 |
|
1962 World Tournament
|
|
Gary T. Kline's book on past world tournament (before 1980) is recommended reading for any horseshoe pitching enthusiast. With his kind permission, we bring excerpts from his fabulous collection of data, to wit: The site of this year's event was the spacious Greenville, Ohio, City Park. This was the culmination of a beautiful dream of the Darke County Horseshoe Club. It was especially exhilarating for Levi Brumbaugh and "Cricket" Coppock, two devoted pioneers of the sport in Darke county. Without their effort Greenville would never have become the "Horseshoe Pitching Capital of the world"! With the numerous superstar veterans in the field, some records were sure to be broken. With this talented group, Ted Allen's record of 2478 ringers and Ralph Maddox's record of 3016 shoes pitched, both established last year, looked sure to fall. Twelve rookies earned their way into the championship flight. Glenn "Red" Henton, and Al Zadroga were headed for the top 15 of all time on the victory list. William Penttila, a Pennsylvania transplant, would be heard from. Charles Fortenberry became the first man from Tennessee to make the big show since 1928. Bob May, a man of great sportsmanship, made his initial attempt. Lee Bennett, creator of the bronze shoe by the same name to which Paul Focht took a special fancy, broke into the big time. Harry Siebert, along with his wife Miriam, probably Ohio's greatest exhibition act, joined the fracus. Porter, Deem and Stimac rounded out the superb rookie crop. One of the NHPA's strongest supporters was Al Wolfe of the Miller Brewing Co., which donated trophies for the event. Other trophies wee donated by the Gordon Horseshoe Co., Diamond Horseshoe Co., and the Ohio Horseshoe Co. With direct radio broadcasts and a capacity crowd near 5,000, Governor Michael DiSalle, pitching an open 1-1/4, lost an exhibition match to World Champion Harold Reno, 50-1. Governor DiSalle had three ringers in this titanic struggle. Perhaps someday a United States President will so honor the NHPA. Maybe even horseshoe pitching buff, John Denver, will some day sing the National Anthem at a World Championship. After seven games the undefeated leaders were Kabel, Maddox, Focht, Hohl, Allen and Reno. Right behind were Day and Martin at 6-1. Martin's loss was to Henton, 52-40. Day was nipped by Johnson, 54-47. Day (90.0 percent) trampled Bennet, 51-1. Hohl (91.0 percent) laid it on May, 54-12. Steinfeldt (90.0 percent) pounced on Jensen, 51-20. Carl fell to Allen, 52-38; Vogel, 51-49; Hohl, 50-30; and Focht, 50-40. When the smoke cleared at the end of the 14th match, only the trio of Hohl, Focht, and Reno had escaped defeat. At 13-1 were Kabel, and Allen. Kabel was thumped by Maddox, 52-32 ane Allen was trimmed by Dugle, 51-43. Next was Maddox at 12-2. Ralph was edged by Allen, 51-47 and dumped by Hohl, 54-24. At 11-3 were martin and Day. Martin was taken down by Kabel, 50-41 and put away by Allen, 54-33. Day bowed to Kabel, 52-45 and to Allen, 50-42. Steinfeldt was bombed by Winston, 52-19; was edged by Reno, 51-49; and stunned by Zadroga, 50-28. Sibert suprised Brumfield, 50-35 and Dixon, 51-32. Hohl was on a rampage all day. He rambled over Standard, 51-13 with a 90.9 percent; Fower, 51-18 with a 90.5 percent; and Maddox with 90.1 percent. After 21 games, dfending World Champion Harold Reno was all alone at 21-0. In game 15 Hohl stumbled before Day, 50-28 and now stood 20-1. At 19-2 were Kabel and Focht. Kabel was nipped by Penttila, 50-45. Focht was smashed by Maddox, 52-21 and outbattled by Martin, 55-43 in 120 shoes. Maddox stood at 18-3. In game 21, he was punished by Steinfeldt, 52-19. Tied at 17-4 wee Day and Allen. Day was bested by Focht, 50-40. In game 17 one of the greatest upsets of all time happened! Fortenberry, 0-16 and yet to even score 40 points on anyone, rose to the occasion and smote ten time World Champion Ted Allen, 52-44 in 108 shoes! Charles, later in the tournament, won four straight. The stunned Allen later lost to Henton, 50-43 and Penttila, 52-30, the legendary master losing to three rookies in one day! Reno (90.3 percent) stomped Zadroga, 50-13 for the only game in the 90 percent range. After 28 games the capacity crowd on the final day was guaranteed a wild, wide open finish with no less than six men still having a chance at the title. The leaders were Reno, Hohl and Focht, all 26-2. Maddox, Allen and Day knotted at 24-4. Allen won all seven of his matches, as did Day although Curt was pushed to 120 shoes in a 51-44win over Fowler. Focht won all seven. Hohl was upended by Craig, 51-33. In game 26, Dugle ran off from Reno, 50-29. Allen slid by Reno, 52-46. The final day action lived up to its promise. In round 29, Jensen rocked Hohl, 52-40. Elmer now trailed by one game. In game 30, Hohl busted Allen, 50-30. Maddox knocked Reno a game back with a 51-38 victory. In game 31, Focht succumbed to Allen, 50-41 to go back to the three way tie. In a crucial match, Day easily whipped Maddox, 51-30 in 64 shoes. This was Day's 15th straight win and enabled him to climb within one game of the three leaders. In game 32, Day knocked off Reno, 51-47 in 122 shoes. Hohl squeezed by Vogel, 50-46. Now Focht and Hohl were tied, with Day and Reno one game back. In game 33, Hohl was bumped by Reno, 55-30 and lost his share of the lead. In game 34 in a noncrucial match, Vogel (90.4 percent) kicked Stimac, 51-11. In a pivotal match Focht flicked aside Hohl, 52-33. Day topped Toole, 50-40 in 134 shoes. Hohl and Allen were now eliminated.In game 35 in the longest tussle of the tournament, Kabel nudged Steinfeldt, 50-48 in 164 shoes. Day in 44 shoes quickly trounced Mendenhall, 50-13 for his 19th consecutive victory. Curt then awaited the outcome of the Reno-Focht 122 shoe struggle to see if a three way tie would occur as in 1940. Paul would have no part of it and took the World Title from Reno by virtue of a 52-37 win. Allen set a new record of 3064 shoes pitched. Paul's 81.8 average for the tournament would be the lowest to win since 1935, but Paul pitched his ringers when they counted! Thus Paul Focht, a past sportsmanship award winner decided by a vote of the pitchers, had won the Wo9rld Championship in practically his own backyard! Perhaps the proudest of Paul was his great friend Harry Sibert. In the early '40's while Harry was practicing his 1-3/4; in a Dayton city park, a man marveling at the 1-3/4's magical flight approached Harry. This man asked Harry to teach him this style which was far superior to his own 3/4 turn. Harry obliged and the man learned fast. Harry, still the only championship class pitcher of Union, had made a new friend. It was impossible for Harry to know that the man he was coaching, namely Paul Focht, would someday become Horseshoe Pitching Champion of the world! 1962 World Tournament - Greenville, Ohio
Jul 30-Aug 8
Qual W. L. R. SP Pct
1 Paul Focht Dayton, Ohio 546 3 3 2449 2994 81.8
2 Curt Day Frankfort, Ind 540 31 4 2337 2860 81.7
3 Elmer Hohl Wellsley, Ont 545 30 5 2266 2726 83.1
4 Harold Reno Sabina, Ohio DC 30 5 2248 2752 81.7
5 Ted Allen Boulder, Colo 526 30 5 2467 3064 80.5
6 Ralph Maddox Poca, West Virg 534 29 6 2282 2852 80.0
7 Wilbur Kabel New Madison, Oh 520 27 8 2335 2940 79.4
8 Glenn Henton Maquoketa, Iowa 503 23 12 2047 2642 77.5
9 Art Dugle Chicago, Ill 521 23 12 2276 2942 77.4
10 Roger Vogel Manito, Ill 534 23 12 2214 2880 76.9
11 Carl Steinfeldt Rochester, NY 504 22 13 2376 2992 79.4
12 Ray Martin Philo, Ill 545 22 13 2262 2882 78.5
13 Marines Tamboer Wichita, KS 501 22 13 2138 2802 76.3
14 Bill Penttila Amherst, Ohio 505 21 24 2072 2736 75.7
15 Kenneth Jensen St. Joseph, MI 521 21 14 2076 2768 75.0
16 Floyd Toole Pine Bluff, Ark 492 20 15 2282 2908 78.5
17 Floyd Fowler Greencastle, IN 519 20 15 2159 2856 75.6
18 Al Zadroga Elizabeth, PA 508 18 17 1981 2656 74.6
19 Gene Brumfield Markleville, IN 530 17 18 1962 2702 72.6
20 Truman Standard Canton, Ill 515 16 19 1795 2548 70.4
21 Jim Johnson Covington, KY 508 15 20 2067 2772 74.6
22 Marvin Craig Parker, IN 519 14 21 1891 2644 71.5
23 William Porter Levittown, PA 509 13 22 1975 2728 72.4
24 Andy Deem Parkersburg, WV 496 12 23 1786 2548 70.1
25 Herb Pinch Sharon, PA 509 11 24 1997 2782 71.8
26 Harry Sibert Union, OH 521 11 24 1764 2526 69.8
27 Gene Mendenhall Noblesville, ID 495 11 24 1553 2374 67.5
28 Graydon McFatridge Rushville, ID 527 10 25 1876 2646 70.9
29 Dale Dixon DesMoines, Iowa 495 10 25 1925 2734 70.4
30 John Stimac Terre Haute, ID 495 10 25 1850 2696 68.6
31 Earl Winston Lamonte, Mo 498 10 25 2795 2658 67.5
32 Charles Fortenberry Knoxville,TN 498 8 27 1505 2316 65.0
33 Bob May Glenwood,m Ind 499 7 28 1617 2442 66.2
34 Harold Wolfe Cedarville, OH 499 7 28 1303 2144 60.8
35 Lee Bennett W.Middletown,OH 507 4 31 2423 2270 62.7
36 Howard Robinson Nebraska City,NE506 0 35 Forfeited
|