Nayar, Gonzalez Clear Hurdle In Squash Tourney

MIDDLETON, Conn., March 3--Anil Nayar and Jose Gonzalez easily advanced in the first day of the Intercollegiate Squash Championships being held on the Wesleyan courts this weekend. Seniors Craig Stapleton and Matt Hall, the bottom members of Harvard's four-man contingent, were victimized by tough draws and were eliminated in their first matches.

The 55-man field at the tourney represents 16 American colleges and two Canadian ones. Each school is limited to four entrants.

Despite his number one seed, Nayar was the only Harvard entrant who did not receive a first-round bye. This quirk of the draw was not enough to slow down the Crimson sophomore, who raced past opponents from Franklin and Marshall and Army in straight games.

Gonzalez, given a surprisingly low sixth seeding, registered an easy 3-0 win over a Wesleyan opponent in his only match of the day.

Stapleton drew Clay Hamlin, Penn's top player, in his first match, and lost 3-0. Hall's opening match was against the tournament's seventh seed, Princeton's Nik Kourides. The Crimson senior led 14-9 in the second game before losing, 15-13, 17-14, 15-13.

Nayar can reach the semi-finals today if he beats Chris Keidel of Penn and the winner of the match between Chris Gadsden (Yale) and Bob Hellerson (Dennison). Gonzalez's path will be tougher. After an easy match with Bill Crane of Williams he will meet Navy's Scott Ryan, the number two seed and the only collegiate player ever to defeat Nayar.