The Hamilton College men's squash team forges into the 2016 portion of this season's schedule with some momentum after the Continentals won their last two matches in December 2015 by 9-0 scores. Team captains Josh Wolpert '16 and Marc Dudzik '16 lead a veteran group that includes nine juniors and seniors. Head coach Jamie King was selected the 2012 NESCAC Men's Squash Coach of the Year by his peers.
This season's lineup features a number of new faces after five players who were regulars in the top nine graduated last spring. The Continentals ended up with a 10-10 record in 2014-15 and were 25th in the final College Squash Association (CSA) rankings after they went 3-0 and captured the Conroy Cup as "D Division" champions at the CSA National Team Championships. Peter Harrison '15 is in eighth place on the program's all-time list with 41 career wins.
The men received the prestigious Sloane Award for team sportsmanship in 2008 and 2010. The award is voted on by the coaches and is presented to the team that best displayed the highest level of sportsmanship during the season.
Dudzik posted a 10-5 record at the fourth position last season and Wolpert won seven matches at the second position. Addison Morse '16, who played a total of five matches at the seventh and eighth positions last season, has been a regular in the lineup so far.
Jonathan Ruth '18 won half of his 14 matches at the ninth position in 2014-15, and Mark Sperry '17 has been a mainstay in the lineup after he was 8-4 in exhibition matches last season. Scott Casher '16, Atticus Jones '19, Peter Michailidis '16, James Novick-Smith '17 and Ward Urban '18 will compete for the last couple spots in the lineup.
The Continentals received a boost this season by the return of Tucker Hamlin '17 after he won eight matches as a freshman but missed all of last season due to injury. Hamlin has stepped into the lineup's top spot.
Sam Matlick '17 returned to the team after a year's hiatus as well. Matlick, who has settled into the middle of the lineup, was named the NESCAC Men's Squash Player of the Week on Dec. 7.
Colin O'Dowd '19 and Sumair Khanna '19 have made immediate contributions to the program as freshmen. O'Dowd jumped into the lineup at the second position in December and Khanna has played in all eight matches.
The rest of the 2015-16 schedule features eight NESCAC opponents and a match against Yale University at Amherst College on Jan. 15. The men host Trinity College on Feb. 13 and Bates College on Feb. 14 at the Little Squash Center. A showdown at Connecticut College between the 28th-ranked Continentals and the No. 29 Camels comes up quickly on Jan. 9.
Hamilton travels to Trinity College for the NESCAC Championship in early February, and the CSA Individual National Championships will be held at Chelsea Piers Athletic Club in early March.
