Connecticut’s brother-sister schools Greenwich Academy and the Brunswick School made history by winning the U.S. High School Championships and U.S. Middle School Championships in the same year for the first time Sunday, February 23, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center.
The 2025 U.S. High School Championships is the largest squash tournament in the world featuring more than 1,600 players competing on 203 teams across thirteen divisions. Five venues played host including the Specter Center, Penn Squash Center, Philadelphia Cricket Club, Springside Chestnut Hill and Chestnut Hill Squash at SCH.
View all results on the 2025 U.S. High School Championships Tournament Page. Livestream replays from the Specter Center will be available on the US Squash Youtube Page Monday, February 24. Tournament photography will be available on the US Squash Smugmug Page in the coming days.
In the twenty-one year history of the U.S. High School Championships and seventeen-year history of the U.S. Middle School Championships, no two programs have won both the girls and boys High School and Middle School titles in the same year, let alone two programs as closely affiliated as GA and Brunswick. GA, who augmented their astounding Patterson Cup streak to nine straight and seventeen in nineteen years, has won both titles on nine occasions including for the past three years. Brunswick, meanwhile, have now won both titles twice. The finals also proved to be historic for the Hotchkiss school, which reached both the girls and boys finals for the first time in program history.
Greenwich Academy’s run to a ninth consecutive title was nothing short of dominant as the Gators won every single team match 7-0. In the final, Grace Fazzinga and Chelsea Chen earned two wins for GA on the glass court. Meanwhile on the side court, Elle Graziano and Anniston Mahaffy pulled through pivotal five-game wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, respectively, with Mahaffy winning the title-clinching fourth match.
“It feels like awesome to finish my high school career with four national titles,” said Charlotte Pastel, GA co-captain, No. 1 and graduating senior. “This is my favorite event of the year because I get a play for a group of people that I love and it’s just such a special feeling. My freshman sophomore year, it was cool to just be the one kind of observing and figuring it all out. The nerves come into play during this event when you’re playing for more than just yourself, so having the juniors and seniors being a mentor to me was such a great experience. The last two years has been awesome, too. I’ve been able to be a mentor to the younger girls on my team, which is such a fulfilling feeling knowing that I’m able to make an impact on their experience on this team. It’s been like the best four years of squash.”
Brunswick entered the Boys D1 division as top seeds and reached the final with a tight 4-3 win over Florida’s defending champions Saint Andrew’s in the semifinals. Hotchkiss reached the program’s first Justi Cup final after a convincing 6-1 semifinal upset over two seeds Taft. The final opened up all even with Henry Raine and Thomas Carney earning two quick points for Brunswick on the side court, while Parth Khera battled through five-games to earn Hotchkiss a point on the glass court to make the score 2-1. Brunswick’s No. 2 Olivier Velasco and No. 6 Jackson Pastel clinched the title within minutes of each other to an eruption of cheers from the Brunswick players and supporters.
“For the last three years we’ve been getting second place with a lot of 4-3 losses and this year we put in a lot of work,” said Johan Hodgson, Brunswick co-captain, No. 3 and a graduating senior. “It was a tough final today, Hotchkiss is a great team with a lot of very respectful players. They showed up on court after putting in a lot of hard work. We were lucky to win a few close matches that went our way, but we had a lot of respect for our opponents so credit to them. GA obviously has a very strong program and they’ve been dominant for a long time, but Brunswick is doing very well right now. We’ve always been consistent but now especially, we’re becoming more dominant like GA. We had four seniors in the top seven this year who were all important leaders and lots of players ready to step up next year. The middle school team did a great job this year and we’re really proud of them. It’s great to see such quality squash coming out of Greenwich.”
The sixth-seeded Spence School was the lowest seeded team to win a divisional title in the girls D2 draw. The Sabers upset three seeds Winsor 4-3 in the quarterfinals, two seeds Sacred Heart 4-3 in the semifinals and top seeds Groton 4-3 in the final. In the boys’ D2 division, the second-seeded Gilman School defeated Chattanooga’s McCallie School in a 5-2 final.
Cleveland’s University School edged Philadelphia’s Conestoga 4-3 in a close Boys D3 final that was decided in the fifth game of the final match. Girls D3 top seeds Rye Country Day School fulfilled their top seeding with a 5-2 final win against three seeds Philips Exeter Academy.
Girls D4 three seeds Blair Academy upset the top seeded Potomac School in a surprise 601 final. Rhode Island’s St. George’s School, the three seeds, defeated Virginia’s Woodberry Forest, the eight seeds, in a narrow 4-3 Boys D4 final.
Massachussetts’ Middlesex School overcame Maryland’s Walt Whitman High School 4-3 in the Boys D5 final. Concord Academy girls won the program’s first divisional title in a 4-3 D5 final that came down to the fifth game of the last match against Brooks School.
Virginia’s Wakefield School defeated first-time participants St. Sebastian’s School 6-1 in the boys D6 final. Buffalo’s Nardin Academy won the program’s first divisional title in a 5-2 final against Connecticut’s St. Luke’s School. Delaware’s Tower Hill School defeated the Chicago Boys of the Latin School in the boys D7 final.
