Sooners best, Lions
By RICK STARR
Collegian Sports Editor
To call the end exciting would be a
misnomer. The longshot Oklahoma
Sooners beaten by Penn State in dual
meet competition this year won
the NCAA Team Wrestling Cham
pionship Saturday night at Ames, lowa.
The finish capped a furious, four-team
scramble for the crown that didn’t abate
until the tourney’s final bout, the
heavyweight final.
In that bout Western Illinois’ Jim
Woods, conqueror of Penn State’s top
seeded Charlie Getty, outpointed
Michigan’s Gary Ernst in the last half
minute of action to take a 9-5 decision
and the National Title from Michigan.
Michigan finished two-and-a-half
points behind Oklahoma.
The East did not fare exceptionally
well in the tournament, and Penn State,
which finished seventh with 43 points,
was not a shining exception. However,
the Lions did make a strong show of
determination after disaster struck in
the quarterfinals.
The quarters were the end of the line
for the title plans of Penn State’s John
Fritz (126), and Getty
(Heavyweight). Pitt grappler Rande
Stottlemeyer put the lid on Fritz with a 5-
3 decision Friday afternoon.
Both wrestlers picked up escapes, but
StoUlemeyer came up with two
takedowns in the final period, the last
one with time running out on Fritz.
Fritz then went into the consolation
Morava: Gym tragedy
Tragedy is a common adversary it seems nowadays.
And like anything else, it strikes sports. There is
perhaps no other university in the country that has
been hit with as much tragedy in gymnastics as
Southern Illinois over the years.
Bill Meade has guided the school during the past 18
years and experienced five deaths. The most recent
was on Feb. 26
Gary Morava, a former 1972 NCAA (champ in the
vault, was doing a 2% front sommersaiult off a mini
tramp, which is a spring board about fojir feet square.
He landed on his neck, breaking the third and fourth
cervical vertebra. j
Two days later, he died quietly in St. Louis’ Fir
mindesloge Hospital at a very young age of 21.
“I think there was no one else we ever had to com
pare to him,” remembers Meade. “He never disap
pointed me. If I had one routine in one big meet, I’d
pick him.
“He was on the threshold of a great career. For the
first time in three years he could actually work without
Pain began in 1971 when Morava first injured his
shoulder in an auto mishap which killed John Arnold,
another SI gymnast. That tragedy brought to mind the
1967 nightmare when Frankie Schmitz, a four-time
NCAA specialist champ was killed in a plane crash the
day before his 21st birthday.
Schmitz’s death was on his own time. Arnold’s was
on the way to a meet against lowa. The somber
situation hasn’t demoralized Meade.
“It’s never bothered me,” he says, “I’m more of a
realist than that. After Gary’s accident we had a
meeting and the team decided to go and try for the
Nationals. Gary would have wanted that.”
And he would have wanted his body donated to
science, too.
“He asked me while he was in the hospital to donate
his body,” recalls Meade. He had hoped he wouldn’t be
a cripple but he was paralyzed immediately after the
fall and his organs began to die.
“We couldn’t donate his body because he didn’t die in
the required 24. hours.”
Doctors said he would live two or three hours.
Morava never gave up hope and that’s why he fought
courageously against the odds for 37 hours until 1 a.m.
on Feb. 28.
Morava, coming off the shoulder injury and a suc
cessful operation, was voted Athlete of the Year in 1973
at SI. He was a dean’s list student-athlete.
Meade elected to redshirt the senior this year so he’d
rounds. On Saturday afternoon picking
up two winning decisions, 7-2 over
Lehigh’s Mike Frick in the consolation
finals, and the controversial 4-4 referee’s
decision over lowa State’s Bob An
tonacci, to finish the tournament in third
place.
In Fritz’s bout with Antonacci, both
wrestlers were tied at the end of three
periods and overtime. Fritz seemed to
be on top of things but Antonacci finished
the third period strongly, so the decision
to give Antonacci the match, which the
referee promptly indicated, was not
entirely out of the afdqa.
But the officials, realized while
discussing the bout error had
been made and that Fritz; had actually
received their decision.
Fritz was called back from the locker
room and announced as the winner,
which drew an anguished protest from
the lowa State coach, who was’trying to
win the team title at the time.
The tourney brass denied the protest,
and Fritz finished one spot below his
second seed.
Like Fritz, Getty moved crisply into
the quarters. Then he met Woods. At a
healthy 6-6, 270, Woods didn’t give
anything away to Penn State’s big man.
After a scoreless first period Getty
was cradled and pinned trying to pick up
an escape early in the second period.
The fall was at 2:38.
Getty then picked up a pair of
decisions to move into the consolation
finals with Fritz? There he took away a 4-
the
dai
Amazing . . . Lion heavyweight Charlie Getty (right), the
toiu^iey’s number one seed, was pinned by giant killer Jim
Woods. Woods, from Western Illinois, went on to steal the
NCAA crown. Getty finished third to help Penn State to a
seventh place finish. Lion boss Bill Roll (above) could hardly
believe his eyes|, but was satisfied with his team’s finish.
2 decision over Yale’s Tim Karpoff,
which was a duplication of the finals of
the heavyweight bout at the Easterns
two weeks ago. And, like Fritz again,
Getty finished the tourney in third place.
Lion Gerry Villecco (158) also closed
out the tournament in the consolation
rounds, where he won and lost, finishing
fourth.
Villecco got there after advancing to
the semifinals, something no other Lion
attained.
Oklahoma’s Rod Kilgore, who went on
to the title, outpointed Villecco in the
semis, 7-2.
Villecco squared off with lowa’s Dan
Holm in the consolation finals the
following day, but was not as fortunae
as his two teammates. Holm pinned him
in at 3:33 after Villecco tried the wrong
move.
The opening round was also bullish on
Penn State’s representatives. Bob
Medina (134) fell before Northern lowa’s
Jim Miller 6-0, and Dan Brenneman
(167) had his pockets picked by Jan,
Sanderson of lowa, 2-1. Lion freshman
Jerry White (177) was given his NCAA
tourney baptism by Michigan’s Rob
Huizenga, 5-0.
According to Penn State coach Bill
Roll, the catalyst for White’s loss was his
ankle, which was aggravated again
when Huizenga pulled it underneath.
Koll sounded two different chords
after the tourney.
“We could have done better, but I’m
satisfied,” he said.
Tim Panaccio
Ass’t Sports Editor
have a healthy body for 1974.
“We went with 20-some guys this year instead of 30
each meet,” explains Meade. “We met six of the eight
teams from last year’s Nationals. We wanted, as a
team, to sacrifice this year altogether so that Gary
would Le ready for next year.
“The important thing was to give him a chance
because he’s never had it. There was always an injury
Look, I’ve won enough here. I felt that I owed it to
him.”
Which accounts for Southern Illinois finishing with a
7-8 record. “We could have easily been 14-1. This was
only my second losing season here.”
Morava was working himself back into shape for
upcoming international meets In Moscow and South
Airica. He looked sharp finishing second in the all
around in an international meet against Poland.
What’s more, he was the first American to place.
(Former Penn State NCAA champ Marshall Avener
was fourth.)
Morava had aspirations. Strong ones.
“More than anything else he wanted to win medals,”
claims Meade. “And also make the ’76 Olympic team.
Without a doubt, the shoulder injury kept him off the
’72 squad. I’m sure he would have made the ’74 World
Games.”
Last year, at the NCAAs, he took third in the AA. He
was in the high 55 range this year using various front
and back sommersaults in his free-ex routine. He was
working on other difficult moves trying to add points to
his routine.
“Within a few months he would have been the top
gymnast in the country,” Meade predicted. “He would
have won the next year also.”
Unfortunately, like the other four before him,
Morava’s flower wilted before it had a chance to
bloom.
ollegian sports
7th
Oklahoma, meanwhile, can finally
stop looking over its shoulder.
The Sooners survived one of the most
anxious finishes in the history of the
tournament.
The final results show Oklahoma first
with 69V 2 points, Michigan with 67,
Oklahoma State, which really lost points
in the consolation rounds, at 64, lowa
State, 63, lowa, 48%, Washington, 44,
Penn State, 43, Oregon State, 39%,
Lehigh, 35, and Slippery Rock, 33%.
The tournament abounded with upsets
and surprises, like Jack Hitchcock of
Bloomsburg State (Pa.). Hitchcock
pinned three opponents and decisioned
the number one seed at 177. He carried
off the Outstanding Wrestler Award as
well as his NCAA slab.
The meet was the end of the road for
Lions’ Medina and Getty, both seniors
contemplating diplomas. Getty is also
contemplating the Kansas City Chiefs.
The NCAA champs
The exact dollar figure may never be
118— Gary Breece, Oklahoma known, but the Inquirer quoted a dose
126 Pat Milkovich, Michigan State source as sayiqg “it is a very sound,
134 —Tom Sculley, Lehigh attractive financial package.”
142 Rick Lawinger, Wisconsin
150 - Jarrett Hubbard, Michigan The P a Pe r said Cappelletti, who lives
158 - Rod Kilgore, Oklahoma n suburban Upper Darby, Pa., flew to
167 - Doug Wyn, Western Michigan tl ?e West Coast yesterday to huddle with
177 Floyd Hitchcock, Bloomsburg State agent, attorney Jerry Kapstein, and
( p a j *.o hammer out final negotiations with
190- Gregg Strobel, Oregon State Ca J™" Rosenbloom, the Rams owner,
llwt - Jim Woods, Western Illinois If the Penn State runiung back doeS
The national sports
The Baltimore Orioles erupted for four
runs in the fourth inning and took advantage
otJour Pittsburgh errors Sunday to defeat
me Pirates, 7-3.
The four run uprising, coming off Pitt
sburgh starter Bruce Kison, staked the
Orioles to a 5-2 lead. Baltimore collected four
hits in the inning and the Pirates also made
two of their miscues.
Inos Cabell drove in three of the Baltimore
runs on a pair of singles and a fielder’s
choice, as the Orioles evened their spring
exhibition baseball record at 4-4.
Winning pitcher Ross Grfmsley went the
first five innings for Baltimore, allowing six
of Pittsburgh’s nine hits and all three runs.
One half of the Boston Red Sox got by
Philadelphia’s Phillies 10-7, and the other
half of the squad dropped a 4-3 squeaker to St.
Louis.
In other exhibition games, the Cincinnati
Reds blanked the Atlanta Braves 7-0, the
Chicago White Sox downed Kansas City 8-5,
the New York Yankees drubbed Detroit 5-1,
Los Angeles defeated the New York Mets 9-2,
the Chicago Cubs topped the Oakland A’s 6-2,
San Francisco dropped California 8-2,
Montreal defeated Texas 5-1, and Cleveland
beat Milwaukee 3-1.
Pancho Gonzalez and Jimmy Connors
rallied from an opening set loss to defeat
Pancho Segura and Clark Graebner 3-6, 6-2,
7-5 in the finals of the $40,000 Palm Beach
Tennis Masters tournament yesterday.
Gonzalez, who once instructed Connors,
teamed with his former student to win first
place money of $lO,OOO. Second place was
worth $6,000.
Ilie Nastase of Romania, the world’s No. 1
player, won a $50,000 World Championship
Tennis tourney here yesterday defeating
Tom Okker of The Netherlands 6-3,6r3 before
5,736 fans, believed to tie the largest tennis
audience ever in the Washington area.
The match, the first national telecast from
the new Capital Centre, was decided at the
service line where Okker made only 42 per
cent of his first serves in play while Nastase
was getting in 57 per cent of his.
; The turning point of the match, which
lasted just 57 minutes, came at 3-3 of the first
set when Okker was broken by Nastase as
Okker double faulted three times. Nastase
Faults didn't hurt
ASU swimmers
The Sun Devil swimmers lost the
points through a disqualification in the
400-yard freestyle relay, but they more
than-made up for it as they finished the
AIAW Swimming and Diving Cham
pionships with a total of 242 points, well
ahead of second place Miami with 164.
The disqualification occurred in the
final event of the second day of com
petition. As Debby Hudson finished her
leg of the relay, Arizona State swimmer
Sally Tuttle took off from the blocks to
finish the race.
As Tuttle hit the water, the lane judge
raised his hand, signifying an infraction
had occurred. Unaware of this, Tuttle
finished the race in record time, only to
find out the effort was wasted.
Apparently, her feet left the blocks
before Hudson (in the water) made the
touch. Maynard Kohler, the head timer,
said the rule states: “An infraction
occurs when the toes of the swimmer on
deck leave the blocks before a touch is
made by the swimmer in the water.”
Kohler added that the lane judge, who
made the initial call, watches for the
hand of the swimmer in the water to
touch, while at the same.time keeping in
contact with the on-deck swimmer by
placing his finger against her big toe.
According to Kohler, the meet referee
and the finish judge also spotted the
infraction.
Drawings by Tom Horak
Both Tuttle and coach Mona Plummer
thought the takeoff was good.
“From here the whole thing looked
perfect,” said Plummer, perhaps the
winningest coach in history.
Tuttle, somewhat upset by the call,
said “I don’t think I false started. The
starter said the takeoff was good, but he
By DAVE MORRIS
Collegian Sports Writer
If most teams entered in a cham
pionship event were deprived of 32
points, the results would be fatal. Not
Arizona State.
Cappelletti to sign
with Los Angeles?
PHILADELPHIA (AP) All-
American John Cappelletti of Penn State
will sign today with the Los Angeles
Rams of the National Football League,
the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in a
copyrighted story.
The story by sports writer Bill Lyon
said the signing will be announced at a
news conference in Los Angeles at 1 p.m.
Philadelphia time. Indications are, the
story said, Cappelletti will sign a four
year no-cut contract.
broke Okker again in the second.
For the championship Nastase won $lO,OOO,
raising his 1974 prize winning money to
$43,000, tops on the WCT circuit.
Top-ranked North Carolina State got the
happy word yesterday that injured superstar
David Thompson was feeling fine and will
play against UCLA in the NCAA semifinals at
Greensboro, N.C., next Saturday.
“His condition is entirely satisfactory,”
said team physician Dr. A. E. Harer. “We
don’t anticipate any delayed after-effects
from the injury.”
The high-soaring, high-scoring Thompson
crashed to the floor, landing on the back of
his head, after going up for a rebound against
Pittsburgh Saturday. There was instant fear
that he had broken his neck or back.
He was rushed to a hospital where 15
stiches were taken to close a cut in the back
of his head. A neurosurgeon was called in and
X rays were quickly taken. Dr. Harer said
Thompson suffered a cerebral concussion.
But he added: “It is my opinion that he will
resume practice this week.”
Thompson’s teammates, motivated and
inspired to win for their fallen star, went on
to crush Pitt 100-72 and win the NCAA
Eastern Regional crown.
His head bandaged, eyes filled with tears
Thompson made a dramatic return to
Reynolds Coliseum late in the second half.
The crowd of 12,400 let out a deafening cheer.
Play had to be halted. Teammates crowded
around him. Later he returned to Rex
Hospital where he spent the night. He was
discharged yesterday.
In an earlier consolation game, fifth
ranked Providence defeated Furman 95-83 to
take third-place honors.
State’s Wolfpack, riding a 26-game victory
streak, has a 28-1 record, the only loss being
to UCLA last December at St. Louis.
State’s Phil Spence said he was trying to
block out for a rebound when Thompson
“went over my back. When I saw what
happened, man I was scared. I panicked. 1
cried and I prayed.”
Spence said Thompson is “super. I wish I
could be like him.” AP
has nothing to do with making the call.
The lane judge said I was off by six in
ches. I don’t think I was.”
After that, everything seemed to be
going against the Sun Devils. In a
Saturday morning preliminary heat of
the 50-yard butterfly, Libby Tullis, who
had the top entry time in the event, was
disqualified after a mixup at the start.
“I thought I false started, and I was
sure there would be a re-start,” she said.
The starter didn’t see the apparent
false start, and the rest of the swimmers
continued the race, leaving Tullis
hanging on the lane marker in disbelief.
“I can’t remember if I heard a whistle
(which means a infraction occurred) or
not,” the sophomore swimmer added.
“It’s been one long weekend, and I’m
glad it’s over,” Plummer said. “This is a
meet I’ll never forget because so many
things happened to us. We even had one
girl’s suit come apart in a preliminary
heat.”
The Arizona State swimmers over
came all the adversities and still ran
away with their fourth AIAW title in five
years.
Tullis and Tuttle each swam on relay
teams the final day, and both relay
teams won. The double victory gave the
Sun Devils 64 points and assured them
of victory.
“We could have easily lost the meet,
but the kids never gave up. They knew
we could win all along,” a happy
Plummer said.
Perhaps the whole attitude of the Sun
Devil swimmers was summed up by one
who said, “When you swim for Arizona
State, you never say die.”
NCAA tourney facts
NCAA SEMI-FINALS
UCLA (25-3) vs N.C. State (28-1)
Kansas (23-5) vs Marquette (25-4)
‘Games to be played on March 23 in
Greensboro, N.C.
sign with the Rams, it would be a solid
blow against prospects of the
Philadelphia Bell, the new franchise in
the World Football League.
Jack Kelly, the former AAU president
who announced last week he headed a
group of 11 businessmen that purchased
the club, indicated a hometown boy like
Cappelletti would almost insure 8,000
fans at the team’s games. He was a first
round draft choice with both the Rams
and the Bell.
The Inquirer quoted Kapstein as
saying: ‘The Rams people appear very
sensitive mid concerned about John
from a longrange standpoint. They have
indicated that he would be brought along
slowly, worked into the lineup gradually
and would not have extra pressure put
on him.
“After all, it’s going to be tough
enough just being an All-American and
the Heisman and Maxwell winner,”
Kapstein noted.
Today’s sports
*PSL' LIONS IN ACTION MONDAY
No sports scheduled
Pirates vs. Montreal Expos (8 p.m )
Phillies vs Reds (1:30 p m.)
Standings
NHL STANDINGS
Montreal
N.Y. Hangers
Toronto
Vancouver
lslanders 15 37 15 45
WEST
Philadelphia
Chicago
Los Angeles
Atlanta
St. Louis
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
California
•Standings include partial Sunday
results
NHL SUNDAY GAMES
FLYERS 2 • Maple Leafs 2
Bruins 5 - Rangers 2
Minnesota at Buffalo
Atlanta at Chicago
N.Y. Islanders at Montreal
•Only results available
Results
SUNDAY’S PRO BASKETBALL
NBA
Geveland US, Philadelphia 99
Milwaukee 107, Chicago 82
Phoenix 133, Seattle 108
Boston 129, Capitol 103
KC-Omaha 125, Houston 114
Detroit 116, Buffalo 109
ABA
Kentucky 112, Utah 100
Indiana 117, New York 105
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
(AP)—Hubert Green broke
out of a tie with four birdies in
a row, established a com
manding lead and cruised
home with a comfortable
three-stroke victory yester
day in the Greater Jackson
ville Open Golf Tournament.
W L T PTS
47 13 9
39 20 9
37 19 12 86
31 24 14 76
28 30 10 66
25 34 10 60
18 39 11
W L T PTS
43 14 11 97
34 13 20 88
27 3t 11 65
26 31 11 63
24 33 11 59
20 31 16 56
24 37 7 55
13 46 9 35