What should Penn's winter sports be thankful for this Thanksgiving?

With the winter season getting into full swing and Thanksgiving being right around the corner, there is a lot to be thankful for in Penn sports. Here are some of the early highlights of the beginning of the winter season as student-athletes enter Thanksgiving break. 

Wrestling

With a strong 2019 recruiting classes and a team that relies on its younger athletes — 14 out of 20 competing are freshmen or sophomores — Penn wrestling has a lot to be thankful for this season. The team is led by EIWA champion, NCAA Championships qualifier, and team captain Anthony Artalona. Artalona won 28 matches his freshman year and reached the Round 12 at the NCAA Championships. Also leading Penn to success this season has been another sophomore captain and NCAA Championships qualifier, Carmen Ferrante.

Recent highlights for wrestling include freshman Michael Colaiocco winning the 125-pound championship, and sophomore Doug Zapf winning the 141-pound event at the Keystone Classic on Sunday.

Swimming 

Penn men’s swimming (3-2) most recently competed in a tri-meet with Princeton and Cornell, an event in which the Quakers won, 168-132, against Cornell but were overtaken by Princeton, 156-144. At the same meet, the Penn women (1-4) coasted past Cornell, 212-88, but couldn't keep up with Princeton and fell, 243-57.

With two second-place finishes in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events, Hannah Kannan achieved a season-best personal result. She was one of Penn’s top performers on the day, along with fellow-sophomore Grace Giddings, who earned a narrow third-place finish in the 1000 freestyle. 

For the men, freshman Matt Bonnell made a splash by finishing first in the 1000 free, and he was joined by junior captain Sean Lee, who finished first in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly. There were seven first-place finishes among the men and women, including senior John-Michael Diveris' performance in the 3-meter dive and freshman Jason Schreiber's 200 breaststroke victory.

The men's team has begun its season with a 3-2 record, previously taking down Villanova and Brown, while losing to Columbia in the first meet of the season. The women's squad enters Thanksgiving break with a 1-4 mark, with its most recent result being the victory over the Big Red. Both teams will next be in action at the Miami of Ohio Invitational from Dec. 5-7.

Squash

No. 7 Penn women’s squash (3-1) is off to another strong start this season. The sister duo of Amina and Jamila Abou El Enin continues to make a positive impact, with the freshman Amina totaling a 4-0 record and dropping just one game thus far.

No. 3 men’s squash remains unbeaten after four matches. They've won three of their four matches by a 9-0 result, thanks in part to strong performances from junior Andrew Douglas, as he notched his 30th career win when he defeated George Washington's Mohammad Al-Terki. The Quakers have also seen strong freshman performances, highlighted by Dillon Huang’s and Saksham Choudhary’s 4-0 record this year.