Junior Nationals 1974: Iowa City becomes Wrestling’s capital
By John Hoke, The Young Wrestler
Pictured: 1974 Junior National Champion John Bowlsby of Waterloo West High School in Waterloo, Iowa.
For three hot days in July Iowa City, Iowa, became the wrestling capitol of the country as the University of Iowa entertained the fourth annual national junior competition of the United States Wrestling Federation and the top young wrestlers of the nation.
The competition began July 25 with Greco-Roman, and 216 entries elected to try their skills in the style that does not permit holds below the waist, a style in which the United States has a very poor record in international competition because it is so definitely different from our prevailing styles in scholastic and collegiate wrestling. This summer competition, it is hoped, will eventually improve our efforts internationally.
The next two days, July 26-27, were devoted to freestyle competition, with 467 entries from all over the United States, each qualified through a state tournament. Some states entered three full teams, the maximum allowed, while others had varying numbers of contestants, largely depending on the availability of funds with which to pay expenses.
The condition of the athletes was surprisingly good, the competition was tough and winners in Greco-Roman had wrestled six or seven bouts and freestyle champions went to the mat eight or nine times before winning.
John Bowlsby, Waterloo West high school grad (on his way to the University of Iowa) won the heavyweight title in both styles and it took him a total of 14 matches to accomplish this outstanding feat. He was the only double winner.
The tournaments were held in the cavernous Iowa field house and the sparse attendance was almost lost in the spacious hall. It appeared that although small in numbers, the spectators were dedicated wrestling fans, mostly relatives of the contestants, and in between bouts they crowded around the pairing sheets to try and decipher the unfamiliar bracketing for information as to their next opponent. Many of the nation’s top college coaches were there, too, some of them shepherding 1974 recruits and others looking for college prospects who may have been overlooked so far but takings advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate their possibilities for college competition.
Gary Kurdelmeier, the Hawkeye wrestling coach, was busy directing the huge event. Dan Gable, whose name and fame is known to almost every wrestling fan, was one of the assisting directors and how many autographs did he sign? Everyone a thrill you can bet.
Statistically, Illinois dominated Greco- Roman competition, crowning three champions and eight place winners. They also had seven place winners in freestyle, which was lead by Iowa, with three winners and seven other place winners. Ohio claimed three freestyle champions, also, but the competition was so close over all that the other 11 individual championships went to 11 different states.
In individual awards Dave Powell, St. Charles, Ill., was the only 1973 Greco champion to repeat and he was named outstanding wrestler in this style for the second straight year. He also won the Gorriaran award for the most falls in the least time, five in 4:24 (just two seconds faster than the five pins by Jimmy Jackson of Michigan). Roger Roberts, Merced, Calif., was named outstanding wrestler in freestyle, with the Gorriaran award going to Jim London, Putnam City, Okla., who flattened five in 12:02. Mike Land, West Des Moines, la., won his second straight title at 132.
John Bowlsby and Daryl Monasmith, Burlington, Colo., both freestyle champions at Iowa City, also won USWF Junior titles at Fort Collins, Colo, in March.
After seeing the nation’s top juniors in action at Iowa City, it was comforting to leave with a feeling that the future of wrestling in the United States will be in good and skillful hands.
This story was published in the September-October 1974 edition of The Young Wrestler, the first edition of the first volume. The magazine was aimed at covering the high school age groups and below. It was produced by Amateur Wrestling News. This article is republished with permission from AWN.
Placements
Men's Freestyle
105.5 pounds
1. Phil Drenik (Ohio)
2. Mike Picozzi (New York)
3. Mike Farina (Illinois)
4. Ed Snook (Michigan)
5. Scott Sondgeroth (Colorado)
6. Charlie Amaya (Colorado)
114.5 pounds
1. Mark Mysnyk (New York)
2. John Azevedo (California)
3. Jim London (Oklahoma)
4. Randy Batten (Tennessee)
5. Chuck Davis (Ohio)
6. Kenneth Carmichael (Indiana)
123 pounds
1. Mike Land (Iowa)
2. Lee Roy Smith (Oklahoma)
3. James Earl (New York)
4. Joe Gonzales (California)
5. Amos Goodlow (Michigan)
6. Mike Terry (Wisconsin)
132 pounds
1. Roger Roberts (California)
2. Rick Morris (Illinois)
3. Denny Brighton (Michigan)
4. Kenny Nelson (Oklahoma)
5. Kevin Morin (Wisconsin)
6. Randy Nielsen (Iowa)
143 pounds
1. Joe Zuspann (Iowa)
2. Tim Mousetis (Pennsylvania)
3. John Eichenlaub (Pennsylvania)
4. David Nelson (Oklahoma)
5. Dennis Steffens (Iowa)
6. Scott Trizzino (Illinois)
154 pounds
1. Lee Kemp (Ohio)
2. Mark Churella (Michigan)
3. Paul Martin (Iowa)
4. Kevin Hejnal (California)
5. Marco Laney (Missouri)
6. David Welch (Ohio)
165 pounds
1. David McQuaig (Oklahoma)
2. Mark Harris (Iowa)
3. Steve Scheib (Pennsylvania)
4. Lonnie Peterson (Wisconsin)
5. Randolph Scott (Maryland)
6. Chris Pope (Missouri)
178 pounds
1. Daryl Monasmith (Colorado)
2. Carmel Morina (New Jersey)
3. Bill Bailey (Pennsylvania)
4. Robert Fleming (Illinois)
5. Brett Benson (Iowa)
6. Dave Wagner (Wisconsin)
191.5 pounds
1. Harold Smith (Ohio)
2. Shawn Whitcomb (Michigan)
3. Fred Bohna (California)
4. Jere Turbin (Wisconsin)
5. Ken Smith (Illinois)
6. Steve Pate (Iowa)
285 pounds
1. John Bowlsby (Iowa)
2. Herb Calvert (New Jersey)
3. Al Marzano (Illinois)
4. John Nino (Illinois)
5. Mike Engwall (Iowa)
6. Haunce Hansen (Missouri)
Greco-Roman
105.5 pounds
1. Mike Farina (Illinois)
2. Tom Diamond (Pennsylvania)
3. George Kacavas (Massachusetts)
4. Tom Husted (New Jersey)
5. Roger Seemiller (Pennsylvania)
6. Doug Branigan (Wisconsin)
114.5 pounds
1. Rudy Perez (Texas)
2. Herb Patterson (Illinois)
3. Marvin Gasner (Colorado)
4. Tim Murphy (New York)
5. Terry Ariki (Colorado)
5. George Medina (New York)
123 pounds
1. Amos Goodlow (Michigan)
2. Joe Davidson (New York)
3. Kevin Puebla (Illinois)
4. Mike Arnold (New York)
5. Mike Terry (Wisconsin)
6. Tim Rimpley (Nebraska)
132 pounds
1. Joel Hestrup (Illinois)
2. James Sondgeroth (Colorado)
3. Bill Parkinson (Illinois)
4. Kevin Morin (Wisconsin)
5. Doug Henderson (Pennsylvania)
5. Mark Preston (New Jersey)
143 pounds
1. Tim Mousetis (Pennsylvania)
2. Thomas Gongora (California)
3. Dale Eggert (Illinois)
4. Doug Hutsell (Indiana)
5. Ron McKinney (California)
6. Jerry Bignotti (Michigan)
154 pounds
1. Marco Laney (Missouri)
2. Dom DiGioacchino (New Jersey)
3. Scott Crowell (Pennsylvania)
4. Terry Fike (Pennsylvania)
5. Wayne Williams (Pennsylvania)
6. Kevin Anduik (Minnesota)
6. Lance McKelvy (Colorado)
165 pounds
1. Dave Powell (Illinois)
2. Lonnie Peterson (Wisconsin)
3. Bob Marcione (Illinois)
4. Antonio Crawford (New York)
5. Ron Standridge (New Jersey)
6. Steve Scheib (Pennsylvania)
178 pounds
1. William Palmer (Indiana)
2. Bill Bailey (Pennsylvania)
3. Dave Severn (Michigan)
4. David Mitchell (New York)
5. Greg Golsvig (Illinois)
6. Steve White (Colorado)
191.5 pounds
1. Jeff Dutton (California)
2. Dan Severn (Michigan)
3. Harold Smith (Ohio)
4. Gerard Iverson (Wisconsin)
5. Ken Roy (Oregon)
6. Mike DeGain (Michigan)
285 pounds
1. John Bowlsby (Iowa)
2. Jimmy Jackson (Michigan)
3. Herb Calvert (New Jersey)
4. Chuck Stewart (Pennsylvania)
5. Ronnie Shuman (Michigan)
6. Tom Freeman (Illinois)
