Minneapolis, MN — Minnesota wants to improve from its 53rd ranking at the conclusion of last season. According to assistant coach John Stevers, “We expect to move up a division from #53 into mid 40s. Despite losing a dominant #1, we will be stronger in each of the three roster segments with last year’s #3 moving down to #5, pushing everyone else down the ladder and much more experienced #8 and #9.” That is good news, especially for the Gophers’ middle 3, who last year captured less then half of their matches. Minnesota opens the season hosting its own round robin before the Gophers head to Swarthmore and then Stanford for additional round robin events. The team has hired a new head coach, Arturo Manzur, who will lead the team as they face new opponents this season. Minnesota understands that to move up in the rankings, they need to travel and face new opponents.
2014-2015 SEASON RECAP
Season Record: 7-5
Final Ranking: 53
Team Championships: 5th in the Hawthorn Cup (G Division)
By the Numbers (From US Squash): 5-4 Matches Won: 1 of 2… Top 3 Win %: 0.6944… Middle 3 Win %: 0.4722… Lower 3 Win %: 0.6207
2015-2016 SEASON PREVIEW
Program Status: Club
Returning Players from Team Championships: 2. KT Ng (2016); 3. Chris Bowles (2017); 8. Kevin Fox (2017); 9. Tucker Ledo (2017); 10. Ericcson Law (2017); 11. Connor Herman (2017)
Graduated/Non-Returning Players from 2014-2015 Team Championships: 1. Wei Sien Goh (2015); 4. Chee Fai Leong (2015); 5. Oliver Alexander-Adams (2015); 6. Jin Ken Yap (2016); 7. Chandler Ignaszewski (2016)
Additions to the 2015-2016 Roster:
- Expected to play in the top 3: Shobit Gupta (Dubai) and Anas Ghazanfar (Pakistan)
- Expected to play in the middle 3: Artum (Russia) and Rae Sun (South Korea)
- Expected to play in the bottom 3: Joe Gagliano (Milwaukee, WI)
Captains: Kevin Fox and Tucker Ledo
Team Goals: Move up in the rankings
Key Matches: Notre Dame, USC, and Swarthmore
To read other team previews, please visit the 2015-2016 College Squash Season Previews page.
