Section 5 Championships

Varsity Wrestling Tournament & State Qualifier

@ Fairport High School

Friday & Saturday, March 4-5, 1972

Final Results

He Beat The Clock and the Pin

By John Czarnecki
The Times-Union
Sunday, March 6, 1972

Full Text: Copyright © 1972 The Times-Union.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Company Inc.

Psyched so unbelievably, a mean Warren Stumpf goes into a little crouch, the Rush-Henrietta green tights hugging his skin, regrouping just enough energy for this final 16 seconds. Before moving he forces his magnetic-like eyes upon Jim Hartwell, moving them slowly up and down his body. Then zap, zap, zap they burst.

Down 6-5 in this Class A Section 5 wrestling final, Stumpf goes after Hartwell, literally chasing him. In the background, the clock ticks red-numbered seconds away and his Coach, Gordy Gilfilian, rockets from a corner chair, arms waving and mouth moving. For this is IT. Two unbeatens at 141 pounds, two champions staking reps in their ego-crazed worlds.

Finally, Stumpf on the attack, grabs hold of a Hartwell arm and pulls. Ten seconds left. Hartwell, the champ at this weight from Canandaigua, strains and fights and back-pedals. Holding on, Stumpf and the struggle move accross the mat and somehow he gets Hartwell down and slips on top of him. The referee raises two (points) fingers, signaling a takedown while Hartwell lunges for the mat's edge as the buzzer sounds.

In the mass confusion encircling the scorers table, all eyes in the massive Fairport gym leave on the two alone, an exhausted smile on both although the scoreboard reads 7-6 in Stumpf's favor.

Canandaigua coach Weldon Canough is exploding in the ref's ears. "That was no takedown. THAT was no takedown. There was no control. THERE was no control. He fell on him. He just FELL on him."

But frustration envelops Canough realizing his repetitious pleads are for naught. Negative faces surround him and a huge grin right smack on Gordy Gilfilian.

"That was the greatest match I've ever seen," bellows Gordy, lifting Stumpf fifteen feet off the floor. "He (Stumpf) was tremendous. He hung in there. He never gave up and that's what I like about him most. And he did it against a pinning animal."

In the second period, Hartwell locks a cradle on Stumpf but the ref doesn't buy the pin. "Stumpf was dead. It was the worst officiating I've ever seen," Canough complains.

All Hartwell gets for his efforts is three points for the near fall to grab his only lead as Stumpf is penalized for an illegal slam and stalling.

Afterwords, Stumpf leans against some hallway lockers receiving victory kisses and handshakes when Hartwell approaches. He forces a smile and extends a hand. "You were pinned though weren't you. Admit it."

Stumpf just looks away, shaking his head. He would be returning to the States (next week in Syracuse), not Hartwell.

This year's tourney belongs to the county schools led by Rush-Henrietta, which lands two other champions beside Stumpf, Gilfilian's first legitamate hope for a State Champion. Jim Weisenfluh, a Sectional trampoline champ and second in the state last year, cradles an injured and surprising finalist Tim Kolb, of Penfield, in the A Finals and instant replays on Avoca's Phil Wilson in the A-B wrestle-offs. Dave Hept takes the other crown, the Biggees.

Big Red manhandles Penn Yan's brazen, pin-artist Steve Horrigan at 215, who ignores his coach's please and ties-up, hoping to slip under Hept's pancake. But Hept collars him twice and scores a lopsided 12-3 victory.

"He was the strongest guy I've ever faced," Hept says of Horrigan. "I couldn't keep him down. I think he thought he could out-muscle my best moves."

One of the first to congratulate Hept is Madison's Terry Bruce who pinned everyone before being crushed by Horrigan in the semis. "These guys were just as strong as me. I couldn't muscle. And I was pooped after Horrigan put me on my back once," Bruce says.

East Rochester lands two champions, Keith Cotroneo at 129 and a superb Dan Duffey who upsets Denny Hall, the Wellsville monster who throws a tantrum racing to the locker room.

Spencerport also gains two winners, Steve Silver at 115 and Al Velieri, the super pinner who edges another tiger, Dwight Cartwright, Keshequa's 177-pounder, for the tourney's MVP award.

Irondequoit completes a dominating County array of power with champs Tim Borshoff at 122 and Rory Whipple at 158.

It merely proves how tough the County really was this year," ER Coach Don Quinn says in pround understatement.

Warren Stumpf understands.