Penn Athletics weekend preview: Squash, wrestling, and swimming all in action

Here’s what to look forward to this weekend as Penn squash, wrestling, and swimming and diving enter the home stretches of their respective seasons.

Squash

Both Penn men's and women's squash will be facing tight competition, as they will both travel to Hartford, Conn. to face No. 2 Trinity.

The women will attempt to start a winning streak after a 7-2 success at Dartmouth. 

Despite a series of losses, the Red and Blue (5-2, 1-1 Ivy) have been able to showcase several talented freshmen, including Ashley Manning, who won her matches against St. Lawrence in three games and at Dartmouth in four, and Amina Abou El Enin, who was the only player to secure a win when the team played Harvard. 

As they enter the second half of their season, the Quakers have an overall record of 5-2 and is looking to defend their record at Trinity as they enter the home stretch.

In the midst of a solid season, Penn men’s squash (7-1, 1-1) recently suffered a loss to Harvard, its only one of the season. This Saturday, the Quakers are determined to jumpstart a new streak of wins. Some recent highlights include 9-0 wins against Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, Navy, and George Washington, and key performances from junior Andrew Douglas, sophomore Aly Abou Eleinen, and senior David Yacobucci.

Wrestling

Despite a dominating 48-3 win against Duke, Penn wrestling is fighting through a rough patch in the middle of its season. After recent losses at Old Dominion and Kent State, the team is looking to capitalize on its strengths from early successes to take on Army West Point and Binghamton on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

On Friday, the Quakers (1-3) will hope to come back from a 28-10 loss against Army last year. Despite the loss, the Red and Blue had a few key performances from its current captains, sophomores Anthony Artalona and Carmen Ferrante and senior AJ Vindici. Ferrante achieved one of Penn’s only decisive wins in that match by a score of 6-3. 

Penn had similar results at Binghamton last year, losing, 24-12, despite an initial lead and decisive wins from Artalona and Ferrante. They will have a chance to redeem themselves against Binghamton this Sunday at the Palestra. After dominating Duke, the Quakers will hope to see success at this weekend’s matches, but they will need to lean into an underdog mentality to follow through.

Swimming and diving

After missing out on a win at Yale last week by only 20 points, Penn men's swimming and diving will travel to Harvard for a shot at redemption. 

At their most recent event – their final tri-meet of the season between Penn, Dartmouth, and Yale – the men’s team (4-3, 3-3) defeated Dartmouth but was edged out by Yale. In the 200-yard medley relay, Penn dominated with outstanding performances from freshman Mark McCrary and juniors Sean Lee and Boris Yang. Lee had four victories during the meet, placing first in the 200 and 100 butterfly. 

The team is going into its last two non-championship meets of the season at Harvard and West Chester and is hoping for a strong finish despite its overall split record.

Traveling to Harvard this Saturday for their second-to-last meet of the season, Penn women’s swimming and diving is also hoping to bounce back from its loss to Yale last week. Despite the overall score, the Quakers showcased outstanding performances from senior Serena Xue – who won the 200 breaststroke – and sophomore NCAA qualifier Catherine Buroker, who won the 1000 freestyle. This weekend at Harvard, the women will fight to improve on their overall record of 2-5.