Men's Squash Makes History with First Win

Author: Tim McCahill

On Friday, Middlebury's men's squash team found itself walking onto the court against Colgate University only one week after having started practices. The team is in its second year of existence and finds itself with mostly new faces and, fortunately, with brand new wide courts. Unsure of its own preparation and even uncertain of some of the more sophisticated rules of the game, the team could have hardly expected how well it would fare in the scrimmage. After having fallen to Colgate 2-7 last year, Middlebury managed to avenge itself by pulling off a stunning 7-2 upset.
At the number six spot, Kris Sukanich '05 started the Panthers off by winning his best-of-five match 9-1, 9-3, 9-6. Playing in the number four seed, senior co-captain Charles E. Leonard IV also won in only three games, posting scores of 9-5, 9-3, and 9-1. Spectator Mike Walsh Ellis '03 was visibly moved by one point in particular in which Leonard was in a long exchange of rails, got in trouble, hit an unbelievable boast, recovered, dove for a drop shot, landed violently, and then miraculously hit a winner from his knees.
After the point, Ellis, who had jumped out of his seat, yelled, "Holy cow, that Leonard, he is something else!"
Bob Wainwright '03 split in his first two games, 9-4, 2-9, before winning his last two games 9-6 and 9-1 in the number eight match. Tennis star Stuart Brown '04 played at the number five seed and brought home the fourth win of the day, 9-3, 10-8, 9-5. Clinching the team victory was junior co-captain Michael Gillim who played in the number seven spot and won his first two games easily before fighting off four game points in the third game to win, 9-2, 9-0, 10-8.
At the number nine spot, Charlie Goulding '05 battled hard to get a 9-7, 10-9, 9-5 win. Finally, at the number 10 spot, Scott Palmer '05 dropped the first game 6-9, before taking the next three games 9-4, 9-6, 9-3. Following the match, Palmer said, "I lost that first one and I didn't like it, so I won the next three."
Colgate proved to be strong at the top of the lineup, though. They refused to go away without a fight. Ben Cooley '05 lost in a very tough match at the number one spot. And in a match that went the distance, first-year Alex Nadas lost two games to three at the number-two spot.
The match of the day came from number three seed Jeff Wieland '05. He split his first two games before barely being edged by his opponent 9-10 in the third game. In the fourth game, he looked strong and won 9-1. However, in the fifth and final game he got down 0-6. To the delight of the huge crowd, Wieland stormed back to win the deciding game 9-6.
Wainwright, after a five-year squash retirement, said of the win, "It feels great. To be a part of the first men's squash victory ever means nothing, but it's still a good story to tell mom."
Under the watchful eye of Coach David Schwarz, the team looks very promising and hopes to have a strong season and possibly even go to nationals.