PRINCETON, N.J. – The Harvard men's squash team put up a strong upset bid against the top-ranked Penn Quakers this afternoon but fell by just a single match in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament Championship. The top-seeded Quakers won the final three matchups in the contest to defeat the second-seeded Crimson, 5-4. Harvard had the National No. 1 on the ropes for a majority of the contest but could not close the door on the Quakers who escaped with the first-ever Ivy League Tournament Championship.
 

How it Happened

After defeating Princeton yesterday, Harvard moved into the Finals of the 2026 Ivy League Tournament, where it met the Penn Quakers in the Championship match.
 
The Crimson started strong in the bout, capturing the first two matches of the contest. Denis Gielvksiy led off the match with an impressive win at first position. The senior swept Omar Hafez of Penn – the 2026 CSA Individual National Champion – to win 3-0. Ishant Shah followed with a 3-2 win at nines, outlasting his opponent in the decisive fifth game after splitting the first four games. Christian Capella battled in five-set thriller at fours, but fell in the fifth game, as Penn took one point in the first wave to make the score 2-1 in favor of Harvard.
 
Maddox Moxham put Harvard on top, 3-1, with a swift 3-0 sweep in his matchup at fives. Moxham outscored his opponent 33-17 to capture the win in the opening match on the second wave. Omar Azzam went the distance with his opponent at third position in a match that featured three games that went into a tiebreak. In the end, Azzam fell 2-3 after his Penn opponent captured a 12-10 victory in the fifth game. Jacob Lin restored the Crimson's lead with a massive 3-2 win at sevens. The Canadian split the first four games of the match with his Penn adversary before posting a clutch 11-9 win in the fifth and final game. The win gave Harvard a 4-2 advantage heading into the final wave.
 
Penn rallied in the final set of matched to mount a comeback. Alexander Broadbridge took one game in his match at sixes but would eventually fall 1-3. The Quakers took the win at second position after David Costales fell in his match, which tied up the score at 4-4. The final match at eights saw Segev Rome put up a fight before falling 1-3. The result helped the Quakers escape with a 5-4 result over Harvard.  
 
 

Results

[2] Harvard - 4
[1] Penn - 5
1 – Denis Gilevskiy def. Omar Hafez (PENN), 3-0 (11-9, 11-1, 11-7)
2 – Salman Khalil (PENN) def. David Costales, 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-5)
3 – Marwan Abdelsalam (PENN) def. Omar Azzam, 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-13, 17-15, 12-10)
4 – Alexander Dartnell (PENN) def. Christian Capella, 3-2 (12-10, 11-13, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9)
5 – Maddox Moxham def. Rustin Wiser (PENN), 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-7)
6 – Zane Patel (PENN) def. Alexander Broadbirdge, 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-3)
7 – Jacob Lin def. Rehan Luthra (PENN), 3-2 (6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9)
8 – Varun Chitturi (PENN) def. Segev Rome, 3-1 (13-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5)
9 – Ishant Shah def. Hao Cui (PENN), 3-2 (11-13, 11-0, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5)
Order of Finish: 1, 9, 4, 5, 3, 7, 6, 2, 8
 

Up Next

The Crimson will now turn the page and begin preparing for the 2026 CSA Team National Championships. The tournament, which will be held in Philadelphia, is set to begin on Thursday, Mach 5 and run through Sunday, March 8. Seedings and draws for the tournament will be announced in the coming weeks.