Weisskopf wins college squash’s top honor, leads Bates to Hoehn Cup

The Bates College men’s squash team completed its streak through the Hoehn (B) Division of the Men’s Team Nationals on Sunday at Harvard University with a 6-3 defeat of the University of Rochester. The Bobcats finish the 2008 season with a 14-4 team record, their first Hoehn Cup and the No. 9 ranking in the College Squash Association, the program’s highest final national ranking.

Also on Sunday, Bates senior and three-time All-American Ricky Weisskopf (San Salvador, El Salvador) was presented with the Skillman Award, the highest honor in college squash. The Skillman Award is described on the CSA website as “the most complete male player award,” while an article in the Stanford Daily from 2004 reads that the Skillman “goes to the senior who demonstrates great ability and does the most for the sport.” Weisskopf amassed a record of 15-3 while facing each team’s top player for the fourth straight year at Bates. Two of his losses were later avenged in rematches with the same opponents during Team Nationals.

Weisskopf set the tone Sunday in the Hoehn Cup final by defeating Rochester first-year phenom Hameed Ahmed, the No. 7 player in the CSA player rankings, in straight games. In doing so Weisskopf, the No. 10 ranked player by CSA, avenged a rare 3-0 loss to Ahmed in January.

Rochester won at the next three positions, but Bates’ depth prevailed in positions 5 through 9 for the thrilling victory. First-year Bobcats Matt Marchisotto (New York, N.Y.), Will Katz (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Nick Echeverria (Washington, D.C.) won at Nos. 5 through 7, respectively, and juniors Chip Russell (West Hartford, Conn.) and Deacon Chapin (Cambridge, Mass.) picked up crucial points at 8 and 9 to preserve the historic win.

The win completes a convincing run through the Hoehn draw for Bates, which started with a 9-0 rout of No. 15 Brown, followed by 6-3 wins over No. 11 Cornell and No. 9 Rochester.

Bates men’s and women’s squash will play at the CSA Individual Nationals in two weeks at the U.S. Naval Academy. This weekend, the Bates women’s squash team heads to CSA Team Nationals at Princeton University.