The men’s squash team concluded its season this past weekend at the College Squash Association Individual Championships at Dartmouth College, sending four athletes to compete for individual titles and All-America honors.
The men’s CSA championships are divided into five draws: Molloy North, Molloy South, Molloy East, Molloy West, and the Pool Trophy. The last draw is the top division of the tournament, guaranteeing All-America titles for each of its sixteen competitors, and the previous four offer second-team All-America finishes for each of its final winners.
Sophomore Cody Cortes and freshman Gabriel Morgan were selected to compete in the Molloy South group, while freshman Shehab Thabet was drawn into Molloy East.
Freshman Adhitya Raghavan was Princeton’s sole competitor in the Pool Trophy division and was thus ensured an All-American status in the CSA conference for the 2016-17 season.
The team kicked off the tournament with three wins in the Round 16 stage last Friday. Cortes, Morgan, and Thabet each earning victories against their opponents in their respective decisions.
Raghavan dropped his Friday match, losing to University of Rochester’s fourth-seeded Ryosei Kobayashi. It was a hard-fought game, however, with two narrow 15-13 finishes.
Raghavan’s season wasn’t over, as he was still in the running for a top-ten finish and first-team All-America honors. He faced off against Trinity’s No. 2 Rick Penders in the consolation round, claiming two 11-9 wins, but ultimately losing the match to Renders.
His teammates, however, moved forward to the Saturday quarterfinals. Though Cortes was unable to clinch a spot in the semifinals, both Morgan and Thabet advanced to semifinal matches held later on in the day, both having claimed five-game wins in their quarterfinal games.
The two Tigers couldn’t up keep up the momentum of their first two matches, both falling to competitors in their draw group on Saturday, who would go on to compete in the finals the next day.
While Morgan was defeated by George Washington’s Jamie Oakley, Thabet lost to Rochester’s Ricardo Lopez, disqualifying themselves for second-team All-America honors, granted to the winners of the Molloy divisions.
The team finished its season the week before at the CSA Howe Cup Championships at 6-10 for the season and 2-5 for the Ivy League.
