Local Sporting News: Wesleyan Squash, Swimming, and Basketball Teams In League Tournaments

Lightly edited from a report by Fred Cohan.
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Wesleyan's amazing Men’s Basketball team, with a record of 21-3 (!), will be hosting the NESCAC Quarterfinals this weekend. Wes will play the winner of Hamilton vs. Colby on Sunday at 2:00, in Silloway Gym, within the Freeman Athletic Center on Cross Street. Wesleyan will also host the NESCAC Semifinals on Saturday the 26th and the Finals on Sunday the 27th. This team, skippered by Joe Reilly, is the strongest team in a century plus of Wes basketball. Gearing up for the NESCACs, the team had a sensational game last weekend against Bowdoin, winning 101-65. This was only the second time in team history that it scored 100+ points over a NESCAC opponent. You can catch a shoutout of five of the starters here. Those students are Sam Peek (named NESCAC Player of the Week), Nicky Johnson, Jordan James, Antoine Walker, and Shackylle Dezonie. Wesleyan's president Michael Roth discussed the basketball success in his February 15 blog. If you can’t make it to Silloway, here is as video link for basketball, as well as some other events.

Wesleyan’s Women’s Basketball will be hosting the first round of the NESCAC championship tomorrow night at 7:00, taking on Hamilton. The Quarterfinals will be held on Sunday at 4:30, hosted by Tufts. Wes comes into the NESCACs with a stirring victory over Bowdoin last weekend. Caleigh Ryan scored a career-high 30 points, plus 11 rebounds. Summary.

Men’s Squash will enter the National Intercollegiate Team Tournament on Friday, taking on Hamilton at noon and then Fordham at 2:30. The team had a successful NESCAC tournament here at Silloway, Feb. 5-9. After losing a tough and close elimination match against Hamilton, 5-4, the team decisively beat Conn College 8-1 in a consolation match. The wins featured a comeback rally by Abhu Gupta, close five-game matches by Andrew Doucette and Toby Goldston, and a decisive two-game match victory by Ethan Yan. 

Women’s Squash had a good NESCAC tournament last weekend. After a close elimination round losing to Hamilton, the team decisively beat Conn College 9-0 and then Colby in a close one, 5-4. Portia Pliam had a stand-out win coming back from being down 2 games to 0, and then winning 3-2, both outlasting and outplaying her opponent. Women’s Squash will move onto the CSA Team Championship in Cambridge in a week. 

The Swimming and Diving team had success at the NESCAC championships. First-year swimmer Ainsley Dodson set a new Wesleyan record in the 200-meter individual medley! Senior Mengmeng Gibbs advanced to the final round of 50-meter breaststroke and recorded her season-best time to place 6th out of the 44 competitors. Here is a recap.

NESCAC Swimming and Diving is extremely competitive, with five of the country’s 20 best teams consistently emerging from NESCAC. Therefore, an important dimension of success, beyond placements in the championships, is personal improvement. Some of the most dramatic improvements were achieved this season by Rachel Townsend, Ainsley Dodson, Caitlyn Chang, Cameron Kahn, and Anne Volker. Improvement stats are highly regarded by the conference’s fellow coaches, and partly by that criterion, Wes Head Coach Peter Solomon has been named NESCAC Coach of the Year twice in recent years, in 2017 and 2019. 

The Men’s Swimming and Diving Team are heading to Colby for the Men’s NESCAC championship this weekend. The team moves into the championship with some notable wins against Clark, Hamilton, and Trinity, and placing third out of eight teams in the Connecticut Cup.