Racquetmen Barely Ahead After End Of First Round

PRINCETON, N. J., March 6-Harvard's Fernando Gonzalez defeated a fluridden Mason Gerhart of Penn in the opening round of the Intercollegiate Six-Man Team Squash Championships here today to give the Crimson a slim lead in the tournament, being played on the Jadwin Courts.

The Crimson won all 14 of its individual matches, advancing all six players into the quarterfinals of the three tournaments. Penn, the only team challenging Harvard for the team title, placed five of its six representatives in their respective quarterfinals. After three rounds Harvard leads the Quakers, 16-131/2.

In the "A" tournament, which will determine the individual champion, Harvard captain Larry Terrell swept each of his matches in three straight games. Terrell is seeded number one and is a heavy favorite to win the crown.

The only upset of the day came in the "B" Championship when Gonzalez, unranked in the tournament, drew Gerhart, seeded third, in a qualifying round Gerhart has been ill all week with the flu and with another as yet unidentified ailment.

Early Lead

Gonzalez rushed to an early five-point lead in the opening game but relaxed and eventually lost, 17-18. In the next two games. Gerhart tired quickly and defaulted the match after losing, 15-8, 15-1.

"We had hoped Mason would be well enough to play." Palmer Page, the Quakers' number-one player, said after the match. "He had been practicing all week, but that first game just sapped him of all his energy."

There were very few surprises in any of the matches. Terrell (number one) will face Army's Bob Ale??rn (5) in the semifinals tomorrow and then probably meet Penn's Eliot Berry (3) in the semi-finals. Unseeded senior John Ince has his work cut out for him, for he must start against Princeton's Sandy McAdoo (4) tomorrow.

In the "B" tournament, Ed Atwood is seeded fourth behind Jim McBroom of Williams and Gordon Perry of Navy, Dave Fish and Jaime Gonzalez are ranked second and third behind Penn's Anil Kapur in the "C" division.