Brunswick beat Taft, 6-1, in the finals of the New England tournament on Sunday to finish off an undefeated 2024-2025 season. This is the Bruins’ second consecutive title and the 20th in program history.

On Saturday, the team defeated St. Paul’s and Kent on their road to the New England finals. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches saw a handful of good bouts in individual matches — Will Newman’s five-game victory over St. Paul’s and Carson Beck’s tough 2-3 loss to Kent, in particular — but in the end Brunswick’s depth made for a low stress first two rounds.

While Sunday’s final had the makings of a blockbuster finish to the season, late season injury trouble plagued the Taft lineup. The Rhinos were missing both their #2 player (who suffered a shoulder injury last weekend at nationals) and their #1 player in a late scratch due to an injury suffered in their semifinal against Hotchkiss. As a result, Sunday’s match very much had the feel of a swan song to a historic season and a goodbye to the team’s many seniors.

The Bruins jumped on Taft early, and the first round of matches saw dominating wins from Henry Raine at #4, Jackson Pastel at #6, and Anden Boulan at #7. Oliver Velasco at #2, after such strong wins for the team in the last 10 days, started a bit flat-footed and dropped the first game of his match, only to regain his footing and close out the clinching win in four games.

The second round of matches started with a quick victory at #5 delivered by Thomas Carney. Meanwhile, Johan Hodgson was locked in an intense battle with his Taft opponent at #3. The two experienced seniors duked it out for five back-and-forth games, which resulted in a Brunswick loss. Will Newman played the last match to finish at #1, delivering the final victory for Brunswick in three games.

This was a season of the greatest success for the squash team: an undefeated season, a New England Championship, and a National Championship. It was also a season that felt like the culmination of a three-season run for this core group of five Brunswick seniors. Since their sophomore year, Will Newman, Oliver Velasco, Johan Hodgson, Henry Raine, and Anden Boulan have played in the top seven of almost every consequential match that Brunswick as played. As sophomores, that meant facing down players often much older and more experienced than they were and still placing fourth in the nation. As juniors, that meant the heartbreak of trying to make a Cinderella underdog run but falling in the national final to St. Andrew’s. And as seniors, they finally reached the mountaintop that they believed they could reach all along.

After the fanfare is over, it will be a bittersweet goodbye to those seniors who have given so much to Brunswick and defined the squash team for three years. Next year — as Newman moves on to Penn, Velasco to Yale, Hodgson to the Naval Academy, Raine to UVA, and Boulan to Williams — Brunswick wishes them the best of luck.

Brunswick def. Taft 6-1

Will Newman def. Christian Graziano  (11-7, 11-4, 11-5)

Oliver Velasco def. Jayden Oon 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8)

Johan Hodgson loss to Carl-Edmund Roux 2-3 (11-7, 3-11, 11-13, 11-9, 9-11)

Henry Raine def. Santiago Meza Rivera 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-1)

Thomas Carney def. Thomas Sheumack 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-7)

Jackson Pastel def. Aman Dhiman 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-3)

Anden Boulan def. Jed Spencer 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 11-1)