Excellent Matches!
The Groton boys ended the season in excellent form, stepping onto the large stage of this huge tournament and coming through with three wins in four extremely close matches. Most importantly, the team's maturity and sportsmanship were on full display every time they stepped on court.
We opened the weekend with a 4-3 win over Tabor. Tabor's top three are simply out of reach so we needed to win every one of the others . . . and we did! Tyler Santana, Charlie Weisberg, and Carter Lightburn were all able to sweep their opponents in three straight games but it still took some heroics from Kevin Cai to secure the team win with an 11-5 fifth game against an extremely determined opponent.
Our second match was supposed to be a lopsided one against highly-rated Pingry (NJ) but the Groton players' determination made it a very close contest. Terrific wins by Evan Khym and Charlie Weisberg gave Groton an early lead but only Tyler Santana was able to add to it so the team lost 3-4. Putting up a good fight against a team seeded much higher than us added to our confidence as we continued on into consolation rounds.
The Choate match was a chance for redemption after last weekend's narrow loss at New Englands. Every match was close and competitive, with Charlie Weisberg and Carter Lightburn providing the reliable wins the team so often needs but Choate's top player narrowly turning the tables to pull out a close win over Ronin Kaplan. Kevin Cai's strong performance brought the team score to 3-3 with Tyler Santana locked in a back-and-forth battle against the opponent who had beaten him last week. This time, Santana was absolutely determined to come through for the team and his four-game win was a deeply satisfying way to end the day.
Sunday morning's match against Hopkins (CT) was another re-match from New Englands but a tough one for Groton. Last weekend, our depth carried us to a hard-earned 5-2 win but now, with stalwart Evan Khym having finished our previous match with an injury, most of the Groton players were moved up. In the early going, Kevin Cai was outmatched and Tyler Santana came up just short of completing a big comeback, ultimately losing 9-11 in the fifth game. With the team score at 0-2, two sixth formers took to the courts to set things right. Charlie Weisberg took control of his match and enjoyed his squash despite his opponent being strong enough to take the only game Weisberg dropped all weekend. On the other court, Will Vrattos mixed solid, conventional points with his unexpected creativity to keep a formidable opponent off balance and ultimately pull out the win, 11-8 in the fifth game. The team score then went from 2-2 to 3-3 when Carter Lightburn widened last week's margin over a worthy opponent but Ronin Kaplan suffered another four-game loss to the same talented player. The stage was set for Jack Lionette to step up in his first appearance of the weekend. Step up he did, playing the best squash of his career against a strong and confident opponent. Lionette kept his poise through his opponent's surges and his focus through two injury delays to ultimately bring the match home for the team with a well-deserved five-game win.
Our four close matches (4-3, 3-4, 4-3, and 4-3) led to a fifth place finish in the second division (of seven) in this tournament, bringing us to an official ranking of 21st among all boys' high school teams in the country. Not bad for a small school that prioritizes academics!
Back
We opened the weekend with a 4-3 win over Tabor. Tabor's top three are simply out of reach so we needed to win every one of the others . . . and we did! Tyler Santana, Charlie Weisberg, and Carter Lightburn were all able to sweep their opponents in three straight games but it still took some heroics from Kevin Cai to secure the team win with an 11-5 fifth game against an extremely determined opponent.
Our second match was supposed to be a lopsided one against highly-rated Pingry (NJ) but the Groton players' determination made it a very close contest. Terrific wins by Evan Khym and Charlie Weisberg gave Groton an early lead but only Tyler Santana was able to add to it so the team lost 3-4. Putting up a good fight against a team seeded much higher than us added to our confidence as we continued on into consolation rounds.
The Choate match was a chance for redemption after last weekend's narrow loss at New Englands. Every match was close and competitive, with Charlie Weisberg and Carter Lightburn providing the reliable wins the team so often needs but Choate's top player narrowly turning the tables to pull out a close win over Ronin Kaplan. Kevin Cai's strong performance brought the team score to 3-3 with Tyler Santana locked in a back-and-forth battle against the opponent who had beaten him last week. This time, Santana was absolutely determined to come through for the team and his four-game win was a deeply satisfying way to end the day.
Sunday morning's match against Hopkins (CT) was another re-match from New Englands but a tough one for Groton. Last weekend, our depth carried us to a hard-earned 5-2 win but now, with stalwart Evan Khym having finished our previous match with an injury, most of the Groton players were moved up. In the early going, Kevin Cai was outmatched and Tyler Santana came up just short of completing a big comeback, ultimately losing 9-11 in the fifth game. With the team score at 0-2, two sixth formers took to the courts to set things right. Charlie Weisberg took control of his match and enjoyed his squash despite his opponent being strong enough to take the only game Weisberg dropped all weekend. On the other court, Will Vrattos mixed solid, conventional points with his unexpected creativity to keep a formidable opponent off balance and ultimately pull out the win, 11-8 in the fifth game. The team score then went from 2-2 to 3-3 when Carter Lightburn widened last week's margin over a worthy opponent but Ronin Kaplan suffered another four-game loss to the same talented player. The stage was set for Jack Lionette to step up in his first appearance of the weekend. Step up he did, playing the best squash of his career against a strong and confident opponent. Lionette kept his poise through his opponent's surges and his focus through two injury delays to ultimately bring the match home for the team with a well-deserved five-game win.
Our four close matches (4-3, 3-4, 4-3, and 4-3) led to a fifth place finish in the second division (of seven) in this tournament, bringing us to an official ranking of 21st among all boys' high school teams in the country. Not bad for a small school that prioritizes academics!
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