Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s squash team (10–3, 4–2 Ivy) concluded the 2024-25 season on a high note earlier this month, securing a second-place finish at the Collegiate Squash Association National Championship before falling to the University of Pennsylvania in the finals. 

Reflecting on the team’s season, captain Maxwell Orr ’25 told the News that he is pleased with the team’s ability to come together and make it to the national championship finals for the first time since 2016. 

“I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish as a team this year. Nationals brought out some phenomenal performances, and while we fell short of a championship, we can confidently look back on the year without regrets,” Orr wrote to the News. 

The team traveled to Philadelphia to play Harvard in the semifinals. In a tight match-up between the No. 1 Elis and the No. 6 Crimson, the Bulldogs secured a narrow 5–4 win. 

No. 1 and No. 2 seeds Tad Carney ’26 and Arav Bhagwati ’26 fell to Harvard’s David Costales (3–1) and Denis Gilevskiy (3–0), respectively. Harvard’s Neel Joshi defeated Lachlan Sutton ’27 to secure Harvard’s third match. Orr fought hard against Jacob Lin in a close (3–2) match-up but was ultimately unsuccessful as well. 

However, the remaining five Elis rose to the challenge, each taking down his Crimson opponent. Rohan Gondi ’28 and Merritt Wurts ’25 swept Conner Stoltz and Marcus Lee (3–0), respectively. Rishi Srivastava ’28 dropped the first two sets to Tate Harm but came back and crushed Harm in the next three games to maintain his undefeated first season at Yale. Max Forester ’25 and Nikhil Ismail ’25 emerged victorious over Segev Rome and Omar Azzam (3–1) to clinch the Elis’ second victory over the Crimson this season and earn the team a spot in the semifinals.  

The Bulldogs took down the No. 2 Princeton Tigers (6–3) in the semifinals, overcoming their earlier 4–5 upset on Jan. 11.  

Carney secured the first win for the Elis, sweeping Ahmed Wael (3–0). The Tigers tied things up with Avi Agarwal’s win (3–0) over Bhagwati. Although Princeton’s Hollis Robertson and Gordon Lam secured the Tigers’ next two victories over Orr and Wurts, the Bulldogs came back with three consecutive victories of their own: Srivastava over Hassan Khalil, Gondi over Zain Ahmed and Forester over Aly Ibrahim.  Sutton’s narrow defeat of Thomas Rosini (3–2), and Ismail’s 3–1 taming of Federico Sosa earned the Bulldogs their spot in the championship, putting the team in the running for the national title. 

With their impressive victory over the Tigers, the Elis prepared to take on the Penn Quakers. 

As the defending national champions, Penn’s team strove to defend its title, winning the first four matches. The Bulldogs remained determined to put up a strong fight, with Wurts clinching a narrow victory over Varun Chitturi, and Srivastava defeating Dana Santry to conclude his season with an undefeated record. 

However, these wins were ultimately not enough to turn things around for Yale. As the Quakers rallied around the glass court, Salman Khalil secured Penn’s second consecutive national title, edging out Carney (3–1). Forester then concluded his final collegiate squash match with a victory over Zane Patel. 

The Quakers’ defeat over the Bulldogs did not diminish Carney’s pride in the team’s accomplishments this season. 

“We were obviously disappointed to have lost in the national championship final, but I have no regrets about the season and am proud of everyone,” Carney wrote to the News. 

While the Bulldogs ended with a runner-up finish, this postseason finish marked the team’s best result since its 2016 title. Carney is proud of the team’s season conclusion, noting that the team worked hard throughout the season. 

“I am super grateful to have been a part of the team this year. After a slow start to the season, we worked really hard to get ourselves back into a good position,” Carney wrote to the News. “And I would like to thank our graduating class for a year of solid leadership.” 

This tournament marked the end of Orr, Forster, Ismail, Wurts and Taylor Clayton’s ’25 time with the Bulldogs. The team’s strong final result was bittersweet for Orr, who told the News he will deeply miss his teammates. 

“We pride ourselves on having the strongest culture in college squash, and it has been such a privilege to be a part of the program and experience that each day,” Orr wrote to the News. “At the end of our loss in the national championship, it was clear to me that the sentiment of the team, and especially the seniors, was that we were more disappointed our time competing together was over than that we had lost. I have so much to be grateful for over my time playing for Yale, and I am so thankful to everyone that made it possible.” 

The Elis concluded the 2024-25 season with a 10–3 record, with losses only to Princeton and Penn.