'Wick Succumbs to Kent in National Squash Finals

After Brunswick pulled out a well-earned semi-final victory against Haverford the night before, the stage was set. Top seeded Kent dispatched a young Deerfield squad in the other semifinal, and would face the Bruins in the final for the fourth meeting of the season.

This was always going to be an uphill battle for the defending 2020 champs, but the boys had trained all season for this challenge. 

#4 Warren Klein lost to Hollis Robertson 4-11, 4-11, 2-11.

At the same time, Patrick Keller was battling Federico Sosa on the glass court. Keller had a very solid start playing aggressive to take the first game, but then Sosa stepped up in the second and Keller was unable to regain his momentum from the original plan. Keller lost to Sosa 11-7, 5-11, 4-11, 7-11. 

#5 Oliver Velasco lost to Lachlan Sutton 6-11, 5-11, 1-11.

Brunswick was now down 3-1 and needed to win out. 

#2 David Beeson was in the middle of his third face-off against Syan Singh and had just taken a commanding 2-0 lead. After going down 10-5 in the third, he changed gears and began to wear down his opponent with an attacking game of attrition. Beeson fought back to 10-10 where the points went back and forth for a bit until he finally closed out the third game 15-13. Beeson defeated Singh 11-6, 11-8, 15-13.

Meanwhile ’Wick’s #6 Will Newman was on the other court getting his job done. Newman dispatched his opponent Kieran Mattesich 11-4, 11-3, 11-1.

Last on court were #7 Johan Hodgson and #1 Tad Carney simultaneously. Hodgson was too strong for Kenny, winning 11-4, 11-6, 11-1.

The match was 3-3 and the down to the #1s: Tad Carney vs. David Costales.
 

On paper, Costales was the favorite, having been undefeated in the regular season. Both players came out strong, but Costales seemed to be playing steadier and was always ahead by one or two points as the rallies ensued. Eventually, Carney would inch closer until he leveled the score at 10-10. A couple points later, Costales would outlast Carney to take the first game 12-10.

At 5-1 down in the second game, Carney flipped the switch. He made Costales work hard for about four consecutive points to level the match at five and the result was visible. Carney would maintain that high pace aggression and wear his opponent down until he finally took the game 11-6.

It was now 3-3 in matches and 1-1 in games for the deciding match. The atmosphere was electric. 

But Costales returned for the third game rejuvenated and took an early lead. The next two games would follow a similar pattern where Costales was just too steady and made virtually no unforced errors while Carney seemed unable to maintain the consistency. 

Costales would take the victory 3-1 in the end (10-12, 11-6, 6-11, 5-11).

Kent was crowned National Champions for the first time, and this was Brunswick's 10th consecutive berth in the finals at the US High School National Championships.