April 7, 2010

Sports Wrap

High honors in squash and wrestling

From The May-June 2010 Issue

Squash

The women’s team (12-0, 6-0 Ivy) had an undefeated season and captured the national championship, dispatching Williams, Yale, and Penn for the Howe Cup at the College Squash Association (CSA) national tournament. Phenomenal freshman Laura Gemmell won the national individual championship, completing an unearthly 16-0 season in which she lost only three games, two of them in the CSA individual final.

The men (5-4, 4-2 Ivy) finished ranked fifth in the nation. Co-captain Colin West ’10 took the CSA national individual championship, to round out a dominant 16-1 season and end his Harvard career with a 50-9 overall record. West also won the Skillman Award for the senior squash player showing outstanding sportsmanship over his college career.

Wrestling

J.P. O’Connor ’10 claimed the NCAA 157-pound championship, defeating Chase Pami of California Polytechnic, 6-4, in the final. O’Connor’s 35-0 season was the first perfect campaign in Harvard grappling history. He is Harvard’s third national champion, joining John Harkness ’38 and Jesse Jantzen ’04. The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association named O’Connor Wrestler of the Year.

Published in the May-June 2010 print issue in the John Harvard's Journal section.

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