NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The only thing better than exacting revenge on your archrival in a tournament on the way to winning the national championship is not having to avenge anything at all.
 
That's what captain Tom Clayton '89 and his 1988-89 Yale Squash teammates were saying after they bounced back from a bean town blemish on the final day of the regular season to confirm the program's first national title in 27 years.
 
The Bulldogs, who won 12 straight before finishing 17-1 overall with a three-way share of the Ivy League Title, avenged a 6-3 loss on Feb. 22 by trouncing Harvard three days later in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Squash Association Team Championships at the Payne Whitney Gym.
 
That win, and the victory over Princeton the following day to capture the ISA title, highlighted a season that was arguably one of the greatest – and most impactful - in the 100-year history of the program.
 

"It was an amazing accomplishment that was very purposeful.  The bus ride back from Harvard after having lost was one of the most somber and depressing moments of my life as the expectations were so high.  To be able to avenge that lost only a few days later was remarkable and being able to convincingly win the Intercollegiate Championships left no doubt as to who was the best team that season," said Clayton, now a partner that heads up healthcare private equity investing at Alvarez & Marsal Capital ("AMC"), a multi-strategy firm with over $3 billion in assets under management.
 
The Elis were dominant throughout the campaign, sweeping five of their first six matches and not allowing any opponent more than two individual wins until the last day of the regular season.
 
The Brooklyn, N.Y., native, who honed his skills at Milton Academy, played the No. 3 spot on the ladder and got the first point in a crucial match at Princeton late in the season. He crafted a 12-1 record that winter while garnering All-America status and the coveted John F. Skillman Award given to the Yale player "who, in the opinion of the coach, captain, and manager, by sportsmanship and determination, has done most for Yale squash during the year."
 
The Yale program had been struggling for national relevancy when Dave Talbott, the Brooks G. Ragen Director of Squash, took over as head coach in 1983. Clayton, who was Talbott's first blue-chip recruit, was the leader of a talented group that included Eric Wohlgemuth '89, Alex Dean '90, Cyrus Mehta '90, Jim Kingsbury '90 and John Musto '91 among others. Clayton remains friends with many of his teammates while serving with some of them on the Board of Skillman Associates (the team's alumni association) and as co-chair of the Squash Haven board.
 
Yale fortunes might have been very different had Clayton taken an offer from the Ivy school nearest to his prep school, the one that captured six straight national titles in the 1980s.
 
"I was accepted early action at Harvard. For that reason, I had always imagined playing for them and head coach Dave Fish. I still applied to Yale, and that was Dave's (Talbot) first full year coaching," said Clayton, who also attended Yale Law School. "I decided that going to Yale and trying to build a championship team would be more personally rewarding than perpetuating a dominant program. Dave (Talbott) was young, energetic and charismatic.  We shared a vision about building a team over four years, and to be able to achieve that was extremely rewarding."
 
Winning both championships was his athletic goal entering Yale, but there were some sacrifices to be made and lessons to be learned.

"I distinctly remember in my junior year having to decide if my goal was to try and play higher on the ladder or balance squash with what I wanted to achieve academically and outside the classroom.  I played No. 1 sophomore year, No. 2 as a junior and No. 3 my senior year.  Ego had to take a back seat to building a team culture and a better team, and I was happy with the balance I struck while at Yale." 
 
Clayton remains focused on squash as a lifetime and family sport. In fact, he has won two national doubles championships, while his son is going to be a collegiate player and his wife plays recreationally (his daughter decided to play lacrosse and create balance in the family). Now the guy with three national titles to his name wants to make sure there are opportunities for everyone to play this great sport.
 
"Squash Haven is a truly remarkable organization. The ability to have a sport I love be the catalyst for giving back to Yale, the New Haven Community and the underserved youth in New Haven's public schools is truly amazing," said Clayton. "Because of the partnership with Yale, Squash Haven has a unique model among the urban squash organizations and is able to deliver more and deeper programmatic content which ultimately benefits the kids."
 
His college coach is still at Yale, recruiting and coaching the program he's been overseeing for the last 37 years.
 

"Tom Clayton was the first top ranked national junior we recruited when I arrived," said Talbott. "He led Yale to the championship and paved the way for the undefeated 1990 season. Over the decades, Tom has done many good things professionally, but even more important to me has been his dedication to Squash Haven.  A good friend, Tom Clayton epitomizes commitment to family, friends, community, and certainly Yale."