'Wick Squash Back in Winner's Circle at New Englands

The varsity squash team defeated Hotchkiss by a score of 4-3 on Sunday afternoon to win the New England Championship. It is Brunswick's 19th New England title and their first since 2020.

Brunswick entered the match knowing that Hotchkiss would be a difficult opponent. The Bearcats' squash program has been ascending in recent years, and their team proved its mettle on Saturday after staving off an upset from host Deerfield and achieving an upset of its own against Kent, the defending champions.

"We knew it would be important for our boys to start off strong. This Hotchkiss team had a lot of belief, and we wanted to prove early on that we were going to win the day," Coach Alister Walker said.

With their marching orders, the Bruins set out to claim their first New England Championship in four years. Henry Raine played aggressively at #4 and did not give his opponent any daylight on his way to a 3-0 win. Captain Cole Cline and Anden Boulan also ran out to commanding wins at #6 and #7  to quickly put Brunswick within sight of capturing the title. With only one match remaining to seal the deal, it seemed to be only a question of who would deliver the final blow.

For a while, it seemed like Johan Hodgson, who was locked in a seesawing battle at #2, would step to the plate. Unfortunately, he could not withstand a fifth game comeback from his Hotchkiss opponent and lost the marathon match. Only moments later, however, it was senior captain Will Newton who would deliver the fourth and final match, clinching the tournament for Brunswick.

With the championship in the bag, it was an afterthought that Oliver Velasco and Will Newman couldn’t pull out wins from their own thrilling matches at #3 and #1. Newman’s match, even though he couldn’t pull out a victory in five games, saw some of the best squash of the tournament. Spectators praised in particular Newman’s disciplined, determined performance.

It was a great weekend for the Bruins, who are finding the success they have been looking for after months of hard work. And yet, the mood surrounding the victory felt like an anticlimax, since all of the varsity players feel like the job’s not done.

“It feels great to earn this win, but it also makes us look forward to Nationals even more,” said Coach Ryan Abraham.

The Bruins will take a much-deserved week off before heading to Philadelphia for High School Nationals at the Arlen Specter Center, February 23-25.

RESULTS

Brunswick def. Hotchkiss 4-3
Will Newman loss to Oscar Okonkwo 2-3 (1-11, 11-7, 11-3, 4-11, 12-14)
Johan Hodgson loss to Parth Khera 2-3 (11-5, 12-11, 6-11, 3-11, 13-15)
Oliver Velasco loss to Rohan Gupta 1-3 (11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 6-11)
Henry Raine def. Liam Waldron 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-5)
Will Newton def. Eli Levy 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-7)
Cole Cline def. Arvaan Motwane 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-3)
Anden Boulan def. Dwyer Illick 3-0 (11-5, 11-2, 11-3)
-------------------------------------------------------
Jackson Pastel def. Yilin Li 3-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-9)