The No. 17-ranked Dickinson men’s squash team got off to a strong start on the first day of the Pioneer Valley Invitational on Friday, Jan. 19, topping host No. 24 Amherst College, 6-3, and Wesleyan University, 9-0. They followed up with a day-two loss to the No. 13-ranked Naval Academy on Saturday, 6-3.

Against Amherst, classmates Finn Trimble ’21 and Frank Goossens ’21 each earned 3-1 wins in to start off the match, and the Red Devils claimed flights four, five and six by 3-1 tallies as well.

Osuman Imouro ’21 went 3-0 in the eighth flight each of the day’s two matches.

In the Red Devils’ match against Wesleyan, Trimble and Goossens posted 3-0 wins while Cory Litman ’19 and Alex Wattles ’20 swept the fourth and fifth flights, and Zachary Hollander ’20 swept the ninth, 3-0.

Against Navy on Saturday, Trimble won the top flight in dramatic fashion in five sets (11-4, 5-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-0).

Wattles won the sixth flight, 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-9). Imouro tacked on another win in the ninth flight, coming back from down 2-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 win (7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5).

The Red Devils battled throughout the match as five flights went to five sets, including four of the final five of the day.

Goossens and Hal Holappa ’19 suffered close 3-2 losses in the second and third flights while Tanay Murdia ’21 lost the seventh flight, 3-2 as well.

The Red Devils record stands at 6-7 overall on the season. They will travel to Haverford College on Friday, Feb. 2 to face the ’Fords at 10:30 a.m.