Penn men’s squash wins Ivy League title

For the first time in 53 years, Penn men’s squash is the sole Ivy League champion.

The No. 1 Quakers’ victory Saturday over No. 5 Princeton clinched a share of the Ivy title, and Penn’s sweep of No. 7 Cornell on Sunday secured the championship outright. Penn’s defeat of the Big Red also capped off its first-ever undefeated regular season, marking the team’s 16th-straight win.

» READ MORE: Penn pushes past Harvard in squash for first win since 2016

The Quakers’ 5-4 win over Princeton was their narrowest margin of victory all season. Princeton got on the board first, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Penn quickly responded with four straight match wins, including one from graduate student Yash Bhargava, who added another tally to his program record for all-time wins.

After Princeton battled back to tie the score at 4-4, junior Saksham Choudhary clinched the winning point for the Quakers. It was also his 27th-straight victory in regular-season play, which dates back to 2019.

On Sunday, the Quakers captured their ninth 9-0 sweep of the season against Cornell to clinch the Ivy title. Senior Aly Abou Eleinen won his match at the No. 1 slot in three games to finish the regular season undefeated.

Penn’s last title was in 1974 when it shared the honor with Harvard. This season marks the second time in Penn’s history that they are the sole conference champions, the last time coming in 1969.

Penn’s record-breaking regular season was also highlighted by a win over No. 2 Harvard, the first time the Quakers have bested the Crimson since 2016. On Jan. 16, Penn edged out the defending national and Ivy League champions, 6-3.

Next up, the Quakers will look to continue their win streak in pursuit of their first national title at the CSA Team Championships, hosted at the Penn Squash Center from Feb. 18-20.