The 1984-85 Franklin & Marshall men’s squash team had one of its best seasons ever, finishing with fourteen wins and only three losses. The Diplomats were ranked third in the national nine-man team rankings and seventh in the six-man team rankings. After an intense preseason training regiment, the team got its historic campaign off to a great start. Highlights from the early parts of the season included the program’s first-ever victory over Ivy League and national powerhouse Princeton. Securing key victories against the vaunted Tigers were Morris Clothier, Dave Ganek, Ian Ruzow, Nat Otis and Beau Buford.
That early momentum carried into the second semester with F&M’s first-ever win over Yale, a 5-4 nail-biter, and a 7-2 victory against Williams. One of several highlights against Yale included team captain Scott Brehman rallying from two games down to defeat the Bulldogs’ captain and officially clinch the team’s winning fifth point. Program firsts against Princeton and Yale helped F&M defeat every Ivy League team with the exception of national champion Harvard during the 1984-85 season. Navy had also historically given the Diplomats trouble when those two teams met, but F&M was able to snap a 10-year skid versus the Midshipmen to keep the momentum as the year closed with wins against Swarthmore and George Washington.
Other notable wins against Division I programs were highlighted by victories over Penn, Columbia, Cornell and Army. Among the numerous accolades for the Diplomats, the team received the Barnaby Trophy which recognizes the most improved team in the country. Morris Clothier was selected as a first-team All-American, with Scott Brehman and Chris Spahr receiving second-team All-America recognition. Those players were the first in program history to earn All-American for the Diplomats. Clothier earned his first All-America accolade in 1984 and concluded his career as a four-time All-American. Spahr also first achieved All-America recognition in 1984 and finished his decorated playing career as a three-time All-American.
The team certainly had great leadership that had built the program into a national power. William “Doc” Marshall began his tenure as head coach with the Diplomats during the 1974-75 season and held that position by himself for 13 years while he accumulated 146 victories. He would eventually share the head coaching duties with John Stallings, who was an assistant coach on the 1984-85 team. That duo shared the leadership role for four years before Stallings took over as head coach by himself for 16 years and won a program-record 184 matches as head coach. Marshall transitioned to Director of Athletics & Recreation, and when he retired from the College in 1999, he was named Director of Athletics & Recreation Emeritus.
Members of the 1984-85 men’s squash team were head coach William “Doc” Marshall, assistant coaches John Schellenberg ’72 and John Stallings ’76, along with players Arvind Amersey ’85, Scott Brehman ’85, Clark Callahan ’85, Dave Ganek ’85, Sundip Lulla ’85, Jim Minnis ’85, Ian Ruzow ’85, Peter Hodges ’86, Morris Clothier ’87, Geoff Kennedy ’87, Chris Spahr ’87, Beau Buford ’88, Adam Packard ’88, John Robshaw ’88, Nat Otis ’89 and Mike Marchand ’89.
