PAGE SIX
Lions Seek 3rd Win
in Duel With Colgate
By RON GATEHOUSE
Colgate’s basketball team will face off with the Lion cagers at 8 tonight at Recreation
Hall, and chances are the Red Raiders will find themselves up against a much riper Lion
team than the Penn State quintet which opened its season four games ago.
John Egli’s Nittanies, greener than a flock of Irishmen on St. Patrick’s Day at the sea
son’s outset, have rapidly come along in the first two weeks of the 1955-56 season. Although
room for improvement still remains, the Lions, filling in with hard work and desire where
Frosh Meet
JVs Tonight
For 2d Time
The Nittany Lion freshman
basketball team gets its sec
ond taste of action at 6:15 to
night when it tangles with
the JV squad on the Recrea
tion Hall hardwoods.
Both clubs have met once be
fore, and frosh winning 73-70 last
Saturday afternoon.
Coach Don Swegan said his
probable starting lineup would be
Bob Edwards, 6-6, and Carmen
Palmiero, 6-5%, at forwards;
Vance Brehm, 6-6, at center; and
Paul Bauer, 6-0, and John Myers,
6-1, at guards.
Sledxik Names Starters
JV mentor Herm Sledzik, cap
tain of the varsity cagers in 1952,
named forwards Ed Ritter, 5-10,
and Jim Jordy, 6-4; center Don
Stickler, 6-1; and guards Bob
Greif, 6-3, and Mike Rohrbach,
6-0. as his probable starting five.
The JV squad is composed of
varsity players who do not travel
with the varsity team.
Swegan also named Dick Gee
sey, 6-7; Tom Hancock, 6-5; Frank
Bartkowrki, 6-3; John Reim, 6-3;
and Ted Kubista, 6-4%, as frosh
likely to see a good bit of action.
Frosh Average 6-3
The 26-man freshman aggrega
tion averages 6-3 in height, and,
as Swegan put it, shows a good
deal of potential for the varsity
team ”
“However,” the frosh coach add
ed, “although we have the height,
we still have a lot to learn.”
Need Practice
“No one player has won him
self a spot on the first team. We
still have a great deal of work
to do on our shooting and, de
spite our size, we are not quite
as good as we should be on re
bounding,” Swegan said.
“Our main problem at the mo
ment is lack of aggressiveness,
particularly on defense,” Swegan
said.
IM Card One of Nations Best
By JOE CHEDDAR
It’s a known fact that the
Penn State varsity intercol
legiate athletic program is
one of the most complete and
well-rounded in the nation,
but it’s doubtful that many
realize how favorable the Uni
versity’s Intramural program
compares with those of other
large colleges and university’s
throughout the nation.
An example of this is that the
intramural boxing program at
Michigan State University drew
only 48 applicants, while the Uni
versity’s boxing tournament at
tracted 185 entries.
The program as it now stands
consists of 17 sports, with at least
one, softball, to be added in the
near future. Sports offered are
wrestling, swimming, touch foot
ball, boxing, handball singles,
handball doubles, basketball soc
cer badminton, both medal and
match play golf, bowling, volley
ball. • horseshoes, tennis singles,
and tennis doubles.
The most popular, among these
using the number of entries as a
criterion, are basketball, with 134
team entries, and wrestling which
attracted 310 entries. Touch foot
ball was second in popularity
among the team sports, drawing
100 entries for this fall’s program.
A further indication of the pop
ularity of these team sports is
ability and experience are lack
ing, are showing firm indications
that Egli may well be as success
ful with his rebuilding program
as P. T. Barnum was in putting
three rings under a circus tent.
A win tonight would put the
Nittanies in the black ' for the
first time this year. At the pres
ent they show a 2-2 record.
Egli’s starting team tonight will
find Co-Captains Bobby Hoffman
and Earl Fields at forward, Bob
Ramsey at center, and Norm Hall
and Steve Baidy at guard.
Hoffman is currently setting
the scoring pace for the Lions.
His 64-point total gives him a
per-game average of 16 points.
All five of tonight’s stagers
scored in double figures against
Rutgers Wednesday. Hoffman
had 24, Hall 18, Fields 17, Bai
dy 14. and Ramsey 10. Three of
the five, Baidy, Ramsey, and
Hall collected 10 or more re
bounds. Baidy pulled in 14,
Ramsey 11. and Hall 10.
Ramsey has fouled out in three
of the four Lion games so far,
and now has a total of 19 personal
fouls. Keeping the pivotman in
the game has become one of Eg
li’s major headaches, for Ram
sey’s 6-7 frame is a vital Penn
State asset under the. boards. He
played against Rutgers with an
injured hip, but should be back
to normal for tonight’s game.
Hoffman and Fields, both hit
ting consistently on long set
shots, have been largely re
sponsible for keeping opposing
defenses loosened up.
Although bench strength is al
so high on the list of Egli’s con
cerns, Rudy Marisa, Joe Hartnett,
and Ron Rainey have looked ca
pable in reserve performances.
Tonight’s game will be the
40th between the two schools
in a series which began in 1918.
Penn State has copped 20 of the
39 games. The widest Penn
Slate-Colgate scoring margin
came in last year's Rec Hall
meeting, when the Lions top
ped the Raiders, 110-75. The
110 points was a new Rec Halt
record. In the second meeting
last season, the Lions scored a
69-59 win at Hamilton, N.Y.
The Lions’ next court engage
ment is the Motor City Tourna
ment in Detroit, Mich., Dec. 27-
28. They return to Rec Hall Jan.
3 to host Carnegie Tech.
the fact that 1800 players parti
cipated in at least one game dur
ing last year's basketball tourney,
and that 1470 men were similarly
active in touch football.
Bowling, the newest IM sport,
atracted 65 teams in this, its first
year of existence.
The most oopular sports, from
a spectator’s standpoint, are wres
tling and boxing. The finals of
the recently-completed boxing
tournament drew approximately
1800 fans considerably more
than many schools attract for var
sity sports. This large turnout was
not only for the finals; through
out the entire tournament the
battlers drew approximately 800
every day.
IM directors E. C. “Gene” Bis
choff and “Dutch” Sykes master
mind the huge organization. They
estimate that for the coming
wrestling finals the entire top
| Do n't let that
I yL Shop now in State College
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
First-half
Titles Still
Wide Open
With only one match remaining
on the first-half bowling schedule
of fraternity Leagues C and D,
five teams are within striking dis
tance of the crown.
Sigma Chi and Alpha Sigma
Phi are deadlocked for first place
in League C, while Beta Theta
Pi is leading the other circuit.
The only other teams having an
outside chance of copping the
crown are Theta Chi in League C,
and Sigma Alpha Mu in loop D.
Until Thursday night's match
es, Sigma Chi had been setting
the pace in League C. But it was
thrown for a 3-1 loss by Alpha
Chi Sigma while Alpha Sigma
Phi was defeating Kappa Sigma,
3-1. Both clubs own a 24-12 slate.
Theta Chi Wins. 4-0
Second place Theta Chi, with a
23-13 record, kept up to the league
leaders by sweeping a 4-0 win
from Lambda Chi Alpha. In other
loop C contests, Phi Kappa Sigma
beat Delta Upsilon, 3-1, and Pi
Kappa Phi shut out Beta Sigma
Rho, 4-0.
League D leader Beta Theta
Pi, maintained its slim one-game
lead over SAM as a result of
Thursday night’s action. Both
teams recorded 4-0 shutout wins
over their opponents. Beta, with
a 31-5 mark, topped Phi Delta
Theta, and SAM beat Sigma Nu.
Two other League D matches
ended in whitewashes: Phi Sigma
Kappa defeated Triangle, 4-0, and
Kappa Delta Rho decisioned Tau
Kappa Epsilon,, 4-0. Theta Kappa
Phi and Alpha Tau Omega tied,
2-2, in the only other game
played.
Although Lambda Chi lost a
decisive victory to Theta Chi, it
received one satisfaction when
Dick B lanken berker won the high
individual single of League C
with 215 points and Dick Lind
(Continued on page seven)
stands of Rec Hall will be filled
—almost 3,000 fans.
Although the IM program is in
tended primarily for the “rank
and file athletes’’ of the Univer
sity, each year it attracts a large
number of varsity athletes who
utilize the program as a means of
staying in condition during their
off seasons: For example, the fin
als of the recently-completed box
ing tournament contained six per
sons who are active in varsity
sports. These were two-time
chair.pior “Cookie” Tirabassi, Lion
shortstop during the baseball sea
son, Sam Valentine, next year’s
grid captain; John Pepe and Tony
De Julius, a pair of Charley Spei
del's best matmen; Steve Flam
poris, captain of .the Lion soccer
team next season; and Jim Lock
erman, a grid fullback and out
field candidate for this spring's
baseball squad.
shopping list
get you down,
Lambda Chi Loses
TIME
OUT...
By RON GATEHOUS& Asst. Sports Editor
. . . FOR 1955 BACKFLASHES
Each December it’s been the custom for a Daily Collegian
sports writer to regress a bit and take a look at the previous 12-
month goings-on in the Penn State sports arena.
Our turn came last night.
Upon leafing through the 1955 calendar and noting the daily
banner headlines exploiting the splendid performances turned in by
the past year’s athletic teams and their coaches, we couldn’t help
feel justly proud of the 1955 Nittany Lions.
Their success stories seem even more vivid when we take
into consideration the fact that the stress on athletics in the Vale
takes a' seat behind classroom responsibilities. This has been
brought out on numerous occasions. The compact union provided
by a conference, an excess of scholarship funds, and strong alumni
backing—all integral aspects of most successful collegiate athletic
programs—are also lacking at Penn State. Nevertheless, the Lions
continue to more than hold their own on the sports front. Why?
Who knows the real reason. The fact remains that they do. and
here are the figures to prove, it.
During the past year, the University’s 100th, the 11 varsity
sports combined for a sparkling record of 85 wins and 37 losses.
A bit of short division enlightened us to the fact that these 85 wins
in 122 contests provided a .693 winning percentage—outstanding
in anyone’s book. Two years ago the Lions compiled a ,693 all
sports record, and since Penn State’s entrance into the sports world
in 1875 the Nittanies have won at a .635 clip (.614 with ties).
Soccer and golf, with unbeaten records, highlighted the Penn
State sports parade the past 12 months. Kenny Hosterman’s soccer
team, which won national championship honors in 1954 and will
be a candidate again this year, won nine and lost none, thus' stretch
ing its win streak to 18 consecutive games for a new Penn State
record for the sport No previous team had ever put two perfect
seasons together. Hosterman’s. teams have been licked only twice
since he assumed command three years ago.
Bob Rutherford’s unbeaten golf team, winner of 24 of its
last 25 matches, owns the second best win streak of 12 straight.
Last year it won B—lost 0.
The gymnasts, under Gene Wettstone. in. seven meets dropped
a lone decision to Illinois and were good enough to win top
honors in the East and second honors in the nation. The gym
team has now won 21 of its last 22 starts.
Karl Schwenzfeier was the sport's individual standout. He
won Eastern and National Collegiate all-around honors, and tied
for first place for the NAAU*s individual title.
Ronnie Weidenhammer was the top baseball performer, easily
leading the team in batting and winning the third base position
on the all-district nine. His coach, Joe Bedenk, labeled him “one
of the greatest athletic competitors I’ve ever witnessed.” Hie Lions
won 17 and lost 5 in baseball.
Jesse Arnelle, now among the professionals, continued his
scoring antics to finish his four-year career with every honor in
the Penn State record books and led-John Egli’s Nittany cagers to
an 18-10 season and an “at large” berth in the NCAA regional
playoffs.
Chick Werner coached his spring track team to a 3-1 record
and two of his charges, speedster Art Pollard and weight man
Rosey Grier, captured individual titles. Pollard was the IC-4A
220 champ. The mammoth Grier took the IC-4A shot put title.
Werner's cross-country team was the only Lion squad to
finish in the red. Captain Doug Moorhead turned in several fine
performances, but the Lions foiled to win any of their four dual
meets.
In wrestling, Larry Fornicola won Eastern and National honors
at 137 pounds, and Bill Oberly walked away with the national
heavyweight title. Charlie Speidel’s grapplers, who posted a 5-2
season card, were runners-up in both the Eastern and National
tournaments.'
Nick Thiel’s lacrosse team and Sherm Fogg’s tennis squad each
compiled 7-5 records, fine'performances in view of the fact that
Fogg underwent a major rebuilding program and Thiel worked,
as in Hie past, mostly with players who had never as much as seen
a lacrosse game before entering Penn State.
Rip Engle's sixth Lion football foam won five and lost four,
but was thought by many to be a better squad than the record
indicated. Lenny Moore didn’t equal his performance of two years
ago. but nevertheless, along with Co-Captains Otto Kneidinger
and Frank Reich, helper formed well enough against such foes
as Army. Navy. Pitt. West Virginia, and Syracuse to get an invi
tation to play in the East-West Shrine game in San Francisco.
Moore finished his fabulous three years of collegiate football
by being picked by the Baltimore Colts in the first round of the
professional football draft
These, then, were the why's and wherefore's of the 1955 Penn
State players and coaches. There were ups. and there were downs.
But all-in-all, it was a great year, so hats off to many jobs
well done.
FOR GOOD RESULTS
USE COLLEGIAN CLASSIFIEDS
SATURDAY. DECEMBER 17. 1955
A *» lt * l m CMMi is.
® Lut Tima TODAY
HH "The Left Hand of God"
MONDAY A TUESDAY
Ernest Borgnine • "Marty"
with Betsy Blair
Lut Tlmaa TODAY BELLEVONTB
“Outlaw Tnimn" STATE
"Mystery of Black Jungle" |
NO PICTURE MONDAY NITIT 1
TUESDAY NITE ONLY 1
"Abbott It Costello Meet Dr. U
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" 9
alu— “Can Mil, Dutfc fcw* “