HomeArticles2015 Men’s National Team Championships: B, C, D, and E Finals

2015 Men’s National Team Championships: B, C, D, and E Finals

Hartford, CT — Princeton, Middlebury, Hamilton, and Denison won their division finals at the 2015 Men’s National Team Championships.

B Division (Hoehn Cup): After upsetting Cornell in the semifinals, Dartmouth came out with all cylinders firing in the Hoehn Cup final against Princeton. Dartmouth tested the defending Hoehn Cup champions early:  Kyle Martino won the first game at #3, Michael Mistras went up 2-1 in games at #6, and Jack Harvey won in four at #9. Princeton dug in, refusing to give up. Jarryd Osborne came back to win in five at #3, and Michael LeBlanc recovered to win 11-8 in the fifth at #6, his third five-game win of the weekend. Picking up two more wins in the next round, Princeton opened up a 4-2 lead over the Big Green. Dartmouth would have to be perfect in the final flight to win, but Princeton didn’t give them a chance. The Tigers won the next two matches on court to bring the Hoehn Cup back to New Jersey. It was a bittersweet win for Princeton, who recently lost former head coach Bob Callahan. The resilience the Tigers displayed today and throughout the weekend would have made Callahan proud.

C Division (Summers Cup): Middlebury won four Summers Cup titles between 2009 and 2014, and today they competed for their fifth. Yet there was a palpable absence at this morning’s match: John Illig, the coach who had guided the Panthers to all those C Division titles, died suddenly in August. Middlebury was on a mission in today’s match with Western Ontario, who had upset Brown to reach the finals. The Panthers won the first three games on court all by a score of 3-1. Western Ontario got on the board in the second wave with a three-game win at #2, but victories from William Kurth at #5 and Benjamin Krant at #8 locked up the win for Middlebury. The final score was Middlebury 6, Western Ontario 3, as the Panthers claimed a fifth Summers Cup with Illig in mind.

D Division (Conroy Cup): It looked like the Conroy Cup final between Hamilton and Connecticut College would be a close one as the match got underway. The Continentals’ Jonathan Ruth outlasted the Camels’ Rafael Gamba 15-13 in the first game at #9. Not to be outdone, David Laub of Hamilton and Niccolo Premutico of Conn were tied through 14-all in the first game at #6; Laub won that game 16-14 and the match 14-12 in the fourth. Ruth also won in four, and thanks to a three-game win from Mac Pivirotto at #3, the Continentals had a 3-0 lead after the first flight of matches. Though Conn’s Santiago Moran won in three at #8, the other two second wave matches went Hamilton’s way. The Continentals ultimately won 7-2, taking home the Conroy Cup for the first time since 1996.

E Division: (Chaffee Cup): The Chaffee Cup final between Georgetown and Denison came down to the final match on court. Denison swept the top three matches, and Georgetown took control of the bottom four.  At #5, Drew Lavine won in five to tie the match 4-all. The Chaffee Cup hinged on the #4 match between Mac Williams of Georgetown and Marshall Crane of Denison. crane won the first game decisively, 11-4. The second game was much closer, as Williams won 11-9. The third game went to tie-breakers, and  Crane edged out Williams. Williams nearly forced a fifth game, but Crane’s 12-10 win in the fourth decided the match for Denison. This win marked the Big Red’s first division title since they won the Summers Cup in 2004.

 

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