Mercersburg defeated host Lawrenceville, the #8 team in the nation, 5-2 in a boys' varsity squash match January 22.

This is the third time in recent years that the Storm has defeated the Big Red, a perennial squash power and owner of multiple Mid-Atlantic Prep League championships. In Wednesday's showdown, #1 Noe Aceves '25, #2 Rayyan Khan '27, and #3 Kamran Gwadry '27 all won in three straight games. Dior Mitchell '26 lost his first game at #5 but won three in a row for a 3-1 victory and Sid Shah '26 prevailed 3-2 in a back and forth battle at #4. Marcus Lee '27 (#6) and Finn Mauro '27 (#8 exhibition) both lost tough five game decisions against highly ranked opponents.

Head coach Dominic Benacquista commented, “We’ve been working hard all year to elevate the program, and opportunities to compete against high-level competition and rivals are invaluable for our young and inexperienced team. While Lawrenceville was missing a couple of players, they remain a strong and highly respected program, and it took a tremendous effort from the boys to seize this opportunity. We know Lawrenceville will be even stronger at the MAPL tournament, and we’ll need to be fully prepared. This result should open our eyes to what’s achievable while also providing a realistic perspective on the progress needed to compete at that caliber.  With two weeks to prepare, our focus now shifts to MAPL, where we’ll enter as underdogs but aim to give ourselves another chance to compete.”

The victory was the 13th straight for the Storm, improving their season record to 13-1. Next up is a home match against University High School (Hunting Valley, OH) on Friday, January 24 at 5 pm.