FRIDAY. MARCH 1 NCAA Gym Meet Begins at 2 28 Schools, 200 Athletes Will Compete By LARRY ROTH Over 200 competitors repre-i senting 28 schools will vie for Individual and team honors in the 19th NCAA gymnastics tournament which gets under way at 2 this afternoon in Rec Hall. 1 Another preliminary session will be held at 8 tonight with the, top ten qualifiers ir each event advancing to tomorrow night’s finals. Only one championship,! the all-around, will be decided to-1 night. Observers believe the race for, team honors will narrow down to' a three-way battle-'between Pa-i cific Coast champ Southern Cal, I Big Ten champ Illinois, and Penn; State’s defending national champs. Each team boasts one or more men who could capture the all around. but California's Art Shurlock rules favorite on the basis of his overwhelming vic tory in the PIGL tournament two weeks ago. Southern Cal has sophomore Sam Garcia, junior college trans fer Bob Lynn and two time Hun garian Olympic star Attila Ta kach. This trio came in second, third and fourth respectively in the PIGL all-around. Illinois has Ray Hadley, a mus cular sophomore who captured the Big Ten all-around this year, and Penn State has Eastern champ Greg Weiss, and co-captains Jay Werner and Lee Cunningham. Springfield College’s Jeff Car dinali, who was runner-up to Weiss in the EIGL championships, is also considered a prime threat, as is Minnesota’s Duane Hoeeherl, runner-up in the, Big Ten. While these contestants, plus a host of others, are battling for the all-around crown, they also will be trying to qualify for the finals in five events—free ex ~ ercise, side horse, high bar, still rings and parallel bars. The side horse will feature a Baseball Team Opens April 6 Joe Bedenk’s Penn State base ball team opens its 22-game schedule April 6 at Beaver Field against Gettysburg. State will play 11 games at home and 11 on the road. The Nittany Lions, who finished fourth in the College World Se ries at Omaha, Neb., last spring, will be shooting for their sixth straight Eastern Playoff berth and chances are pretty fair that they’ll get it. Bedenk loses only three from last year’s team, but some highly rated sophomores are expected to fill the gap. Finding a replacement for slug ging shortstop Bob Hoover will be Bedenk’s biggest worry. But he’ll also have to replace pmt-sized Ron Riese who had a 5-2 record last year. Hoover was State's best clutch hitter in 1959 with 28- runs bat ted in and a .370 batting aver age. Baskeiballer John Phil'ips and reserve infielder Bob Hro bak could fill the gap. but there are several other promising can diates on hand. Ed Kikla, who wound up as one of top collegiate pitchers in the country with a 9-1 mark last season, will head the mound staff which boasts plenty of veteran left-handers, and a lot of inex perienced righties. DUGOUT CHATTER—Joe Bed enk owns a record of 382 wins, 142 losses and 6 ties in 30 years as Penn State’s head coach . . . Rumors from Navy say that catch er Joe Bellino may be switched to left field ... Bob Hoover, Penn State’s 1959 baseball captain, is doing graduate work in physical therapy at Stanford University. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA . . . defending s; pair of former chanipions in Shur lock and Bill Buck of lowa. Buck, runner-up to Shurlocki last year, won the title in 1958.1 Cardinah, Illinois’ Bill Lawler, I Cal’s Jim Fairchild and Cunning-! ham also are considered top threats on the side horse. Stan Tarshis of Michigan State! will defend his high bar crown but Shurlock, Cunningham, Ta kach, Lynn and Weiss will pro vide some 'tough competition Shurlock and Cunningham won this event in their league tourna ments this year. Lynn-, Werner and Hadley should lead the field in the free exercise. Werner placed fourth in last year's nationals, while Lynn and Hadley won the event in their respective conferences. Garcia, whose routines remind one of Penn State’s Armando Vega, is a topnotch contender on the parallel bars and still rings. The parallel bars should prove to be one of the most ho.tly con tested events with the likes of Weiss. Cardinali, Buck, Shurlock and Werner listed among the en trants. Weiss is Eastern champ and Buck finished second in last year’s nationals. Another runner-up in last A tender juicy half pound sirloin steak serv ed with golden french fries, creamy cole slaw, hot rolls and butter, and a tasty beverage will make your Sunday din ner a real pleasure. Your date might really enjoy a change in dining BpotS . . . Airtopoti ★ ★ ★ Art Shurlock ide horse champ year’s nationals is tumbler Jack Wiley of Southern Illinois. Eastern champ Joe Marshall of Navy, I [Pitt’s Earl McConnell, and Flor lida State’s Jack Ryder are ex- Ipected to be Wiley’s mam opposi tion in his quest for the tumbling I crown. Navy's Nelson Hulme, who ■ holds the Eastern record in the i rope climb (3.3 seconds; is the favorite in this event. TJSC's 1 Rick Barasch, PIGL rope champ, , and Penn State's Vince Neu- ] hauser have done 3.6 while a : host of others have turned in : 3.7 performances, including the j Nittanies' Bob Mumau and Bill 1 Fosnochi. ! The flying rings will pit de fending champ Werner against a pair of Easterners who beat him in the EIGL tournament and in dual meet competition this sea son. Jon Aaronsohn of Army won the Easterns and Pitt’s Dave Hirst finished second with the muscu lar Werner third. lowa’s Larry Snyder was run ner-up in the rebound tumbling (trampoline) last year and will battle to move up a notch against the likes of Texas Tech’s Jack Tillinghast and San Jose State teammates Bob Haywood and Bob Bogios. s' ' < f. Your Special Invitation Sirloin Dinner $1.50 1 Served Each Sunday Evening, 5 o’clock to S - ■<V y v< , < U' ★ ★ . . . defending high bar champ Tournament Notes Rec Hall will be loaded with gymnastic greats for the next three days . . . You can't walk four steps without bumping in to a former national collegiate or AAU champ in one event or another . . . Most of the coach es and even one of the man agers are former title-winners . . . Able Grossfeld, 1958 all around champ, now a graduate student at Illinois keeping in shape for the Olympic tryouts, came along as a manager for the Illini so he could see the tourney. This is the first National Gym Tournament held at Penn Slate . . . The last major tour ney staged here was the AAU championships and Olympic try outs in 1956 . . . Place-winners in the All-around, which will be completed tonight, will be ★ ★ ★ Stan Tarshis presented just before the first event on tomorrow night's pro gram . . . Other winners will be presented after each event. Vega and Grossfeld, bitter rivals a year ago, worked out with the contestants yesterday . . . Both are practicing for the Olympic tryouts . . . Grossfeld's wife is also a gymnast . . . She will try out for the women's Olympic team this spring. A collection will be taken to morrow night for the Olympic fund by members of Blue Key Hat Society who are acting as official hosts and guides for the visiting teams. Although competing for dif ferent schools, several of the NCAA participants are from southern California, and more particularly the San Fernanda Valley . . . PAGE NINE
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