[This article has been submitted by theNew Canaan High School squash team.]
The New Canaan High School Boys and Girls squash teams competed at the U.S. High School Team Squash Championships the weekend of Feb 6-8. According to U.S. Squash, this is the largest team squash event in the world and included 167 teams and 1,448 players representing 13 states.
New Canaan High School Rams Squash Nationals A Team. Contributed
Nearly 2,100 individual and 300 team matches were played across 12 divisions at venues in Connecticut, including Avon Old Farms School, Loomis Chaffee School, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and Westminster School.
The NCHS Boys Varsity A team is composed of Grayson Bubrosky, Killian Bubrosky, Hal Holappa, Christian Megherby, Kyle Finnican, Will Gruseke, and Sam Havens.
New Canaan High School squash JV team. Contributed
The team finished 11th in Division ll which ranks them the #27 high school team in the nation and the #2 public school team in the country right after HLM (Harriton and Lower Merion High Schools combined team) of Pennsylvania.
The team had a tough first match against Brooks School of MA and lost 3-4.
The three winning matches went to Grayson and Killian Bubrosky and Hal Holappa. The team moved to the consolation round where they defeated Conestoga High School (from PA) 4-3. Notable wins were Grayson and Killian Bubrosky and Hal Holappa who won their matches in three games and Sam Havens who won a very exciting match 11-9, 7-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9.
New Canaan High School Varsity B squash team. Contributed
Next the boys played against William Penn Charter School (from PA) where despite wins by Grayson and Killian Bubrosky and Hal Holappa, the team lost 3-4.
Finally they were matched up with SCH (from PA) and won 4-3. Grayson and Killian Bubrosky and Hal Holappa won their matches in three games. When Christian Megherby began the final game of the match, the teams were tied 3-3. Megherby pulled off the win for the team when he defeated his opponent in an exciting match of four games.
Christian won 11-8, 6-11, 11-3, 11-8.
New Canaan High School girls squash team, 2014-15. Contributed
The NCHS Boys Varsity B team includes Teddy Holappa, JP Sloan, Erik Burns, Sean Berry, Charlie Kallassy, Justin Swift and Hugo Potter. The team finished 15th in Division V. The competition was stiff. The team began by playing Belmont Hill School (from MA).
They lost their first match and went on to play New Haven. Notable wins were Teddy Holappa who won in 3 games and Sean Berry who played a very close match and defeated his opponent 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 13-11. Next the team played Buckingham, Browne and Nichols (from Boston).
Justin Swift rallied from being down 2 games to walk away with a win after an incredibly tight and exciting match, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9.
Hugo Potter also won in an extremely close match, 12-14, 14-12, 11-13, 12-10, 12-10. The final match of the tournament was against Canterbury School (from CT) where the boys pulled off a solid win.
JP Sloan beat his opponent 11-9, 11-7, 11-9. Erik Burns was victorious in a very exciting match, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3. Sean Berry had a decisive win 11-6, 12-10, 11-7. Justin Swift won in a close match-up 11-4, 10-12,6-11, 11-8, 11-5.
The NCHS Boys JV team played in Division VII at Nationals and includes Ben Wells, Matt Donaldson, Charlie Burns, John Shannon, Brink Rocco, Andrew Gibbens, and Ian McPeake.
The boys won their first match against Park School from Maryland. Notable wins were Matt Donaldson and Charlie Burns who both won in three. Andrew Gibbens played a very exciting match, winning 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10. Ian McPeake also won in three games. The team then played Canisius High School (from Buffalo area) but lost. Next they played Lancaster Country Day School (PA) but lost 1-6. Andrew Gibbens won his match 11-7, 14-12, 10-12, 8-11, 11-0. NCHS Boys JV ended up #4 in Division VII.
The NCHS Varsity Girls team participated for the first time in the national event and includes: Sami Marcus, Paige Skyrm, Katie Conese, Tess Rosenberg, Hailey Coutts, Sophia Welch, and Caroline Grogan.
The girls played a round robin format against Buffalo Seminary of NY, Brearly School of NY, St. Andrews School of DE and School of the Holy Child of NY. Most of the players on this team have been playing for just one or two years and were competing against some seasoned opponents, they did an amazing job as many games were quite close, and they look forward to returning next year.
The teams practice at Chelsea Piers in Stamford and the Country Club of New Canaan and were coached by Supreet Singh and Rei Hergeth, both of Chelsea Piers.