NEWSLINE STORY
published March-April 2016
Reliving Older Tournaments
by Bob Dunn, NHPA Historian
As the past Hall of Fame inductees are being reviewed and bios presented for an update to present members, here’s a series of older tournaments that are also going to be researched and presented in this article space. Last issue we revisited the Congressional Horseshoe Tournament. This issue we will revisit the John Rosselet Memorial Open.
JOHN ROSSELET MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT (Elizabeth, New Jersey)
John Rosselet, a native of Summit, New Jersey, was NHPA 3rd Vice President, and is the only NHPA officer known to be killed in combat. He was only 19 years old when elected as an NHPA officer in 1941. A tournament was initiated in his memory in 1949, held on the sand and dirt courts in Warinanco Park in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and continued through 1985. Sometime in the 1980s, clay courts were installed.
John Fulton, star pitcher from Pennsylvania, won three of the first four Rosselet Memorial Tournaments held. The 1949 event, which featured 41 entrants from five different states, was a close call, as Fulton ended up tied with Hall of Fame pitcher Dale Carson of Baltimore, Maryland. Fulton won the playoff, even though he lost the first playoff game 10-50, but then came on to win 50-35 and 50-26.
Fulton was a star pitcher in Pennsylvania, winning 12 state championships; his first was in 1935, at age 20, and his final title in 1960, averaging 75.6 percent ringers. He won state championships in four different decades.
Pat Brady of New York City won the 1950 event with an 8-1 record, even though Fulton (7-2) averaged 62.9 percent to Brady’s 59.0 percent. Joe Zichella, had a victory against each of the top three finishers: Brady, Fulton and Vito Fileccia, but ended up in fourth place.
1950 JOHN ROSSLET MEMORIAL OPEN FINAL STANDINGS
Name, Hometown Wins Losses Average
1. Pat Brady, New York, NY 8 1 59.0%
2. John Fulton, Carlisle, PA 7 2 62.9%
3. Vito Fileccia, NYC, NY 7 2 61.2%
4. Joe Zichella, NYC, NY 6 3
5. Douglas Fogal, Ramsey, NJ 6 3
6. Bill Kolb, Belleville, NJ 5 4
7. Dr. Sol Berman, Elizabeth, NJ 3 6
8. Earl Fulton, Carlisle, PA 2 7
9. Joe McCrink, West Orange, NJ 1 8
10. Art Nugent, Newark, NJ 0 9
Fulton was back in the winner’s circle in 1951, but again, it took a playoff match against Dale Carson to win the crown. The event had 35 entries from five states and the District of Columbia. There was a qualifying to establish the tournament class of ten. The playoff furnished the excitement for Carson who led the group with 74 percent ringers during the round-robin, regulation play, took the first game 50-15, and held a 48-40 lead in the second game. Then Carson missed two straight shoes and Fulton pulled to 48-46. After two consecutive four-deads, Fulton scored four points to go out. Fulton won the third game 50-43 and the championship.
In 1952, Dale Carson avoided the pressures of a playoff, and won the championship by going undefeated in seven games and averaged 78 percent for the tournament.
Joe Zichella, of New York City, won the 1953 John Rosselet Memorial Open by pitching 67.9 percent ringers and going undefeated in nine games. Dale Carson out-ringered Zichella by averaging 69.5 percent, but lost his game with Zichella, and a game to John Fulton, ending up in third place.
For the second year in succession, a New York City pitcher won the championship, but the 1954 winner was Vito Fileccia, with a 6-1 record. The previous year’s winner, Joe Zichella, was runner-up with a 5-2 record.
John Fulton got back to the winner’s circle in 1955, by averaging 71.0 percent and winning six games with just one loss. The previous three champions were in the field.
Vito Fileccia of New York City, and two-time New York state champion, (1936, 1949) became a two time Rosselet tournament champion by winning the tournament in 1958 and 1959.
Bill Porter, Levittown, Pennsylvania, became a two-time champion by winning both the 1960 and 1961 John Rosselet Memorial Open. Both titles came by winning playoffs. In 1960, Porter beat defending champion Vito Fileccia and Bill Kolb, several time New Jersey state champion. In 1961, he beat Jene Durham, Maryland, who would be the 1962 champion. Durham was the 1951 AAU National Men’s Amateur Champion. Porter went on to win the 1964 and 1965 tournaments to be a five-time winner.
Four-time New Jersey state champion Jack Giddes won the first of his three championships in 1967, and went on to win again in 1970 and 1973. In 1968, Giddes teamed up with fellow New Jersey pitcher Bill Kolb to win the AAU National Doubles Championship. Kolb, a 12-time New Jersey state champion and 1966 tournament champion, was the first New Jersey pitcher to win the Rosselet Memorial. He went on to win a couple more Rosselet Memorial titles in the 1980s.
NHPA Hall of Fame member and also former New Jersey State Champion Dr. Sol Berman, won the 1969 Rosselet meet.
Below is the listing of John Rosselet Memorial Open champions:
John Rosselet Memorial Open Champions
Year Name, Hometown Record Average
1948 John Fulton, Carlisle, PA 5-0
1949 John Fulton, Carlisle, PA 10-2 66.4%
1950 Pat Brady, NY 8-1 59.0%
1951 John Fulton, Carlisle, PA 8-1 67.0%
1952 Dale Carson, Baltimore, MD 7-0 78.0%
1953 Joe Zichella, Bronx, NY 9-0 67.9%
1954 Vito Fileccia, New York City, NY 6-1
1955 John Fulton, Carlisle, PA 6-1 71.0%
1956 Dale Carson, Baltimore, MD 6-1
1957 Joe Zichella, Bronx, NY 4-1 61.0%
1958 Vito Fileccia, N.Y. City, NY 5-0
1959 Vito Filiccia, N.Y. City, NY 7-0 62.8%
1960 Bill Porter, Levittown, PA 5-2
1961 Bill Porter, Levittown, PA 4-1
1962 Jene Durham, Baltimore, MD 7-0 70.0%
1963 Joe Zichella, Bronx, NY 4-1
1964 Bill Porter, Levittown, PA 4-1 58.4%
1965 Bill Porter, Levittown, PA 8-1 62.9%
1966 Bill Kolb, Belleville, NJ 5-2 59.0%
1967 Jack Giddes, Martinsville, NJ 4-1
1968 John Fulton, Carlisle, PA 4-1 61.3%
1969 Dr. Sol Berman, NJ 5-0 59.1%
1970 Jack Giddes, Warren, NJ 7-0 67.3%
1971 Lou Gancos, Brooklyn, NY 3-2 51.2%
1972 Bob Bishe, Cranford, NJ 4-1 52.6%
1973 Jack Giddes, NJ 4-1 54.0%
Historian Jottings
If you have not purchased a copy of the Lee Rose Story or the AAU National Horseshoe Pitching Championships, you can do so easily by emailing me. The Lee Rose Story is only $21 plus $5 shipping and the AAU book is $18 plus $4. If you order both books, the total postage is $6. Remember that once the printing costs are recovered, the proceeds will be forwarded to the NHPF. The printing costs for the AAU book have been met, so for each AAU book purchased the entire $18 is now going to be forwarded to the NHPF! We have a ways to go on the Lee Rose Story.
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