Cromwell, French Finish Stellar Season Victorious

Last weekend, March 4-6, David Cromwell ’16 and Wyatt French ’17 represented the men’s squash team at the College Squash Association individual championships at Chelsea Piers in Stamford, Conn. Cromwell and French won the consolation championships in their respective pools within the Molloy Cup draw. The CSA’s top 16 players play for the national title in the Pool Cup draw, while individuals ranked 17 to 80 play in the Hoehn Cup draws. Heading into the weekend, Cromwell and French were ranked 55th and 56th nationally.

Both Cromwell and French drew tough opponents in their first matches of the weekend. Friday morning, March 4, French opened against Trinity’s Afeeq Ismail, who holds the 41st ranking nationally and is rated a high 5.6 by U.S. Squash.

Even in the underdog role, French played with his characteristic grit and stole the first game from Ismail, winning 11-5.

“I think I did take him by surprise in the first game with good length and high pace,” French said. However, as one of the top players in the country, Ismail bounced back and defeated French in each of the next three sets.

“It was great to play Afeeq [to begin the weekend],” French said. “However, in the last three games, he wore me down and did a great job of keeping me under pressure.”

Meanwhile, Cromwell took to the court on Friday morning to face off with Princeton’s Cody Cortes to begin his tournament slate. Cortes played much of his first collegiate season in the second slot on the Tigers’ ladder. Cromwell spent the first two sets adjusting to the lefty, dropping both 11-6.

“I was a bit thrown off because he was a lefty and I haven’t played many lefties this year,” Cromwell said.

Cromwell managed to squeak out a 13-11 victory in a back-and-forth third set, but dropped the fourth set 11-7 to lose the match.

“I didn’t play particularly well and I never really settled into a rhythm and didn’t find ways to really hurt him so he took the match,” Cromwell continued. “I was frustrated because that [match] was definitely winnable, but I knew I had to move past it. It helped clarify some things I needed to do if I wanted to win the next one.”

And win the next one both Cromwell and French did. They were both up early Saturday, March 5, to prepare for 9 and 9:45 a.m. matches, respectively. In the first round of the Molloy A group consolation bracket, French went up against Dickinson freshman Brian Hamilton. Hamilton was no match for French, as the Middlebury number two took down Dickinson’s number two in straight sets.

Cromwell began his run in the Molloy B group consolation bracket by facing C.J. Smith, a senior from Colby who was named second team all-NESCAC earlier last month. After winning the first set 11-6, Cromwell had to mount a comeback against Smith. The second set slipped from Cromwell’s grasp, as he narrowly lost 12-10. It appeared as if Smith would take the match after he edged ahead two sets to one with a big 11-3 third set victory, but true to form Cromwell held out. The Panther senior battled back and controlled the rest of the match, winning the fourth set 11-8 and the decisive fifth set 11-5.

With their victories, Cromwell and French then played again that afternoon. Once again, French steamrolled an outmatched opponent, MIT’s number one Justin Restivo, in straight sets. Cromwell was tasked with facing a familiar foe, Brown’s Jack Blasberg. The Panthers have already narrowly defeated Brown twice this season, the most recent bout coming two weekends ago, Feb. 26-28, in the CSA team championships 15th-16th-place playoff. Cromwell played Blasberg on one of those two occasions, during the Middlebury round robin, Jan. 16, and won a closely contested four set victory.

This time, Cromwell had to overcome a hamstring issue aggravated over the course of the weekend. Nevertheless, an extra hurdle could not stop Cromwell. He took the first game 12-10 and then fought back after dropping the second and third sets with another 12-10 win to even the match at two sets apiece. He took the match with an 11-6 fifth set victory.

French and Cromwell entered the championship matches of their pools on Sunday, March 6, looking to end two brilliant seasons with an exclamation point.

This time it was French who took on the familiar face, Williams number three Galen Squires, who French has had a lot of success against this season.

“I definitely had a mental edge going into the match because I had already beaten him twice,” said French “He is a really solid player and it was fun to play him again. But I did play pretty well and he was also less consistent than usual.”

French made clean work of Squires, beating the Williams senior in straight sets for the third time this season.

Cromwell’s final collegiate match came against Rochester’s Lawrence Kuhn, a high quality freshman who spent much of the season hidden at fifth on the Rochester ladder despite his semi-professional experience in his home-country, South Africa, and the fact that he finished the season ranked 34th nationally. Yet, it was Cromwell who looked the part of the higher-ranked favorite on Sunday morning.

Cromwell and Kuhn swapped 11-8 victories to start off the match.

“I had a hamstring issue heading into the match, and I knew I had to capitalize on opportunities and cut the points a bit shorter than usual,” Cromwell said.

Cromwell used the attacking strategy to propel himself to victory, as he defeated Kuhn 11-6 in the third set before finishing him off in the fourth.

“Turns out,” Cromwell quipped, “that attacking style serves me well. I should play like that more often.”

Cromwell is not done, though. After an inspiring, stellar senior season in which he  traversed the Panthers’ ladder and won the clinching match against Brown in the 15th-16th-place playoff in the top slot, he will look to continue playing squash on the pro tour.

“I am taking a couple days off this week,” Cromwell said of his future plans, “and then I will continue training because [next week, March 14] I head down to Virginia to compete in the U.S. closed nationals.”

Cromwell then plans to train rigorously for the rest of the spring under the watchful eye of Coach Mark Lewis, who formerly played on the tour himelf.

“[Coach Lewis] is going to guide my development,” Cromwell said, “which will help me keep a steady rate of improvement before I start playing in tournaments this summer.”

French will return to the team next year for his senior season. Having played most of the season in the third slot and with Andrew Jung ’16 and Cromwell graduating, French will likely occupy one of the top slots on Middlebury’s ladder again next season.

“It does seem like I will play high on the ladder next year,” French said. Yet, he echoed what team has said since the season ended with six recruits set to join the team next season. “Everyone is very motivated to improve.”