HARTFORD, CT – Inside of a packed George A. Kellner Squash Center No. 1 Harvard Men's Squash defeated No. 6 Trinity to win their fourth straight National Championship. In a battle that took nearly four hours with five matches lasting over an hour, Harvard prevailed, downing Trinity, 5-4.
With the strength of the crowd on their side, Trinity looked strong through the first wave of players, going up 2-1 off of wins at the No. 8 and 2 positions.
Tate Harms got Harvard on the board with his five-game match win. After falling behind 2-0 Harms buckled down to storm back and take the next three games and the match.
Trinity grew their lead further with a win at the No. 6 position but then the Crimson came alive.
Ayush Menon battled through a tough five game match to put the score at 3-2. After Menon won the first two games, Trinity battled back to tie the match. Menon was able to hold off the full comeback and take the final game 11-9.
In the final five game match of the day
Ido Burstein brought the contest to three all through six matches played.
In the only sweep of the day for either team,
Denis Gilevskiy dominated at the No. 5 position to give Harvard their first lead of the day and put them within one win of clinching the championship with two matches outstanding.
Senior co-captain,
Marwan Tarek, faced off against Mohamed Sharaf (Trinity) with a chance to clinch the National Championship for the Crimson. Tarek and Sharaf traded wins in the first two games but then Tarek took over. In the final two games, the senior won 11-5 in either, to secure Harvard's place atop men's college squash for another year.
Harvard Highlights
- With the 5-4 win over No. 6 Trinity, the Crimson won the Potter Cup at the CSA Team Championships and are crowned National Champions for the fourth straight season.
- The Crimson were dominant at the top of the ladder, winning four matches at the top five positions.
- Denis Gilevskiy registered the only sweep by either team today. The first-year dominated in his first National Championship match, dropping the least number of points by any Crimson player. Gilevskiy outscored his opponent 11-8, 11-7, 11-5.
- Burstein, Menon, Gilevskiy, and Harms went a perfect 3-0 this weekend through the team's three wins.
- Following his win today, Tarek caps off his senior campaign with an overall record of 14-1. All 15 of his matches were played at the No. 1 position.
- The senior duo of Tarek and George Crowne finish their Harvard careers with a remarkable 19-3 combined record for the 2022-23 season.
- It's no surprise that the Bantams battled their way to the National Championship match and only lost by one point as the Crimson win handed them their first home loss of the season.
- With the win, the Crimson finish their 2022-23 perfect, going 17-0.
- Harvard and Trinity are neck and neck in their all-time series but with the win the Crimson are now ahead 35-30. Harvard has won the last six matchups between the two squads.
Results
- Marwan Tarek def. Mohamed Sharaf (Trinity), 3-1 (11-7, 4-11, 11-5, 11-5)
- Abdelrahman Nassar (Trinity) def. George Crowne, 3-1 (11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11)
- Ido Burstein def. Joachim Chuah (Trinity), 3-2 (11-8, 4-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9)
- Tate Harms def. Ahmed Ismail (Trinity), 3-2 (6-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-7)
- Denis Gilevskiy def. Marawan ElBorolossy (Trinity), 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-5)
- Benedek Takacs (Trinity) def. David Costales, 3-1 (0-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6)
- Julius Benthin (Trinity) def. Neel Joshi, 3-1 (11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-5)
- Khamal Cumberbatch (Trinity) def. Liam Rotzoll, 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9)
- Ayush Menon def. Danial Izham (Trinity), 3-2 (12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 4-11, 11-9)
Order of finish: 8, 2, 4, 6, 9, 3, 5, 1, 7
Next Up
The Crimson will send several players to the Individual Nationals next weekend, March 3 through March 5, in Philadelphia, PA.
