Navy, Tufts has been able to get in a few matches before they face the Panthers. With a 2-0 record so far with wins over Colby and Wesleyan, Tufts cannot be underestimated.