No. 27 Wesleyan Slips Past No. 26 Men's Squash in 5-4 Thriller

Henry Jiang

Posted: Jan 17, 2025

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - The No. 26 Haverford College men's squash team (3-5) narrowly fell to 27th-ranked Wesleyan (6-2) by a score of 5-4 on Tuesday afternoon at the Rosenbaum Squash Center. The match served as the opening contest of the three-day Wesleyan Round Robin.

The competition between the Fords and Cardinals began in the eighth flight. Sophomore Arvin Krishnan opened strong, winning the first game and battling through an epic second game for a 12-10 victory. Although he dropped the third game 11-3, Krishnan rebounded to take the fourth 11-5, securing an 11-8, 12-10, 3-11, 11-5 victory and giving Haverford an early 1-0 lead.

In the sixth flight, Morgan Shatzman responded for Wesleyan, defeating Garret Fantini 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 to even the match at 1-1. Wesleyan then took the lead at 2-1 after Dhairya Shah earned a four-game victory over Aaryaman Jaising, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-4.

Haverford's Daniel Braun made his season debut in the ninth flight, returning from injury to deliver a dominant performance. The sophomore swept Ian Stein 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 to level the match at 2-2.

The Fords reclaimed the lead in the fourth flight, where first-year Henry Jiang defeated Preston Crawford 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9 in a thrilling four-game contest, putting Haverford up 3-2. Wesleyan answered in the top flight with the match of the day, as Abhinav Gupta mounted a stunning comeback to edge Noah Tunis in five games, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6, tying the score once again at 3-3.

In the seventh flight, Francis Betkowski provided a much-needed victory for Haverford, overcoming Zachary Idinopulos 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9 to push the Fords ahead 4-3. However, Wesleyan tied things up once more in the fifth flight when Jack Lungstrum narrowly defeated Qianzhi Zhao 11-3, 11-9, 13-11.

With the match deadlocked at 4-4, the decisive third flight saw Ethan Yan of Wesleyan prevail over Kai Schinaman in straight games, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, clinching the Cardinals' narrow 5-4 victory.

The Fords will now return for day two of the Wesleyan Round Robin on Saturday, January 18, when the Fords face the Denison Big Red at 12:30 p.m. at the Rosenbaum Squash Center.