Banner Season: Medal matches set as Western searches for banner sweep to close out weekend
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. (via Brock Badgers) - The gold medal matches for the 2025 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Squash Championships will include a rematch of two pool opponents on the men's side and two undefeated teams on the women's side.
These matchups were set after the completion of Day 2 at the White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa on Saturday, Feb. 8.
In the men's division, the powerhouse Western Mustangs will look to defend their title and win their 41st in a row as they take on the Waterloo Warriors who they defeated earlier in pool play. Opening up the morning, the Mustangs took down the Badgers in seven straight sets. The victory put them at the top of Pool A in the men's division and set up a semifinal matchup with the Queen's Gaels who defeated the Guelph Gryphons 7-0 in their final pool match.
The Varsity Blues also finished top of their group, going undefeated in Pool B in the men's division after besting the Ottawa Gee-Gees 7-0 Saturday morning. Waterloo completed the morning of sweeps, losing just one set in their 7-0 victory over the McMaster Marauders. The wins for Toronto and Waterloo placed them against each other for the second men's semifinal matchup.
In the first men's semifinal, the Western Mustangs swept the Queen's Gaels 7-0 to advance to the gold medal match. Turning over to the second semifinal, the Waterloo Warriors handed the Toronto Varsity Blues their first loss of the championships, with a 5-2 win sending them to the gold medal match against Western. The men's bronze medal match will feature the Gaels and the Varsity Blues on Sunday.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees defeated the Brock Badgers 4-3 in the first men's consolation semifinal, setting up a fifth-place final against the Guelph Gryphons, who swept the McMaster Marauders in straight sets. Brock and McMaster will face off in the seventh-place match.
There will be a new winner in the women's division for the first time since 2014 as the Toronto Varsity Blues are set to face the Western Mustangs. Toronto completed a pool sweep, defeating the title-defending Queen's Gaels by a scoreline of 4-3 to advance to the first semifinal.Waterloo's 6-1 win over Guelph on Saturday secured the Warriors the second spot in the first semifinal.
On the other side of the bracket, Western's 7-0 sweep over Brock set them up with a matchup against Queen's in the second semifinal for the women's division. The first semifinal saw the Varsity Blues best the Warriors 6-1 to advance to the gold medal match.
It was the Mustangs who came up victorious in the second semifinal, ending the eight-year title reign of the Gaels. Western faces Toronto in the final. In the consolation bracket, Brock's 7-0 semifinal win over Ottawa put them in the fifth-place final against the McMaster Marauders who defeated the Guelph Gryphons.
The Gee-Gees and Gryphons will go head-to-head to decide seventh and eighth place. Tomorrow Sunday, Feb. 9 is the third and final day of action at White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa, with the consolation finals beginning at 9 a.m. and the medal matches starting at 11 a.m.