Men's squash entered heated action over the break as they made their first berth at National Team Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. Squaring off against some of the top squash players in the nation, the Big Green ran into intense competition.
On Friday, Dartmouth faced a tough professional team from Atlanta. Leading the Big Green into battle, top-ranked Beau River '00 fell to Atlanta's Damion Walker. Ranked as high as 15th in the world, Walker beat River 9-3, 9-4, 9-3.
Following suit, co-Captains Russel Echlov '97 and Jon Gabel '98, as well as Bill Tarr '98 all lost in three. With its failure to post up any numbers, Dartmouth fell 5-0.
On Saturday, the Big Green split matches against two opponents. Dartmouth had no problem beating Yale's number two squad, winning 4-1. Raking in the points, River, Echlov, Gabel and Tarr all came up winners.
Later on, the Big Green took on the squad from Franklin & Marshall. In a heated match, Dartmouth lost 3-2. Gabel, playing number three, and Richmond at number four, bagged the wins for the Green.
On Sunday, Dartmouth rolled over Atlanta C, another professional team, sweeping them 5-0. Echlov, Gabel, Richmond and River won in straight sets, while Tarr took down his opponent, 3-2.
With a 2-2 overall match record in Atlanta, Dartmouth closed the weekend with an impressive 17th place finish in the tournament.
