State Five Tests Hoyas
In 2nd Capital Tussle
No rest for the weary! Penn State’s doughty band of basketeers
climb back into their still-damp togs tonight to duel Georgetown
University in an 8:30-scheduled contest in Washington, D. C.
Tonight's cage tilt marks the second time in two nights that the'
Lions will appear on the capital courts.
Last night’s fray against American U. was not completed in
time to make today’s Daily Col
legian deadline.
Big name teams mean little to
the Blue and Gray clad warriors,
who annually play some of the
top teams in the nation. Coach
Elmer Ripley appears to have
built another typically powerful
Hoya club.
AVERAGED 52 POINTS
The Catholic college is ex
pected by many to outstrip its
]947-"8 record when it won 13
and lost 15. The Hoyas have added
more height and experience to go
along with their already strong
scoring punch, which averaged
52 points per game last year, and
are generally conceded to be a
stronger combination.
Georgetown’s record last year,
although unimpressive on the
surface, revealed competition
against such nationally known
schools as Notre Dame. St. Louis,
Western Kentucky and N.Y.U.
The two collegiate rivals split
a pair of contests last year. Penn
State copped a close 42-40 verdict
on the National Armory boards,
with the Blue and Gray taking
another tight 49-43 affair.
LOSE TO N.Y.U.
Ripley’s proteges are not ex
pected to pull any punches in to
night’s fracas. The Hoyas are try
ing to regain the victory band
wagon after dropping a 70-59
contest to New York University
in Madison Square Gardens last
Saturday.
Georgetown’s 16 - man roster
lists nine returning lettermen.
Outside of two exceptionally tall
men, substitute Dan Spukis, 6
foot 7 inches, and John Mazzi
otta. 6 foot 5 inches, the Hoyas’
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height is average for basketball
teams.
Captain Ray ‘Chief’ Corely and
his ‘basket buddy,’ Tommy
‘Flash’ O’Keefe, will lead the
Georgetown forces. The two pro
lific scoring wizards, in addition
to directing the team from the
guard spots, pack the hosts’ heavy
artillery and will have to be
stopped if the Nittanymen hope
to come out on top.
PROS EYE O'KEEFE
O’Keefe set last year’s scoring
pace with a 270-point total, fol
lowed by Corely, his roommate,
who amassed 156 tallies. A junior,
O’Keefe is already being eyed by
the pros, and in collegiate circles
around the nation’s capital he is
believed to have a promising
career ahead of him. Corely, a
well-set-up 6-footer, is labeled by
Ripley as one of the finest poten
tial stars to come to the Hilltop.
The center slot will be covered
by 6-foot-2-inch George Benigni.
who also plays end on the Hoyas’
football team. Likely to see action
in starting forward roles are
‘lrish’ Joe Culhanc and Dick
Favey. Culhane is regarded by
Rochester sportswriters as one of
the best collegiate performers
ever to come out of that section.
Benigni and Falvey are consid
ered the Hilltoppers’ outstanding
backboard men.
Italo ‘Fireball’ Ablondi and
Frank Alagia will replace the
first-stringers.
First Wrestling Match
Penn State’s first intercollegiate
wrestling match was with Cornell
at Ithaca in 1909.
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GENE WETTSTONE
Gymnasts Will
Rebuild Ibis
Year Wettsfone
It looks like this year will mark
the end of the glory trail for Gym
Mentor Gene Wcltstonc and his
charges.
The Lion gymnasts, undefeated
for the past three years of col
legiate competition and unprece
dented winner of three intercol
legiate crowns last year, have
been hard hit by losses through
graduation and the claims of the
armed forces. The current season
is expected to be ‘‘one of rebuild
ing,” to quote Wettstone.
Ten of last year’s top aggrega
tion which annexed the Eastern
Intercollegiate, NCAA and NAAU
titles have departed from the
campus.
SORENSEN
Gaps left by the departure of last
years Captain Ray Sorensen,
NCAA parallel bars and all
around champion; Steve Greene,
Eastern Intercollegiate, NCAA,
and NAAU side horse titleholder,
and Joe Linn, last season’s num
ber one rope climber, will be hard
to fill.
“I don’t expect
to come close to
winning all our
meets this lear,
and I certainly
don’t think we’ll
repeat our NAALT
triumph of last
spring,” Wett
stone declared.
But all is not
gloom and des
pair on the gym
nastic front ei
ther. Five return- _
in g veterans, BQNSALL
lour of them lettermen, will be
back to bolster Wettstone’s 1949
aggregation and provide the nuc
leus of this year’s squad.
Core of the gymnastic contin
gent will be Bill Bonsall, who
placed second in the NAAU all
around championship competition,
Bill Meade, last year’s ace tum-
Continucd on page five
NOW AT YOUR WARNER THE
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fret**
155-Pounders
Capture Crowd
At IM Boxing
Curtin TKO's Trioni,
Dumps Sigma Nu Hope
Sigma Nu boxing stock took
a sharp decline under the glaring
lights of varsity ring, Recreation
hall last night.
Hopes of that house for a 155-
pound champion in poker-faced
Lou Trion; plunked to the floor
as Bill Curtin, Phi Delta Theta
spoiler, throwing caution to the
winds and standing toe-to-toe
with Trioni, bombarded his rival
into oblivion in the second round
of their scheduled three round
duel.
One other technical knockout
and a first-round KO mixed with
four exciting decision wins, shook
another large crowd out of its
early lethargy and made a ring
in gsuccess of the IM department’s
boxing card.
Last semi-final bouts go on to
night at Rec hall with half a doz
en fights scheduled to start at 5
p.m.
CURTIN TAKES OVER
Feeling each other out with
searching left jabs, through half
the first round, then breaking out
into a give and take slgging battld",
Trioni and Curtin weathere dthe
first stanza in good order. But
in the second, Curtin took com
mand after Trioni set the stage
with a stunning flurry of blows.
A right-hook by Curtin, thrown
m retaliation, put the Sigma Nu
chips in the ring and Curtin col
lected as he pummeled Trioni in
to a corner and put him on the
wagon with a succession of righls
and lefts. Trioni couldn’t answer
the bell for the third frame.
155-POUND ACTION
The 155-pounders showed most
of the action last night. John
Long, Sigma Chi, looped a rip
ping right in the first round of
his scrap with Henry Van Halle
wyn, Delta Chi, that withered Van
Hallewyn where he stood. The
blow echoed off the Delta Chi’s
ear to stop the bout early.
Independents Robert Briselli,
and Maloney in the same class
erased their opponents in two
well-matched bouts. Briselli
stopped Hopkins in the first round
of their fight, while Maloney, op
ening Dave Warrington’s nose in
the second round, slugged to a
decision win.
DRAZENOVICH WINS
Heavyweight Joe Drazenovich.
Delta Upsilon, braved a third
round storm by Dalton Rumberg
er, Alpha Zeta, to move into the
finals. With his corner yelling
On him, Joe”, the stocky Nittany
guard charged into Rumberger’s
swinging fists to twice floor his
tfdler rival, and cop the decision.
Charley Vitabile, Theta Xi, out
lasted Clyde Wilson, Alpha Gam
ma Rho, in a 175-pound bout, and
slipping under Wilson's longer
Continued on page five
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The Jggjjb
Lio»<
By Tom Morgan
SPORTS EDITOR
On Redwoods
Expressions like “tall men con
trol the boards” and “basketball
games are won under the boards”
have boosted a theory that five
human skyscrapers are standard
equipment if one is to produce a
better - than - average basketball
team.
One of the first questions
often asked by coaches and
fans about a prospective bas
ketball player is: "How tall is
he?" If pint-sized, he some
times is not afforded much
chance of making the first five,
for what can a small shrub do
among redwoods?
But occasionally one of these
“shrubs” asserts himself by run
ning rings around his taller
brethren on the hardwood. By
demonstrating that he is better
coordinated, trickier, faster, a su
perior dribbler, a better ball
handler, more exacting in starts,
stops and change of direction, he
helps disorove the premise that
basketball is only for giants.
Simon, Weiss, Toed
Out to prove there's a place
for the little fellow on Coach
John Lawther's '4B-'49 cage
team are a few Stalemen whose
respective heights reach less
than 5 feet 10. Competing for
starting assignments with "red
woods" who sport up to a 10-
inch height advantage are Milt
Simon, Ken Weiss and Joe
Tocci.
A first-stringer last year after
playing no varsity basketball in
high school, Simon is 5 feet 9,
weighs 158 pounds and comes
from Erie.
The two newcomers, both
smaller than Simon, are Tocci, of
Ridgewood,. N. Y., who started
against Pitt in the season opener,
stands 5-7 and weighs 155, and
Weiss, of Allentown, who is 5-8
and weighs 150.
Unfortunately, current Nit
tany students who double as
fans of the court game will be
unable to see these midgets in
action till the January 8 home
game with Colgate. That is,
unless they're around these
parts come Saturday when the
Lawthermen open the home
slate during Christmas vaca
tion.
More From Spartans
Although he didn't mention
it specifically, that long touch
down run called back in the
Michigan Slale-Penn State
football game has prompted
Spartan Coach Clarence "Big
gie" Munn to suggest a rule
change.
Munn would have officials
Continued on page five