Terrence Wang ‘17 dominates the squash court. According to teammate Charlie Vrattos ‘18, Terrence “should be the artist of the issue…he’s an artist on the court.” Since his arrival in fourth form, Terrence has been one of Groton’s top squash players. After playing the number one position in all but two matches his Fourth Form year, Terrence secured the top spot as a Fifth Former, and has since remained at the top of the ladder. Whether it be in tournaments, practice, or leading as the team captain, Terrence’s dedication to the sport sets him apart from his competitors, and makes him a role model for his teammates.

When Terrence was eight years old, he was first encouraged to try squash after joining his father at a sports club. Terrence’s father is also a squash player, but plays recreationally. Terrence explains that he was initially drawn to the sport because he  “was pretty bad other sports and wasn’t that bad at [squash].” Despite being the only squash player at his elementary school, he continued playing throughout his middle school years. In addition to training at the local sports club, Terrence would occasionally fly from his home state of Washington to the East Coast to play in tournaments. During the offseason, Terrence says he “spends [his] breaks by either playing tournaments or going to squash camps during the summer.” When he is not in camps, Terrence trains with two out-of-state coaches – one in Ohio, and the other, a former World #1 squash player, in Florida.

During his time at Groton Terrence has been a driving force behind the recent success of Boys’ Squash, especially at major tournaments such as Team Nationals where Groton placed fourth in Division 2 out of 5 divisions. This tournament is always “a lot of fun,” according to Terrence, as both the boys’ and girls’ squash teams attend and support each other during their matches. Terrence has also had lots of individual success, finishing third in the 2015 Groton Gold Tournament, tenth in the 2016 New England Interscholastic Squash Championship and seventeenth in the 2016 U.S. Junior Squash Championship.

Most impressively, Terrence was ranked as the fourteenth best U-19 male squash player in the nation last year. Over the past two winters, Terrence has played in a number of national level tournaments, including the U.S. Open, which was attended by 128 players, and Nationals, which draws the top 32 players in the country from each age group. Furthermore, Terrence played in four Junior Championship level tournaments, held at major universities such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton and ten Gold Tournaments. With regard to these high level tournaments, Terrence has found that his “biggest challenge is improving and competing on a national level while mostly training on my own. Sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated.” Terrence cites his “love for the sport and constant desire to improve” as his biggest motivators.

Not only does Terrence make an impact on the court, but also off the court as a leader and captain. Aaron Jin ’19 describes Terrence as an “authoritative and intense captain,” as well as “inspiring; he really drives the team to its limits.”

Throughout his decade of experience playing squash, beginning as a novice and rising to a leadership role, Terrence has always been drawn to the complexity of the sport: “There are so many ways to play [squash]. There are so many different styles, and a lot of thinking involved – for example, how do I counter what my opponent is doing? There  are so many ways to improve.” Having only played squash individually before coming to the Circle, Terrence says Groton squash “is always really exciting because you play in front a lot of people. It’s such a different experience, playing in front of all your friends and teammates, having them watch you.”

In the remainder of his final season as a Zebra, Terrence hopes to keep up high high level of performance as one of the ISL’s top players. Beyond the Circle, he aspires to improve and excel in playing squash at the college level. Next year, Terrance will play squash at Amherst College, which is currently ranked by U.S. Squash as the 20th best collegiate team in the country. Throughout this winter and the years to come Terrence is and will continue to be, as Aaron Jin said, “ruling the courts with an iron fist.”