Penn State 177-pounder Jerry White (left) rode his way to victory over Lehigh's
Mark Lieberman Saturday to clinch the Lions’ 18-17 win.
Frantz's first win gives
Lions 'spirit and fire'
By GEORGE WEIGEL
Collegian Sports Writer
Ray Frantz got the momentum on Penn
State’s side early and i£ carried over into the
heavier weight classes to help Penn State in
its 18-17 upset win over Lehigh.
Setting the tempo is a big factor in
wrestling says coach Bill Koll.
“When you get that spirit and fire early, it
can really make the difference. It just
carries over into the other matches,” Koll
said.
Frantz set the stage for the Lions when he
upset highly regarded Lance Leonhardt 8-7 at
126 lbs. Leonhardt had won his last 14
matches in a row.
“That match and Earl’s match (134 lbs.)
was the difference,” Koll said. “That little
Ray is too much.”
For Frantz, it was his first win of the year
after losing three and drawing two. And it was
his first college win ever at 126 lbs.
The junior from Franklin won two state
championships while in high school but
Saturday’s match ranks right up there with
them, Frantz said.
“States are always nice to have,” he ad
ded, ‘but this is definitely my biggest
match in college.”
The Lion fans had a lot to do with his
performance too. “I loved the crowd. Some
SConn, Kormann bedazzle gymmen
By GARY SILVERS
Collegian Sports Writer
On Saturday afternoon, the Penn State men’s gymnastics
Jeam was invited to see a show in New England. Since it
"couldn’t get good seats for "Connecticut Yankee,” it decided
to go to the University of Southern Connecticut to watch the
next best hit in town —The Peter Kormann Show.
And when it was over, State got its money’s worth with
change to spare, as the Olympian uncorked a brilliant 56-point
all-around performance to lead the SConn gymnasts to a
218.45-213.35 victory over the Lions.
“His name alone got him a few tenths of a point in each
event,” Lions’ all-arounder Joe Stallone (51.3) said, “but he
did some superior tricks (C-routines) out there, which put him
way above everyone else.”
Even above State’s top cat, Paul Simon (54.6), who for the
first time all season, was forced to take a back seat.
“It was the best performance of his life,” Stallone said,
you’ve still got to give an awful lot of credit to someone
who hits for a 9.1 average.”
And Stallone better give himself some credit also, for in the
last three events, he competed at a 9.12 clip.
“The last three were my best of the year,” he said, “but it’s
a shame the first three weren’t good (8.2 in floor ex, 7.45 on
Carr takes second
as gymgals romp
By BARB SHELLY
Collegian Sports Writer
Gymnast Ann Carr
celebrated the Mardi Gras
this weekend and her
teammates celebrated Penn
State’s seventh straight
victory.
Carr competed Friday in
the Mardi Gras Invitational in
Baton Rouge. This meet
sponsored five of the top men
and women gymnasts in the
aountry, and is an attempt to
promote gymnastics south of
the Mason Dixon line.
Carr took second place in
the women’s competition,
with 37.35 points. The winner
was Stephanie Willim, a 12-
year-old from Maryland, who
totaled 37.45 points.
Penn State coach Judi
Avener, who accompanied
Carr, said Carr had trouble
with the first event, the vault,
but rallied after that. Carr
won the beam and bar
competition, and tied for first
in the floor exercise. Two 1976
Olympians, Colleen Casey
and Debbie Willcox, as well as
defending Mardi Gras
Invitational Champion
Late scores
lIOCKKY
•Saturday's (lame
Penn State 7, Rutgers :i
Yesterday's Game
Penn State 7, West Chester:)
people worry about it, but not me. It just gives'
me more strength every move. The crowd
was great,"he said
Frantz has been improving each \Veek and
he’s been getting into better and better shape
every match he wrestles.
But still, he has work to do until he can go
100 per cent for the whole match.
“Ray’s the kind of wrestler that has to go
all out for eight minutes,” Roll said. “He
can’t sit back and play it cool for awhile like
some guys.
“Right now,Tie’s up to where he can go
about six or seven minutes, but by tour
nament time he’ll be up to the full eight.”
Frantz agreed and pointed to the fact that
Leonhardt scored most of his points near the
end of the match. He was hampered by a
sprained ankle but that’s just about com
pletely healed now.
“The coaches have really done a good job
getting us ready,’’ Frantz said of Koll and
assistant coach Andy Matter. “I give them
all the credit.”
Koll is planning on continuing the good job
as Penn State prepares for Pittsburgh this
Saturday. The coach is concerned about a
letdown that sometimes occurs after such a
big win.
“The mean old coach’ll be out there
pushing them hard next week,” he warned.
Jeannie Beadle competed in
the meet.
“It was a moral victory for
Ann,” Avener said. “It is no
shame to come in second to
Stephanie Willim.”
Back north, the women’s
gym team beat Southern
Connecticut 141.2 to 123.55.
“Actually I would have
liked the score to be a little
higher,” assistant coach
Marshall Avener said.
“We were good in terms of
hitting the routines, but a
little sloppy.”
Karen Schuckman was the
all-around winner with 36.15
points. Teammates Jan
Anthony and Joanne Beck
tied for second with 35.2
points apiece.
Avener said one highlight in
the meet was Lynne Samuels
vault, which scored an 8.8, a
season record for the fresh
man.
“The team’s looking good,”
Avener said. Penn State now
faces the two toughest teams
on its schedule, national
champion Clarion, and
Indiana State. The Lady Lions
host Clarion Thursday, 7:30
p.m., and Indiana State
comes to Rec Hall Saturday
night.
Tomorrow: Preview of
meet between Clarion and
Penn State, rated the top two
women gymnastic teams in
the country.
pommel horse, and 8.3 on still rings) or I’d have had a pretty
good score.”
The freshman wasn’t penalized for basic mistakes,
however, but rather for something he should be quite proud of
courage.
“Yeah, I tried a couple new moves,” he said, “and ended up
missing them both. In the floor ex, I did a handspring whip
back to a back handspring to a full twist. And on the horse, I
tried a front-in immediate moore.”
The horse also caused problems for Kormann (8.8), and as a
result, SConn failed in its attempt for a sweep of the meet,
losing the event 35.45-34.9
“The pommel horse is definitely the hardest event,”
Stallone said, “but even so, there’s no way Kormann ever
deserved that score. He shouldn’t have had more than an 8.2.”
Which still would have been a better score than Lion Captain
Kurt Pflieger received (7.3) enroute to a last place finish in the
all-arounds (49.15).
Erichsen returns with 23 points
Wilkinson
ByTOM McNICHOL
Assistant Sports Editor
In the Penn State basketball team’s
locker room is a depth chart evaluating
the play of the team’s members. Under
assists freshman guard Tom Wilkinson
has a plus-1. That number will be going
up
Wilkinson garnered 11 assists in
leading the cagers to a 77-64 victory over
Navy before 2,063 partisans at Rec Hall
Saturday night. One of Wilkinson’s main
beneficiaries was senior forward Chris
Erichsen, who had 23 points and nine
rebounds in 29 minutes of his first home
game in over a month.
“Wilk’s fun to play with,” Erichsen
said after the game. “If you get open, the
ball’s there.”
Sophomore center Carvin Jefferson
had one of his best games of the year
with 17 points and nine rebounds in an
aggressive overall performance. He was
also quick to give credit to Wilkinson.
“Wilkinson has been our most im
proved ballplayer,” Jefferson said. “He
just gets better game after game.”
West halts East in NBA All-Star game
MILWAUKEE (AP) Rick Barry and Don Buse led a 20-2
third-quarter burst that put the Western Conference in front,
then Barry and Paul Westphal came up with key steals in the
final minute as the West defeated the East 125-124 in Sunday’s
27th annual National Basketball Association All-Star game.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who led the West with 21 points, kept
his team in contention through the first half, scoring 17 points
as the-East moved out to a 68-58 lead.
It was 85-77 before the West went on its winning tear. Barry
had six points and Buse four points and three assists as the
West took a 97-87 lead, then turned back a furious fourth
quarter East surge.
Julius Erving, who tied East teammate Bob McAdoo for
game scoring honors with 30 points, was named the game’s
Most Valuable Player.
Erving scored 11 of his points in the final GVs minutes, when
the East came roaring back. A three-point play by Erving
followed by another basket by the star forward of the
Philadelphia 76ers brought the East within two points at 120-
Lightweights lead wrestlers in win
Lehigh's barn burns down early
By BILL KLINE
Collegian Sports Writer
A Penn State-Lehigh wrestling match. Always a
down to the wire barn-burner? Always a strategy
filled encounter matching the wits of Lion coach Bill
Roll and Engineer mentor Thad Turner, right?
Well, they wrestled on Saturday before 6,306 at
Rec Hall and the ninth-ranked Lions edged the fifth
ranked Engineers, 18-17. .
j Only things was it didn’t go down to the last bout.
And there was no line-up juggling.
Instead, “it was strength against strength and we
took it to ’em,” said elated Lion 134-pounder Jimmy
Earl.
It was Earl and fallow lightweights Mike
DeAugustino and Ray Frantz who gave the Nits an
early lead, and heavyweights Jerry White and Bill
Bertrand who clinched the win for the 8-1 Lions.
Freshman DeAugustino got the Lions rolling with
a 5-3 nod over Steve Bastianelli at 118. DeAugustino,
now 10-0, scored with a third-period escape,
takedown, and stalling point before Bastianelli
made it close with a takedown with nine seconds
remaining
The gutty Frantz took down Lance Leonhardt,
now 15-2, three times in winning 8-7 at 126. Frantz
escaped from Leonhardt to start the third stanza,
and the Lion junior then led 8-5.
With 44 seconds remaining, national contender
Leonhardt took down Frantz. But with the fans on
their feet, Frantz didn’t permit Leonhardt to score’
back points and the Nits had a 6-0 lead.
With the crowd roaring again, Earl reversed Bob
MR
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Photo by Sally Hunter
Previously-winless Ray Frantz set the tempo Saturday for Penn State with his
stunning upset in the 12G-pound class, breaking the 14-match'winning streak of
Lehigh’s Lance Leonhardt.
'assists' cagers' win
Wilkinson was ecstatic to see that he
had been credited with 11 assists and he
explained his play as just being a matter
of gaining confidence.
The cagers were tyehind only once, 2-0.
Walt Young quickly erased that deficit
with a three-point play and Erichsen and
Jefferson poured eight more on top of
that to give Penn State an 11-2 lead.
Navy was not out of it yet, however.
The Midshipmen cut the lead to two on
three separate occasions but Penn State
refused to fold. The strong play of Jef
ferson inside, the quick passes of
Wilkinson, and some nifty moves by
Erichsen, gave the Lions a 37-32 ad
vantage at halftime.
Penn State quickly squandered its
five-point lead on some sloppy play and
Navy cut the lead to a single point five
times the last time at 48-47.
Then with 12:21 left in the game, the
Lion cagers went on an eight-point tear
to take a 56-47 lead and the Midshipmen
were sunk. Navy.would not get closer
than seven for the rest of the game.
Penn State shot a torrid 60 per cent
That would have insured Lehigh of one win at the
two weight classes, although sacrificing a potential
victory at 150. But since Turner’s grapplers trailed
8-2, he had to gamble for wins at both 142 and 150.
Fortunately for Turner, 142-pounder Greg Cun
ningham left the winless ranks with a 3-2 win over
• Brohead, now 1-3. Brodhead nearly won, though,
with a last second takedown effort near the edge of
the mat. But referee Joe Solomon ruled Brodhead
did not have control when time ran out.
ASfiS. *
“I don’t know what it is with Pflieger,” Stallone said, “but it
just doesn’t seem like he’s really thinking out there. He thinks
his problems will all straighten out by themselves.”
But what about the Lions’ problems? SConn broke 36 in four
of the six events and mustered a blistering 37.05 in the fifth
(vault). The New Englanders proved they are legitimate
contenders to strip Penn State of its national crown and with
two freshman all-arounders, Mario McCutheon (52.3) and
Wally Miller (50.45), could have the makings of a dynasty.
“Well you can’t rule out Oklahoma and Indiana State
(Lions’ next opponent) either,” Stallone said, “but since I
haven’t seen them yet, I’m'only going by what I’ve heard
(both hit 219).
“But don’t count us out. We didn’t hit well at all against
Southern Connecticut and still came up with our second
highest total of the season. And do you know where we’d be if
we did? Right there with the other teams.”
118 with 2:42 to play.
Westphal,, Phoenix’ tenacious guard, sank a floater to give
the West a fpur-point edge, but Pete Maravich connected on a
long bomb and McAdoo sank a pair of free throws to tie the
game at 122-122 with 1:09 to go.
Phil Smith of Golden State put the West ahead to stay by
sinking one of two free throws with 52 seconds on the clock.
Then Barry, wrestling the ball away from two East players in
.a scramble under the basket, came away with his key steal
and fed Westphal for a breakaway dunk to make it 125-122 in
favor of the West with 38 seconds left.
McAdoo, of the New York Knicks, the only center on the
East squad, brought his team within one point by hitting two
free throws just five seconds later. And when McAdoo swiped
an errant pass 10 seconds later, the East had one last chance
to win.
Maravich tried to go one-on-one against Westphal, but when
he drove to the basket, the Phoenix guard slapped the ball
away to preserve the West’s victory.
Sloand, now 11-2-2, with 23 seconds remaining to net
a 6-6 tie.
“He got sloppy with his legs and got too high,”
Earl said. “I just took his head and shook him
down.”
Earl’s draw was a critical blow to Lehigh, now 11-
3, but it could have been worse. Engineer coach
Turner may have entertained thoughts of dropping
150-pounder Pat Sculley to 142 to face Lion frosh
Geoff Brodhead.
Unfortunately for Turner, Bill Vollrath (11-1)
edged Sculley (7-2), 7-6, at 150. And at 158, Dave
from the floor in the second half to raise
its percentage for the game to an even 50
per cent. With Jefferson and Erichsen
leading the way, Penn State
outrebounded Navy 37-24.
Coach John Bach was happy with the
win and the play of Erichsen.
“We need to win and we need that
confidence that comes with a win,” Bach
said. “Erichsen showed what he can do
for us.”
Jeff Miller (14 points) and Walt Young
(nine points in 16 minutes before fouling
out) also handed in good performances
for Penn State. Hank Kuzma and Kevin
Simmett paced the Navy attack with 14
points apiece. Miller and Wilkinson
played the entire game in the backcourt
for the Lions. After the game, Wilkinson
was tired and happy.
“That’s the first time I’ve played 40
minutes,” he groaned. Then he ex
plained his 11 assists. “Everybody was
where they were supposed to be,” he
said. “The forwards were open all
night.”
Ttt: *»a s *y Collefelait t v-oruarj 1», Iffil
Becker increased the Lion lead to 15-5 with a
superior nod over Jeff Allegar, 17-9.
At 167, Lehigh’s Nils Deacon handled Ashley
Swift, 7-2, to slice the Lion lead to 15-8.
But Lion captain Jerry White came through at 177
in a battle of undefeateds. White used a first-period
takedown, which he worked for two back points, in
■soundly defeating Lehigh’s super-soph Mark
Lieberman, 6-3.
“I was worried about him on his feet,” White said.
“I didn’t want to let him take me down on my
back.”
Consequently, White rode, rode and rode some
more. He controlled Lieberman for 4:10 of the eight
minute bout.
The Nits led 18-8 and all 190-pounder Bertrand had
to do was avoid being pinned or superiored by
Lehigh’s Don McCorkel
But McCorkel is the East’s top 190-pounder and
took a 13-1 slate into Saturday’s affair. Bertrand
wrestled in a smart, defensive bout in losing 5-2.
The Lion lead then stood at 18-11, clinching the
upset.
“Coach Koll told me to use my head;” Bertrand
said, explaining his strategy. “I didn’t want to make
any foolish moves. If I made a move, it was sup
posed to be a solid one.”
Bertrand’s tactics turned out to be life-saving for
the Lions after freshman Irv Pankey made his
varsity wrestling debut at heavyweight.
Lehigh’s Mike Brown, a 15-1 frosh, reversed
Pankey at 5:52 and decked him four seconds later.
Yank speedskater
takes world crown
HEERENVEEN,' The
Netherlands (AP) Eric
Heiden, an 18-year-old
University of Wisconsin
freshman, upset all the form
books yesterday when he
charged to victory in the
men’s 1977 World Speed
Skating Championships in
this northern Dutch town.
Heiden became the first
American to win the title in
the 71-year history of world
speed skating competition.
“It’s unbelievable. I just
can’t believe this is true,”
said Heiden as he came off the
track to the cheers of the
capacity crowd of 18,000.
The Madison, Wis. teen
ager totally eclipsed the tough
and experienced Norwegians,
who had started the two-day
event as odds-on favorites.
Heiden broke the track and
world championship record to
place first in the 500 meter on
Saturday, then finished third
in the 1,500 meters the same
day. On Sunday, he was ninth
in the 5,000 meters and third
in the 10,000 meters to estab
lish the best aggregate point
total.
He led the overall standings
from start to finish.
European champion Jan-
Egil Storholt of Norway was
second and countryman Sten
Stensen third.
Heideri clinched the title
with a superb performance in
the strength-sapping 10,000
meters, the distance where he
was expected to lose ground
and the Norwegians were
expected to romp ahead.
Heiden was paired against
defending world champion
Piet Kleine of The
Sophomore center Carvin Jefferson crashes the offensive
board in Saturday night’s 77-G4 win over Navy. Jefferson
had one of his strongest performances of the year with 17
points and nine rebounds.
Netherlands, and this seemed
to draw the best out of the
young American. He matched
his opponent stride-for-st'ride
and won the heat by over a
second in 14 minutes, 59.02
seconds. It was one of only
three rides under 15 minutes.
“He is a worthy world
champion, truly a great
rider,” Kleine said. “When a
youngster can skate that well
over all four distances he
deserves to win.”
JosTenman, the Norwegian
trainer, said his team was
beaten by a superior skater.
“We just weren’t good
enough,” he said. “We hoped
for the best but the top
sportsman won. I must admit
that Eric’s victory is a
wonderful thing for skating as
a whole.”'
However, Heiden said he
didn’t think his victory "will
have any impact at all in
promoting speed skating in
the United States.” ,
In an interview with the
Norwegian State Radio,
Heiden said, “People will
read about it in the papers,
and probably remember it for
a week, but then they’ll
forget.”
Heiden said he trained
three or four hours every day,
but his studies plus the fact
that he has to travel 10 miles
to practice on a proper rink,
results in less training than he
would like to put in.
The 18-year-old sensation
said his next goal was the
world junior championships,
and he said that “after what
happened here this weekend,
I’ll probably be favored to win
that.”