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No. 26 Men's Squash Stunned by No. 30 Denison, 7-2

Arvin Krishnan
Arvin Krishnan

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 26 Haverford College men's squash team (3-6) dropped a non-conference match to 30th-ranked Denison by a score of 7-2 on day two of the Wesleyan Round Robin inside the Rosenbaum Squash Center on the campus of Wesleyan University.

The Big Red got on the board first, as Ross Falcon took down Garret Fantini 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 in flight six to give Denison a 1-0 lead. In the eighth rung of the ladder, Arvin Krishnan leveled the match at 1-1 after turning away Gus Nelson 14-12, 11-8, 11-7 in a tense three-game match.

In the second flight, despite a valiant effort, Tarun Mammen dismissed Aaryaman Jaising with game scores of 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 to reclaim the Big Red's advantage at  2-1. Denison gained another point in the top flight, as Juan Felipe Hernandez bested Noah Tunis 11-6, 11-8, 11-2 to extend the Big Red's lead up to 3-1.

The middle of the ladder saw two epic matches go Denison's way, as the Big Red claimed two five-game thrillers in flights four and five. Lucas Piller defeated Henry Jiang 7-11, 5-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4 in a momentous comeback, while Alex DeLuca got the better of Qianzhi Zhao 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6 to clinch the match at 5-1.

In a match that took more than an hour to complete, Francis Betkowski outlasted Jackson Bragman 14-12, 10-12, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6 in flight seven to earn Haverford's second point of the afternoon.

However, in the ninth flight, Denison found their sixth point of the day, after Rayan Dar toppled Daniel Braun 13-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-4. Charlie Fenwick IV capped off the Big Red victory by getting past Kai Schinaman 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 to complete a 7-2 victory for Denison.

The men's squash team will now return home to host the first home contest of the 2024-25 season, taking on No. 16 Navy at the GIAC Squash Courts on Thursday, January 23. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. start.