Men’s squash finishes Ivy League slate on a sour note

It was a tough way for Penn men’s squash to close its season, but not necessarily an unfamiliar one.

The Quakers lost to Columbia on Friday in New York and to Cornell on Sunday at Ringe Courts, ending their regular season having lost eight of their last nine games.

Still, No. 12 Penn (4-10, 1-6 Ivy) took No. 11 Columbia (7-8, 2-5) to the limit. A 4-4 tie at the end of eight matches, the bout came down to the No. 3 matchup of Penn junior John Dudzik against Columbia’s Tony Zou.

It came down to the very last game of the very last match, in which Zou outlasted Dudzik and won both the game, 13-11, and the match, 3-2. Despite the team’s loss, coach Jack Wyant was well aware of his team’s effort.

“I said to them after the match their effort isn’t in question,” he said. “What they need to do a better job of is that they need to be more mindful of doing the little things right like preparing well for matches and following the gameplan.”

Two days later, Penn played its final match of the regular season against No. 5 Cornell (16-3, 5-2). Penn entered the weekend having lost its previous five matches to the Big Red, and Sunday’s match proved no different.

The Quakers fell, 7-2, to Cornell, with the two individual match wins belonging to junior Daniel Judd (8-5, 4-3) and sophomore Jack Maine (7-7, 3-4).

Senior Danny Greenberg played his last collegiate match at Ringe Courts, and he is still proud of his performance despite the loss.

“I came out pretty strong,” Greenberg said. “But he was just a fitter player than I was, and I struggled to hang on at the end but the match score doesn’t reflect some actual points that there were. It was a really good match.”

A four-year letterwinner for Penn, Greenberg has played most of his games at the No. 2 spot during his collegiate career. He has made the semi-finals for Molloy Division of the CSA Individual Championships twice. He is captain of the squad this year and has proven to be an exemplary athlete and teammate during his time for Penn.

“Danny has done a great job over the three years I have coached him,” Wyant said. “He always shows up, works hard and is a good friend to the guys on the team.”

“I have really enjoyed my time here,” Greenberg said. “It has helped me grow as player. I couldn’t be more thankful to have the teammates that I do and a coaching staff that is supportive of our play.”

The next goal for the Quakers is to compete in the CSA Team Championships from Feb. 22-24. The men’s team will be competing in the ‘B’ division.

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