Just 24 hours after dropping a tough 5-4 decision to Dickinson in the semifinals of the Conroy Cup (teams 25-34) at the 2023 Collegiate Squash Association (CSA) National Collegiate Team Championship, the 27th-ranked and second-seeded Navy squash team (16-19) bounced back to earn a 6-3 victory over Wesleyan (7-12) Sunday afternoon in the third-place match. Navy fell behind 2-0, but won 6 of the next 7 matches to clinch the victory over the fourth-seeded Cardinals who hosted the Conroy Cup.

Trailing early in the match, Navy got its first wins of the afternoon from Alexander Orr (Fr / Haverford, Pa.) and Millen Randell (Sr / Chicago, Ill.) who finished nearly at the same time. Orr earned a 3-1 victory over Ethan Yan at #6 to close out the year with a team-best 23-11 record and a perfect 3-0 mark at the CSA Team Championship. The 23 wins are the most by a Navy player since the 2012-13 campaign that saw Bill Kacergis and Mitch Bottini reach 27 wins (John Richey, 24 / Hunter Bouchard, 23 / Andrew McGuinness, 23 also reached 23 wins that season). Additionally, it's the most wins by a Navy freshman since Hunter Beck amassed a 23-7 record in 2010-11.

Randell, meanwhile, reached the 20-win mark for the season after dealing Shanay Sanghavi an 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 loss at #2. Randell finished his career with a 5-4 mark in 3 appearances at the CSA Team Championship, including a 2-1 mark this season.

Lucas Spiro (So / Buffalo, N.Y.) was among the three Mids to finish the CSA Team Championship in an undefeated 3-0 mark, as he earned a 3-2 win over Toby Goldston at #4 and gave Navy a 3-2 advantage in the match. Spiro and Goldston engaged in a hard-fought match, trading victories until Spiro capped the match with an 11-5 win in the fifth.

Wesleyan's Jack Lungstrum handed Navy's Ben Balser (Sr / Brooklyn, N.Y.) a 3-2 setback (7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7) at #7 in what was the senior's first loss of the tournament and final match of his career.

With the match deadlocked at 3 wins apiece, Matt Wang (So / Malvern, Pa.) put the Mids up for good with his 3-0 sweep over Nimai Kini at #1. Wang, who went 3-0 in the tournament a year ago, struggled in the opening rounds this year, but closed out with a meaningful win to give him 20 for the season (20-13).

Though Navy held a 4-3 lead, the Mids needed to win one of their final two matches to clinch the team victory. They did just that when Tommy Rankin (Sr / Atlanta, Ga.) came back from an 0-1 deficit to defeat John Sutherby in four games (6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 15-13) at #5. Like Spiro and Orr, Rankin closed out the tournament with a 3-0 mark which assured him of a .500 record at the end of the season. Additionally, after posting an 0-3 record in the tournament his rookie season, Rankin went undefeated his junior and senior years (6-0).

Henry Sparkman (Jr / Darien, Conn.) put an exclamation point on the Mids' win by defeating Wesleyan's Abhinav Gupta in 3 games (11-9, 12-10, 12-10). The three-year veteran finished the tournament with a 2-1 record and is 5-1 in his two appearances at the championship. Additionally, he finished the season as one of four Navy players to reach 20 wins, as he closed out the year with a 21-12 mark.

Members of the Navy squad will be back in action next weekend when they head to the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, Pa. to take part in both the National Collegiate Individual and Doubles Championships. Action begins next Friday and runs through Sunday.


Navy 6, Wesleyan 3
CSA Team Championship • 3rd-Place Match
1 | Matt Wang (N) def Nimai Kini (W) // 11-5, 11-9, 11-8
2 | Millen Randell (N) def Shanay Sanghavi (W) // 11-5, 11-6, 11-8
3 | Henry Sparkman (N) def Abhinav Gupta (W) // 11-9, 12-10, 12-10
4 | Lucas Spiro (N) def Toby Goldston (W) // 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5
5 | Tommy Rankin (N) def John Sutherby (W) // 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 15-13
6 | Alexander Orr (N) def Ethan Yan (W) // 11-1, 11-6, 12-14, 11-7
7 | Jack Lungstrum (W) def Ben Balser (N) // 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7
8 | Morgan Shatzman (W) def Shankar Jambunathan (N) // 11-2, 11-1, 11-2
9 | Preston Crawford (W) def Default (N) // ----


Conroy Cup Results
Friday
Round of 16
(8) Fordham def. (9) Vassar, 7-2
(7) Denison def. (10) Bard, 8-0

Quarterfinals
(4) Wesleyan def. (5) Haverford, 9-0
(3) Dickinson def. (6) Connecticut College, 9-0
(1) Bowdoin def. (8) Fordham, 9-0
(2) Navy def. (7) Denison, 7-1

Saturday
(5) Haverford def. (9) Vassar, 9-0
(6) Connecticut College def. (10) Bard, 8-0

Semifinals
(1) Bowdoin def. (4) Wesleyan, 8-1
(3) Dickinson def. (2) Navy, 5-4

(5) Haverford def. (8) Fordham, 9-0
(6) Connecticut College def. (7) Denison, 6-3
9th-Place Match / (9) Vassar def. (10) Bard, 7-1

Sunday
1st-Place Match / (1) Bowdoin def. (3) Dickinson, 7-2
3rd-Place Match / (2) Navy def. (4) Wesleyan, 6-3
5th-Place Match / (5) Haverford def. (6) Connecticut College, 5-4
7th-Place Match / (7) Denison def. (8) Fordham, 5-4

### Go Navy ###