Mids Finish 15th at College Squash Association Team Championship

Feb. 19, 2006

PRINCETON, N.J. - The 15th-seeded Navy squash team finished 15th at the 2006 College Squash Association Team Championship in Princeton, N.J. over the weekend, posting a 1-2 record.

The Mids opened the tournament Friday morning with a 6-3 loss to Brown, despite playing what head coach Craig Dawson described as "Navy's best match of the season." Navy sophomore Tucker George (West Hartford, Conn.) earned a 3-2 win over nationally-ranked Breck Bailey at the No. 1 spot. George won the match in dramatic fashion, winning the final three games of the match after digging himself into a 0-2 deficit. Senior Patrick Kruse (Annapolis, Md.) produced one of his two wins during the weekend against Brown's Brett Camarda, 6-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-5. Second-year success story Brian Hamilton (Lake Forest, Ill.) posted a 3-1 win at the No. 9 slot for the Mids, beating Mark Goldberg, while senior Scott Hackman (McLean, Va.) came up short in his five-game matchup against Edward Cerullo.

On Saturday, Navy faced 14th-seeded Bowdoin, a long-time rival of the Midshipmen. Navy looked to avenge a loss it suffered against Bowdoin a month ago at Yale, but the Mids fell short, 5-4.

"We played well in spots, but in other areas we did not play as well as Friday's match against Brown," Dawson said. "We may have left too much on the court."

George swept Matt Dresher at the No. 1 spot, while sophomore Jeff Sawin (Haverford, Pa.) picked up a 9-7, 9-6, 9-0 win over Bruce Saltzman at No. 2. Newcomer Alastair Smith (Hillsborough, N.J.) bounced back from a 9-1 loss in the opening game to Zach Linhart, to cruise to a 3-1 victory, his first in postseason play. Hamilton earned his second win of the weekend and the Mids' fourth of the afternoon with a 3-0 victory over Robert Lynn. Freshman Christopher Zipf (Gladwyne, Pa.) gave a valiant effort at the No. 6 spot which could have given Navy the match win. Zipf dropped a five-game decision to Bowdoin's Elliot Beck, 9-3, 10-9, 1-9, 5-9, 9-6.

Navy ended the CSA Team Championship on a high note where it claimed a 7-2 victory over Tufts on Sunday and earned a 15th-place finish. Hamilton kept his undefeated tournament record intact behind a 3-0 victory over David Linz. Seniors Kruse, Scott Hackman (McLean, Va.) and Dhruv parashar (Singapore) completed their collegiate careers by earning wins in their final match. Kruse defeated Nelson Schubart in a five-game match, while Hackman earned a 3-0 win over Spencer Maxwell and Parashar posted a 3-1 triumph over Tom Keidel. Freshman Michael John Beautyman Jr. (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) earned his first win of the postseason with a 5-9, 9-6, 2-9, 9-4, 9-7 victory over Chris Devereaux at the No. 8 position.

The Mids finished the season with a 19-8 team record. The College Squash Association Individual Championship is set for March 3-5 at Amherst.

Brown def. Navy, 6-3
No. 1   Tucker George (N) def. Breck Bailey (B)                 3-2   0-9, 1-9, 9-3, 10-8, 9-0No. 2   Daniel Petrie (B) def. Jeff Sawin (N)                   3-1   9-0, 3-9, 9-4, 9-6No. 3   Edward Cerullo (B) def. Scott Hackman (N)               3-2   9-6, 7-9, 6-9, 10-9, 9-0No. 4   David Krupnick (B) def. Alastair Smith (N)              3-0   9-2, 9-0, 9-1No. 5   Brian Rifkin (B) def. Dhruv parashar (N)                3-0   9-5, 9-5, 9-3No. 6   Patrick Haynes (B) def. Christopher Zipf (N)            3-0   9-0, 9-1, 9-5No. 7   Patrick Kruse (N) def. Brett Camarda (B)                3-1   6-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-5No. 8   Jacob Winkler (B) def. Michael John Beautyman Jr. (N)   3-0   9-4, 9-6, 9-5No. 9   Brian Hamilton (N) def. Mark Goldberg (B)               3-1   9-6, 1-9, 9-7, 9-4
Bowdoin def. Navy, 5-4
No. 1   Tucker George (N) def. Matt Dresher (B)                 3-0   9-4, 9-2, 9-3No. 2   Jeff Sawin (N) def. Bruce Saltzman (B)                  3-0   9-7, 9-6, 9-0No. 3   Chris Nehrbas (B) def. Scott Hackman (N)                3-0   9-3, 9-5, 9-6No. 4   Alastair Smith (N) def. Zach Linhart (B)                3-1   1-9, 9-3, 9-4, 9-6No. 5   Nick Adams (B) def. Dhruv parashar (N)                  3-0   9-2, 9-2, 10-9No. 6   Elliot Beck (B) def. Christopher Zipf (N)               3-2   9-3, 10-9, 1-9, 5-9, 9-6No. 7   Jake Sack (B) def. Patrick Kruse (N)                    3-0   9-5, 9-1, 10-8No. 8   Chris Metcalf (B) def. Michael John Beautyman Jr. (N)   3-0   9-6, 9-5, 9-7No. 9   Brian Hamilton (N) def. Robert Lynn (B)                 3-0   9-6, 9-4, 9-0
Navy def. Tufts, 7-2
No. 1   Jake Gross (T) def. Tucker George (N)                   3-0   9-2, 9-4, Injury DefaultNo. 2   Jeff Sawin (N) def. Chris Delaney (T)                   3-0   10-8, 9-2, 9-2No. 3   Scott Hackman (N) def. Spencer Maxwell (T)              3-0   9-7, 9-5, 9-1No. 4   Alastair Smith (N) def. Kris Leetavorn (T)              3-2   8-10, 4-9, 9-1, 9-6, 9-4No. 5   Dhruv parashar (N) def. Tom Keidel (T)                  3-1   6-9, 9-4, 9-0, 9-7No. 6   Dan Karlin (T) def. Christopher Zipf (N)                3-1   9-3, 9-3, 6-9, 9-5No. 7   Patrick Kruse (N) def. Nelson Schubart (T)              3-2   9-5, 9-6, 7-9, 7-9, 9-2No. 8   Michael John Beautyman Jr. (N) def. Chris Devereaux (T) 3-2   5-9, 9-6, 2-9, 9-4, 9-7No. 9   Brian Hamilton (N) def. David Linz (T)                  3-0   9-3, 9-0, 9-0