FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1968
Championship Wrestling Wall-to-Wall
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It Was Wrestling Wall-to-Wall as Eight Mats . Were Used in Rec Hall for the Preliminary Rounds
State's Rich Lorenzo Was
But Eventually Lost, 2.1,
lowa State's Reg Wicks Controls State's Matt Kline and Defeats
the Lion 160-pounder, 3.2, i nthe Semi-Finals
Shape Here
Semi-Finals
in Fine
in the
- "c';
Photography and Analysis
By Paul Levine, Sports Editor
Three Days, 464 Bouts Later,
Welcome End to the Tourney
The aches had already begun to choose
their spots. They settled in the lower spinal
region and crept downward through the
legs. Fifteen thousand knees stiffened in pro
test and half as many necks squirmed from
side to side.
"If you've been with us all the way,"
the announcer said, "you have now seen 442
wrestling bouts."
And there were more to come
It took 382 wrestlers from 102 colleges,
and more than 450 bouts, just to carry the
NCAA - wrestling champinfiship's into their
final round. And for the fans who braved the
three-day, six-session tournament last week
in Rec Hall, it was a lot of "wraslin" even
for the most stout-hearted and hard-bot
tomed of grapple followers. It wasn't too
much for everybody, however.
Heaven for Some
For those who thrive on a steady diet of
wrestling from November to March, 464
bouts in three days is heaven on earth. For
the horde of Oklahomans who journeyed
north with their string ties, leather boots
and awesome teams, it was the fulfillment
of an annual dream. For the knowledgeable
fans from lowa with their flat drawls, it was
a joyous time of talking about "amazing
Dan Gable" and two others who were to
become national champions. For the NCAA
and Penn State officials, however, it was a
giant headache.
Penn State associate athletic director Ed
Czekaj served as tournament director and
had the unenviable task of trying to co
ordinatie the activities of the athletes and
coaches from over 100 colleges and univer
sities. According to those who have been
part of the collegiate wrestling scene since
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THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA
the days before Princeton discovered the
arm bar, Czekaj and his staff ran the best
tournament ever. Although a record num
ber of com-
petitors an d
record -break
ing crowds
swooped into
Rec Hall, most
observers a
greed that
never before
had a nation
al tourn'a-
ment run so
smoothly.
It had to
be that way ED CHKA,I
for Czekaj. He... favors regional competition
began prepar-'
ing for the tournament last March when he
visited the championships at Kent State. For
this year's tourney in Rec Hall, a crew of
400 people, including officials, timers, scor
ers, statisticians, runners, ushers, press aides,
maintenance men and parking attendants
helped make the tournament go.
But from any standpoint, the tourna
ment was too long. Veteran sportswriters
and NCAA officials agreed to that. What
they didn't agree upon,• however, was how to
shorten an event that-has traditionally taken
everyone who wished to enter.
As it stands now, any college or univer
sity can send its entire team to the NCAA
tournament. Even teams that compete in the
college-division championships can make a
brief trip into the big-time when the NCAA
tourney rolls around every year. But thanks
to a new NCAA rule, future wrestling tour
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`Abe' Gets a Tip from the Coach
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Some Fans Took To Their Feet as the Tournament Wore On
naments may not be encumbered by the
likes of teams from Gustavus Adolphus or
Moorhead State.
"A new NCAA rule which goes into ef
fect in September will require schools to de
clare whether they're competing on the uni
versity or college level," Czekaj said. "Then,
for college-level wrestlers to qualify for na
tionals, he would have to finish in the top
four at the college championships. The num
ber of entrants for the nationals should go
down appreciably."
Even without the new rule, it is doubt
ful that next year's wrestling championships
at Provo, Utah, will draw as many competi
tors. Many of the numerous Eastern schools
whose teams don't measure up to the Mid
western powers will be reluctant to finance
a cross-country trip. •
Lucky This Year
"We were lucky this year not to have
500 wrestlers in the tournament," Czekaj
said. "If all the Ivy League and the other
Eastern schools would have brought their
entire teams, we would
,have had 500. There
should be fewer wrestlers next year, but
still I think something has got to be done
to set up regional or sectional competition to
qualify wrestlers for the national champion
ships. Then we won't have coaches bringing
a kid with a 1-6-2 record to the tournament."
Another who feels that the national
championships could stand a little trimming
is Jess Hoke, editor of the Amateur Wres
tling News. Hoke, generally regard ed as
the country's most knowledgeable author
ity on collegiate wrestling, recently unveiled
his formula for choosing wrestlers for the
tournament. Instead of regional qualifying
tournaments, Hoke would have an NCAA
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The Tourney's Outstanding as Well as Happiest Wrestler Was
Oklahoma State Sophomore Dwayne Keller Who Upset . Two-
Time NCAA Champion Rick Senders At 123 Pounds
committee choose 16 competitors at each of
the 11 weight classes.
The formula provides for three of the
16 competitors to come from the powerful
Big 8 conference while two would be se
lected from the Big 10, two from the East
and so on, with three `places left open for
random choices. Under this plan, only 176
wrestlers would advance to the nationals.
To test the plan, he personally selected 16
wrestlers in each weight class before last
week's tournament.
Of the 66 place winners in the tourna
ment, Hoke had listed 60. No champion or
runner-up had been omitted in the Hoke
forecast and only one third-place finisher
was overlooked. One fourth place, one fifth
and three sixth-place finishers were the
only other medal winners which Hoke failed
to mention.
"W h a t
ever the re
sults of my
p r
Hoke said
before the
tourname n t,"
it should be
realized that
a committee
could do ev
en better. This
was only one
man judging
all the wres- JESS HOKE
tiers in the . . picked 60 of 66 winners
country "
But even if Hoke had chosen every place
winner in his correct position and had pre
(Continued on page twelve)
ENE
PAGE ELEVEN,
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