Realty duo re'sound'ing hit - Hoover Library

SPORTS Continued frompage 6
+HarlordC.C
+Johns Hcpklns
+ Essex c.c.
+HarfordC.C.
JV Field Hockey (5-7-2)
3 JuniataJV 1
1 SusquehannaJV 2
2 YorkJV 0
0 Franklin & MarshallJV 2
1 GettysbuTgJV 2
7 Dkktnscn Jv 1
2 lebanonValleyJV 0
1 MessiahJV 1
0 ElizabethtownJV 2
0 +Western Maryland 3
1 +Johns Hopkins 0
0 + Goucher 1
0 + Essex c.c. 0
1 +HarfordC.C. 3
Football (7-2)
Ursnus 17 13
'2 Swarthmore 3
13 Muhlenberg
12 Moravian " 0
6 Widener
12 lycoming " 7
49 Dickinson 13
26 Gettysburg 13
9 Johns Hopkins 0
Looking Back
into the Ring
By Ross Burbage
here's
T
no more ring, the gloves were thrown away ages ago, and most students at Western
Maryland College don't know about the Green Terrors varsity boxing teams that produced six
hall of famers and the only national champion in the school's 89-year athletic history.
__ .._.._=n~~e.:.~ !~t~!f~2s.t~ ~..'!.~!a~~~1::~aa~ ~ ..!.~ 1. bringi~~_9_~~_~~_.;
and coach",d the boxing prog ....m tn 1927 and continued to direct the team until 1935, when he took
the job as head football coach at Harvard.
Harlow went after the best competition he could find in that first season, one which saw the
Terrors post a 3-4 record against teams like Rutgers, Yale, and Penn State. Over its first seven years
Western Maryland boxing produced three Eastern Intercollegiate Boxing Association (ElBA)
champions; 135-pounder Doug Crosby, two-time winner Ted Klepec at 160 and 175 pounds, and
the 1933 team captain Bernie Kaplan at 175 pounds.
The 1933 squad defeated Penn State 4-3, en route to a 2-1-1 record, to give the Green Terrors what
would be their only victory against the Nittany Lions in 20 career meets
Western Maryland came in second in the ElBATournament of 1934 but captured three individual
titles. Andy Gorski won the 165-pound class, Kaplan retained 175-pound honors, and freshman
Thomas Pontecorvo burst onto the scene with a titlein the unlimited competition.
. Pontecorvo had won the national Golden Gloves heavyweight competition while a high school senior
In 1932. "He was the only one with a great deal of boxing experience prior to college," said Charlie
Havens, Harlow's coaching successor in 1935
PontecolVOwon Western Maryland's firstand only national title, in team or individual competition,
dunng his senior year at the NCAA Tournament in Charlottesville. Va. He decisioned Tiny Brown of
Syracuse in the title bout.
"I remember we had to pull the lightweights out of the student body," recalled Pontecorvo, the
two-time ElBA titleholder who like most of the boxers at heavier weights, played football. "Football
is a sport where you avoid bei~g hit," he said, "l like boxing because of all the contact."
Coach Havens concerned about his star heavyweight's inability to make the trip to Navy for an early
season meet in '36 convinced football standout Nick Campofreda to make his ring debut against the
Midshipmen. Although he didn't like boxing Carnpofreda agreed to fight and, with WMC losing 4-3, he
tied the meet by knocking out his opponent in 30 seconds. Campofreda never fought again.
After taking the NCAA crown, Pontecorvo advanced to a professional career that lasted nine fights.
He lost a split decision to former AAU champ Lou Nova in his firstpro bout, held in New York's Yankee
Stadium on the same card as the Joe Louis heavyweight fight against Jack Sharkey
later, Pontecorvo went eight rounds with Joe Louis in a sparring session, going the distance and
knocking the champion to the canvas in the process. "It was too tough financially, I had to eat,"
Pontecorvo said, explaining why he got out of fighting after one year as a pro.
From 1938 to 1940 the Green Terrors suffered a IS-meet losing streak, with the only bright spot
being Tony Ortenzi's 165-pound ElBA championship in '38. A 51f2-21f2verdict against Indiana State,
Pa., broke the skein
The team rebounded in the forties behind three-time eastern champion Carlo Ortenzi, who posted a
perfect 13-0 record in 1947. Ortenzi owned the 165-pound division while Chuck Godwin took the
1943 ElBA ISS-pound crown for Western Maryland.
"Boxing lost its popularity," said Havens, concerning the sport's demise at Western Maryland. Even
Harlow's return for the last two years didn't help. "Some schools were going big time and we wound up
with seasoned men against our guys who were just learning," he added
American University was the Green Terrors finalvictim, 5-2 in 1950, and Catholic University
stomped Western Maryland 7-0 in its final meet to conclude a winless 1951 season. WMC's matches
with Army that year were televised.
George Ekaitis, Sig Jensen, the Ortenat brothers, Havens, and Harlow are now enshrined in Western
Maryland's Sports Hall of Fame. But the era of three two-minute rounds, seven to eight bouts per
meet, is past
JV Football (1-4)
MassanuttenAcademy 14 26
25 AnneArundelC.C 6
6 Shippensburg State 28
JV
0 HarfordC.C 28
i Gettysburg 15
Soccer (6-6-1)
+ Moravian 1 2
9 + Christopher Newport 4
3 Messiah 2
0 Gettysburg 1
6 Susquehanna 2
0 Haverford 1
2 Johns Hopkins 220t
0 Muhlenberg 2
2 Dickinson 0
3 lebanon Valley 0
0 FT