The men’s squash team went 1-2 in the NESCAC Championship over the weekend, snapping an eight-match losing streak and finishing 10th of the 11 teams in the tournament field. Wesleyan fell to Middlebury in an opening-round match at Trinity but rebounded to defeat Connecticut College the following day before falling to Tufts later the same day.
Wesleyan, which was seeded 11th in the Championship, drew sixth-seeded Middlebury in the first round. The Panthers easily swept all nine matches, seven by 3-0 scores. Only Tyler Snell ’09 (#4) and Lonnie Gibbs ’10 (#6) extended their matches beyond three games; Snell fell in a 3-2 battle, while Gibbs went down by a 3-1 score.
Saddled with an eight-match losing streak, the Cardinals returned home for a consolation match against 10th-seeded Connecticut College, which had fallen to seventh-seeded Hamilton 8-1 the previous night. Despite a tough fight from the Camels, Wesleyan was able to pull out a 5-4 victory, its fourth straight win against its New London foe.
Dale Kobrin ’11 and Nate Fowles ’10 easily beat their opponents at the third and fifth spots, respectively, while Snell rolled to a 3-1 win at the fourth spot. At #2, captain Benjie Messinger-Barnes ’09 jumped out to a 2-0 lead, winning the first two games 9-2 and 9-7. After his Conn. College opponent tied the match at 2-2, Messinger-Barnes proved to be the straw that broke the Camel’s back and took the fifth game, 9-5. Gibbs also went five games at the number-six spot, winning the first, third, and fifth games while losing the second and fourth.
Following the win over Conn. College, Wesleyan took on eighth-seeded Tufts, a 6-3 first-round loser against ninth-seeded Colby. Wesleyan, however, was unable to keep the momentum going, as the Jumbos took an 8-1 decision. Kobrin provided the only win for the Cardinals at the third spot. After winning the first two matches 9-7 and 9-6, Kobrin dropped the next two 9-1 and 9-6, setting the stage for a 10-9 triumph in the rubber game. Messinger-Barnes and Snell were the only other Cardinals to extend their matches to more than three games. Messinger-Barnes took the first game of his match 10-8, but dropped the next three, 9-6, 9-2, and 9-0. Snell also took his first game by a 9-4 score but lost the next three, 9-7, 9-3, and 9-2. The win was Tufts’ seventh straight and eighth in its last nine against Wesleyan.
Wesleyan’s next action comes on Saturday as the Cardinals will host the Little Three, taking on Amherst in the morning and Williams at noon. Wesleyan will then travel to Vassar for an evening match against the host Brewers in the Vassar Team Challenge, with Connecticut College and Columbia awaiting them on Sunday.
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