Nov. 13, 2009

Complete Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md -- Junior Tommy McNamara (New York, N.Y.) kept his undefeated streak intact Friday evening, as he guided the 14th-ranked Navy squash team to back-to-back 9-0 sweeps against Stanford and Fordham at the Halsey Field House International Squash Courts in Annapolis. Thirteen teams have converged on the Yard of the U.S. Naval Academy to participate in a three-day tournament, including six matches that feature the Midshipmen.

McNamara jumped to 9-0 on the year after he dismissed Stanford's Chang Whan Yea in three games, as well as Andrew Craig of Fordham, whom McNamara held scoreless. Over his two-year varsity career, McNamara owns a 33-7 record and boasts an 82.5 winning percentage, the best by a Navy player during Craig Dawson's 10-year tenure at the Academy.

Navy's rookie class continued to gain valuable experience, while in turn providing the team with positive results. Billy Abrams (Wilmington, Del.), Hunter Bouchard (Greenville, Del.) and John Richey (West Hartford, Conn.) each earned a pair of wins Friday, while David Koenig (Cincinnati, Ohio) turned in an 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 victory over Fordham's Andrew Grosner, who would also play against Richey.

Abrams, Bouchard and Richey, in particular, have a close bond. Abrams and Richey both attended the Mercersberg Academy last season, while Abrams and Bouchard were middle school classmates growing up in Delaware. The bond has made the transition to the Academy easier.

"It's been great to have two guys - Hunter and John - who I've known here alongside me, going through the same routine every day," said Abrams, who brought with him great credentials as a juniors standout.

"The juniors level was really competitive, but the transition in terms of squash has been a challenging one. It's a lot faster paced and the players we are competing against are more mature and stronger. Probably the biggest difference, though, is the level of fitness."

For Abrams, the transition was made even more challenging by his choice to try out for the golf team during the fall semester. It's something he hopes to continue if provided the chance in the future.

"Playing golf definitely put me behind both on the fitness side, as well as court movement," added Abrams, who improved to 5-1 on the year with his wins on Friday. "While I feel like I've been able to catch up, I think a player can always make progress."

As Navy's rookie class gains steam, its upper classmen continue to roll. Seniors Ben Mantica (Binghamton, N.Y.) and Justin Langan (St. Louis, Mo.), along with junior Brad Seidel (Toledo, Ohio) also garnered a pair of wins Friday evening. Mantica, meanwhile, moved into sole possession of fourth on Navy's wins list under Dawson, claiming wins No. 71 and 72 during his career. He is two away from tying Mike Brennan (2001-05) and 2008-09 team captain Christopher Zipf (2005-09) for second on the wins list.

The Midshipmen will have a busy day on Saturday as they face three opponents beginning one of their most anticipated matches of the weekend, an 11:00 am contest against USC. Navy will also face Vanderbilt (4:00 pm) and Columbia (6:30 pm) Saturday before closing out the weekend with a 9:00 am match on Sunday against Hobart.

Nov. 13, 2009 • Navy 9, Stanford 01.   Nils Mattsson (N)  def. Sam Gould (S)       7-11, 13-11, 11-1, 11-72.   Allan Lutz (N) def. Pat Bugas (S)            11-6, 11-4, 11-33.   Ben Mantica (N) def. Ananth Sridhar (S)      11-5, 11-4, 11-74.   Brad Seidel (N) def. Derek Rowley (S)        11-7, 11-2, 11-45.   Justin Langan (N) def. Miles Bennett (S)     11-7, 11-2, 11-56.   Billy Abrams (N) def. Wyatt Hong (S)         11-8, 11-0, 11-97.   Hunter Bouchard (N) def. Trent Hazy (S)      11-6, 11-2, 11-18.   John Richey (N) def. Mark Wieland (S)        11-1, 11-4, 11-29.   Tommy McNamara (N) def. Chang Whan Yea (S)   11-2, 11-1, 11-7
Nov. 13, 2009 • Navy 9, Fordham 01.   Ben Mantica (N) def. Andriy Kulak (F)        11-3, 11-3, 11-32.   Brad Seidel (N) def. Eli Plangger (F)        11-0, 11-8, 11-23.   Justin Langan (N) def. Colin Corbett (F)     11-3, 11-2, 11-24.   Billy Abrams (N) def. Jim Lechleitner (F)    11-4, 11-3, 11-05.   Hunter Bouchard (N) def. Ken Fukumoto (F)    11-9, 11-5, 11-36.   John Richey (N) def. Andrew Grosner (F)      11-1, 11-0, 11-37.   Tommy McNamara (N) def. Andrew Craig (F)     11-0, 11-0, 11-08.   David Koenig (N) def. Andrew Grosner (F)     11-7, 11-4, 11-89.   Aidan Crofton (N) def. Jim Lechleitner (F)   11-1, 11-1, 11-3