TUESDAY. MARCH 11. 1958
Johnston,. Gratt
Favored in EIW
12 Tutors Give
NCAA Champs
Unanimous Nod
By LOU PRATO
Two defending national cham
pions and an unbeaten sophomore
are favored in the lightweight
divisions of the Eastern Inter
collegiate Wrestling Association’s
54th annual tournament which
opens at the Pitt Field House
Friday afternoon.
Penn State’s own Johnny John
ston, last year’s 130-pound NCAA
tilleholder and a two-time 130-
pound Eastern champ, and Le
high’s Joe Gratto, NCAA 137-
pound winner last year and the
EIWA’s 137-pound titlist in 1956,
are overwhelming favorites to
capture the crown of their respec
tive weight classes. Dave Auble,
the unbeaten yearling from Cor
nell (10-0), is given top honors
in the 123-pound class.
Johnston and Gratto were the
unanimous choices of 12 EIWA
coaches who participated in a re
cent poll conducted by Pitt’s pub
licity agent Carroll Cook.
Auble was given the tutors'
edge over Pitt's Paul-i Powell
(10-0-1) to succeed three-time
NCAA champion Ed Peery as
the new 123-pound champ.
However, Powell, another soph
omore. may not compete in the
iournameni. Humors ,out of
Pittsburgh have the Lock Haven
native sidelined with mononu
cleosus disease. •
, Other leading 123-pound con
tenders include Syracuse’s George
Creason, third place finisher in
last year’s affair; Brown’s John
Cummings, the fourth place win
ner in 1057; Temple’s Art McCall,
who owns a 22-dual match win
ning streak; and Yale’s Bobby
Fitch.
Creason, who wrestles at 130:
during'the regular season has a
5-3 record, Cummings, who could
wrestle anywhere from 123-137.
is 6-2 for- the season. McCall is
unbeaten in six dual encounters
while Fitch's only loss- in eight
scraps was to Lehigh’s Bobby
Myers.
Johnston will, have his hands
full trying to gain his third
straight 130-pound Eastern title.
All three of last year's "money
winners" have returned this
year as have '-several other top
flight men. Pitt's Vic DeFelice,
whom the Lion captain .beat in
the finals last year, 6-3. is back
as well as third place man Leon
Harbold of Lehigh and fourth
place finisher Jerry Weisen
seel of Army.
Johnston has the best record of*
the pack with eight wins and no
defeats. DeFelitfe—who goes at!
137 during the dual campaigns—|
is 7-2-2, Harbold is 5-2 and Wei
senseel is 8-1. Weinsenseel’s only]
defeat was to Creason, 1-0. In-i
eluded among his victims 'was]
Harbold by a 7-3 count. |
Other highly-rated challengers!
at 130 include Syracuse’s Ed Car-!
lin (7-1-1), whose only loss has
been to Auble; Cornell’s Carmen
Molino (8-2); Pitt’s Shcrm Moyer
(3-3), who owns wins over'JHar
bold and Creason; and Harvard's
Dave Skeels (6-2).
Gratto will be seeking to re
gain the 137-pound crown he
vron as a sophomore in 1955.
The Lehigh captain was beaten
by Penn Slate's John Pepe, 4-2,
in the Eastern finals last March
but later avenged' that defeat
in the NCAA finals.
Gratto posted a 9-0-1 mark this
year, tying Navy’s Joe Longton,
2-2. Gratto’s toughest competition
is expected to come from Cor
nell's unbeaten sophomore iLee
Austin (8-0). However, Rutger’s
Bill Griffa, whose only loss in
nine matches was to Gratto, 3-2;
Penn State’s Guy Guccione (2-4-1)
or Dan Johnston (2-2); Harvard’s
Bob Watkins (6-2); Army’s Jim
Hankee (4-4); Syracuse’s- George
Willis (4-3) and Longton (4-2-1)
also figure in the title contention.
Gym, Mat Draw
Gymnastics and wrestling share
the spotlight with basketball dur
ing the winter sports season at
Penn State. Each of the three
sports attracted overflow crowds
of 6000 during the -1958 indoor
season.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE PENNSYLVANIA
* *
. . defends 130-pound eastern title
IM Cage Playoffs
Open at Pec Hall
Intramural basketball compe-. Gamma Delta and Kappa Delta'
tition will get tougher and tenser;?* 10 (6-1), fraternity champions'
as IM basketball enters its final 1" 5 .? 1 1955-56, meets Sig
, - . ma Phi Epsilon (6-1) at 7 p.m. in
week of play. fraternity quarterfinal contests.
The playoff schedule was an- i n independent ball, the League!
nounced yesterday by the antra- H winner The Tribe or Red Raid
mural athletics department. ers m eets the Watts I (8-0) and
After last night's tie breaking the Skeller Rats (7-1) takes on the
, games for five league champion- Sharpshooters at 7:45 pjn. At 8:30
i ships, the tournament will get the Studniks (8-0) meet League
; into full swing this evening C champions (Nittany 23 or Nit
! when six games will be played, tany 31) and Nittany 25 (7-0)
j Alpha Tau Omega was made! m . ee^s either the Sinkers or the
the official League E champion; Night Raiders, the League D
iover the weekend. It was dis-; titlist.
[covered that Alpha Phi Delta,) Defending champion Alpha Sig
who defeated ATO, 25-24, in thejma Phi (7-1), having only one
; final game of the season for both! defeat in the past two years—a
teams, had used an ineligible play- 26-22 defeat at the hands of Tau
|er. The loss had been ATO’s firstlKappa Epsilon, will enter semi
|The player Alpha Phi Delta had; final tourney play on Wednesday
used was not registered in the r.ight. Theta Chi (7-0) will also
IFC office as having any fra-play its’first game that night,
temity connections. _ j Independent semi-finals will
In tonight’s action, Alpha Tau be held Thursday night. Both
Omega (8-0) will meet the League divisional, finals take place Friday
A winner Phi Mu Delta or Phi night.
Ex-Lion Greats
Win State T
Wrestling Titles
Larry Fornicola and Bill Oberly
haven’t lost any of the talent
| which made them NCAA cham
pions while wrestling for Penn
State a couple of years ago. Both!
of the ex-Lion captains proved
this by copping state YMCA titles
at Bellefonte Saturday night.
Fornicola, the NCAA 147-pound
winner in 1955. and presently the
playing-coach of the second Army
mat team, pinned former State
schoolboy champ Sam Marano ofi
Clearfield to haul in the 167-
pound state title. The fall came
with a minute left in the second
of a two minute overtime session
after the two men had battled to
a 1-1 draw in the regular time.
Oberly. who won the NCAA
unlimited title in 1955, flattened
(former Lehigh grappler Dave
Gallahery, also of Clearfield, in
the second period to win the
heavyweight title. Oberly wrest
'led under the Easton banner.
! Pitt’s Bob-Bubb, wrestling for
the Greensburg YMCA, won the
157-pound title.
Volleyball Entries Due
Entries for the Intramural
Volleyball tournament must be
turned in by 4:30 pan. tomor
row. Six men are required to
form a team. Competition will
be run fcr both fraternity and
independent groups.
Auhle
Event
O,
A
★ ★ *
Johnny Johnson
THESE ABE THE TEAM CHAMPS of the 1958 Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League Compe
tition. Coach Tom Maloney’s Cadets won the team title by handing the Lions a 504-454 setback
in mid-season, and then going through the rest of their League schedule undefeated. The happy
redhead at the top of the photo holding the championship cup is team Captain Gar O'Quinn who
lost his side horse title* but won the parallel bar crown.
Wettstone-A Master
At Promoting Gym
By VINCE CAROCCI
Sports Editor
Well, Lioft gym Coach Gene
Wettstone did it again. Every
bit living up to his reputation
—at Penn State, anyway—as
one of tlie greatest promoters
in collegiate athletics today.
Wettstone again proved himself
the master of his sport with his
spectacular handling of the East
ern Inter collegiate Gymnastic
Championships last weekend at
Recreation Hall.
When Wettstone promotes some
thing. even the famed Mike Todd
could stop to learn a lesson or
two. Scurrying here and there
with the zest of an atomic rocket,
he single-handedly ran one of the
smoothest tournaments this writ
er has witnessed in his four years
here.
A stickler for Ihei slightest of
details. Wettstone made certain
nothing was left forgotten. From
the awarding of the champion
ship medals to having a man
hook the flying rings after each
performance on the apparatus
— these and other details were
taken care of in typical Wett
stone fashion. He could even be
found at times saying "now"
lo his head manager Harry Ox
man, who handled the P-A. sys
tem.
It brought back memories of
the National AAU Championships
and Olympic Trials he staged two
years ago in the same Rec Hall
confines. Again nothing was left
to chance.
We said it then and we say
it now: Congratulations. Gene, i
on a job well done . f . j
* * * jningham went over to shake the
As with every tournament, thisvictor’s hand in a true sporting
one had its usual share of inter-.gesture.
esting sidelights. -Here are just a 1 It was a double-barreled ap
ffnal {?>“-«» *■»
■ Werner, the other for Cunning.
Here s a conversation that took: ham. as close a loser as one
,place between Oxmim and Xaionj could be. • There was certainly
fnj Z L^Z a l t ner < WaS r f ad H liltle 10 ch <x»e between the
ing himself for, his final all-1 two
jaround routine-the free exer-j Asked Afterwords how the vic-
OxmVn (who wanted Werner tofe, ,?*?. bea ?, inf ;. Berner
wait until the previous r , ep ?i ret i^ u ine ;
tor’s score was announced to theiu was c ear evic^ent bow happy
fans.): “Give us some time. Jav."; as ’
Werner (with a smile): "You ' • And Cunningham's reply to
give me some time." the question of how he fplt after
Apparently he got all he needed a clos * loss was: "As long
jbecause you know what hap- to, him (Werner), it's all
[pened. He won the event with a . .
[265 total to give him the all- Wettstone, when asked if he
around crown by one point over could remember competition ever
! teammate Lee Cunningham; 1515- 1 being so close in the all-around.
11514 ... - |said: “No. wasn’t that something?**
j A roar went up fromthe crowd life added gleefully. “And they’re
[when Werner's total was an-[both sophomores.” He had a right
tnounced. But an even bigger one;to be happy . . has them
followed when the defeated Cun-i back for another two years.
PAGE SEVEN
Dave Dulaney
tumbling cbamp. finallyt