WOA History 1970 - 1975
1970 – 1971
The rules changes for 1970-1971 allowed the coach to request a conference with the referee if he believed a rule had been misapplied. Intentionally releasing an opponent was not to be considered stalling as long as the contestant continued to wrestle aggressively. The conduct of a coach or contestant that became abusive or unsportsmanlike was subject to penalty without warning. N.Y. State adopted the 177 lb. class instead of 185 lb. and added the 215lb. class. The Unlimited class wrestler had to weigh in excess of 177 lb. and minimum weight recommendations were made for the 98 lb. and 105 lb. classes.WCOA CERTIFIED OFFICIALS 1965-1966 SEASON (List includes inactive officials who meet certification requirements)
*Probationary and J.V. – includes first year officials, JV officials and officials who did not meet 5 point plan in previous year or were returning from inactive status| Baker, Bob – Scottsville | Churchill, Doug – Ontario | Habecker, Steve – Marion | Molino, Joe – Ontario |
| *Barnett, Fred – Rochester | *Cole, Tom – East Rochester | Hackemer, John – Warsaw | *Niedzwick, John – Caledonia |
| Bentivegna, Seb – Rochester | DeBadts, Don – Geneseo | Hagberg, Len – East Rochester | Peterson, Paul – Rochester |
| Bernabi, Leo – Spencerport | Drake, Lee – E. Bloomfield | Harris, Jim – Rochester | *Quethera, Lou – Geneva |
| *Billitier, Jim – Rochester | *Eaton, Bob – Geneseo | Hastings,Roscoe – Rochester | *Richelson, John – Rochester |
| Boyle, Bill – Canandaigua | *Fales, Wm. – Victor | *Henzler, Fred – Rochester | *Rolland, Bruce, Webster |
| Brown, Bob – Pittsford | Feuz, Alfred – Brockport | *Herman, Mike – Rochester | *Shaw, Albert – Seneca Falls |
| *Brown, Charles – Mumford | *Freischlag, Jerry – Clarendon | Incardona, Frank – Rochester | Smith, Ron – Castile |
| *Bush, Lance, Warsaw | Fuller, Earl – Rochester | Jermyn, Dick – Rochester | Trauscht, Mike – Attica |
| *Capone, Joe – Newark | Furano, Don – Geneva | Johnston, Dan – Rochester | Traver, Don – Webster |
| Capone, Ralph – Seneca Falls | Gathard, Jim – Victor | LaMonica, Tony – Spencerport | *Trout, Tom – Marion |
| *Cardon, Frank, Rochester | Gentile, Al – Ontario | *Long, Bob – Romulus | *Vacchetto, Richard – Rochester |
| Cargoni, Jim – Rochester | Giagios, Mike – Rochester | Marotta, Frank – Rochester | Weisenreder, Gerald – Ontario |
| *Chadwick, Brian – Rochester | Gilfilian, Gordon – Waterloo | McElligott, Bill – Rochester | *Wennberg, Hans – Rochester |
| *Clintsman, Richard – Rochester | *Guido, Rick – Fairport | *McLean, Roy – Pittsford | *Widener, Pete – Spencerport |
1971 – 1972
The 1971-1972 rules required that hair in the back could not extend below the top of an ordinary shirt collar and on the sides the hair could not extend over the ears. Special medication during a match because of a pre-existent condition such as asthma or diabetes was not permitted. The offensive wrestler was allowed to have one foot to the rear of the defensive wrestler. There was a maximum of one point for riding time advantage. Dual meet scoring was revised so that 6 team points were scored for a fall, default or forfeit and 4 team points were scored for a decision with a margin of 10 or more points. N.Y. State approved the 250 lb. class to replace the Unlimited and contestants had to weigh in excess of 215 lb. For the first time, candidates to become probationary officials had to complete an application form, pay an application fee to cover the cost of the rule book and submit 2 letters of recommendation regarding their wrestling background. Leo Bernabi designed the application form. At that time, our training program was not as developed and new candidates were trained by taking them to high school practice sessions and helping them while they worked on officiating techniques. Most had already officiated wrestle off matches while in high school so they had some limited experience. However, when we had an applicant who had never seen a match and did not have a clue about points or the referee’s position, it was obvious that we needed to screen applicants more carefully. When Leo Bernabi and I asked the person why he sought to become a wrestling referee, he replied that “it was too late to join basketball and wrestling would be easy.” He thought that “all you had to do was slap the mat when one guy put down the other guy.” It was good that this happened because it started us on the path to improving our program.WCOA CERTIFIED OFFICIALS 1971-1972 SEASON (List includes inactive officials who meet certification requirements)
*Probationary and J.V. – includes first year officials, JV officials and officials who did not meet 5 point plan in previous year or were returning from inactive status| *Barnett, Fred – Rochester | *Cole, Tom – East Rochester | *Guido, Rick – Fairport | Molino, Joe – Ontario |
| Bentivegna, Seb – Rochester | *Curry, Bob – Rochester | Habecker, Steve – Marion | *Piedmonte, Dennis – Holley |
| Bernabi, Leo – Spencerport | DeBadts, Don – Geneseo | Hackemer, John – Warsaw | *Quethera, Lou – Geneva |
| Billitier, Jim – Rochester | *Dunn, Darwin – Ontario | Hagberg, Len – East Rochester | *Richelson, John – Rochester |
| Boyle, Bill – Canandaigua | Eaton, Bob – Geneseo | Harris, Jim – Rochester | *Rolland, Bruce, Webster |
| Brown, Bob – Pittsford | *Fales, Wm. – Victor | Hastings,Roscoe – Rochester | *Rosier, Robert – Rochester |
| *Brown, Charles – Mumford | Feuz, Alfred – Brockport | Henzler, Fred – Rochester | *Stiehler, Richard – Rochester |
| *Bush, Lance, Warsaw | *French, Ernie – Kent | Incardona, Frank – Rochester | Smith, Ron – Castile |
| *Capone, Joe – Newark | Fuller, Earl – Rochester | Jermyn, Dick – Rochester | Traver, Don – Webster |
| Capone, Ralph – Seneca Falls | Furano, Don – Geneva | Johnston, Dan – Rochester | *Trout, Tom – Marion |
| *Cardon, Frank, Rochester | Gathard, Jim – Victor | LaMonica, Tony – Spencerport | *Vacchetto, Richard – Rochester |
| Cargoni, Jim – Rochester | Gentile, Al – Ontario | *Libby, Clifford – Fairport | Weisenreder, Gerald – Ontario |
| Chadwick, Brian – Rochester | Giagios, Mike – Rochester | Marotta, Frank – Rochester | *Wennberg, Hans – Rochester |
| Churchill, Doug – Ontario | Gilfilian, Gordon – Waterloo | McElligott, Bill – Rochester | *Williams, Thomas – Rochester |
| Clintsman, Richard – Rochester | *Gillard, George | *McLean, Roy – Pittsford |
1972 – 1973
The Fall Business Meeting on November 8, 1972 at M.C.C. was devoted to the problem of officiating fees. President Dan Johnston reviewed the following facts:- Wrestling officials in Section 5 are not paid as much as those from other sections or as much as officials of some other sports in Section 5 (Football officials are paid $23).
- Last year’s proposal from Section 5 would have cut tournament and mileage fees.
- The WCOA informed Section 5 that their proposal for 1972-1973 was unacceptable and recommended higher fees which would fit into the federal “wage freeze” guidelines. (You may have to do a little historical research to totally understand this one. The President’s Wage and Price Commission set up guidelines for maximum increases
- The WCOA request was denied by Section 5.
After considerable discussion, the members unanimously voted that the WCOA of Section 5 members would not officiate unless our proposed fees for 1972-1973 were adopted. (Duals: Varsity = $20, JV = $11.50, Tournaments: Varsity = $1.85, JV = $1.00). Members also approved by a 33-1 vote that the penalty of any officials working high school matches without WCOA approval would be suspension as an officials for the remainder of the season, loss of membership and application again to return as a new official. President Johnston told the members he would send a registered letter to Section 5 President Carl Palumbo informing him of the WCOA position.
The 1972 season started on an uneasy note. Section 5 did not agree to our fee proposal and an article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on November 22, 1972 reported that our officials had voted unanimously not to work if our fees were not increased. WCOA President Dan Johnston was quoted as saying that “members of the organization would not show up for the first meets unless their demands are met. Our fee is among the lowest in the state, despite the fact Section 5 has many more schools in wrestling than any of the others and despite the fact that the Rochester area is among the most prosperous in the state. We don’t particularly like this course of action, but we’ve been frustrated trying to get a $20 fee every year since 1966.” It was estimated that the increase would cost the City School district about $80 more for the season to cover requested increases.
School authorities said they would continue meets with non-certified officials but Roger Bunce, West Irondequoit Athletic Director, agreed “that in itself would raise a lot of problems. The State Association (NYSPHSAA) requires certified people for all varsity and JV meets. If we went to other school people, we would have to declare all our meets scrimmages. Then there’s the problem of eligibility for Sectionals and the State meet, as well as the added risk of liability in the event of injury to a wrestler”.
The Democrat and Chronicle article, written by Jim Castor, was a good one. It pointed out how the WCOA did not even know what the fees would be until fall, despite a June request for written information. The article listed the fees paid to wrestling officials in other sections of New York and this showed that 7 of the other sections had higher fees for wrestling officials and 6 of those were well over $20. The article also listed the fees for other Section 5 sports and this was another sore spot because football officials were getting $23 and basketball officials were getting $21. Wrestling wanted to close the gap by getting at least $20.
The following article has been duplicated so you can read all of it. Our officers really did not want this type of coverage but there was no choice. Fortunately, it showed that we did have a legitimate gripe.
Our officials really did not want to “strike” but the discrepancy in fees was big sore spot. Actually, there was no negotiation with the Sectional Fees Committee which represented the schools. Each sport would have representatives who met separately with the Sectional Committee to state the reasons why they deserved an increase and then the Committee would decide what to submit in the referendum to the schools. Our feeling is that they never understood or respected our arguments such as the pressure of working alone, the improvements in the caliber of wrestling and the need to recruit and retain very competent people because the potential for injury that wrestlers faced in a split second with potentially dangerous or illegal holds required the best officials. I recall that in one of those meetings I was “berated” by one committee member (who had no clue about wrestling) with the statement that refereeing wrestling was not all that difficult. Also, the fact that the gap between the highest paid (football) and wrestling was not closing caused concern, especially when the both the Section 5 President and the Chairman of the Section 5 Fee Committee were both football officials. Wrestling officials had no gripe with football getting the high fee. Wrestling just wanted equality.
Our association had the support of the NYWSOA. President Bill Tschirhart sent a letter to the other sections explaining the situation and asked them to refrain from accepting any officiating assignments in our area so there would be a solid front. However, some coaches and league chairmen were planning to use other personnel to officiate. Obviously, they did not understand the liability issues or state regulations. To the best of our knowledge, only one non-league match was wrestled and officiated by a former probationary official. Kendall defeated Holley at Holley by the score of 49-21 according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
In the meantime, everyone was at work trying to solve the problem. Section 5 Fee Committee Chairman Roger Bunce arranged a meeting with included Section 5 Wrestling Chairman Don Quinn, WCOA officers Dan Johnston, Roscoe Hastings and Frank Marotta. As I recall, WCOA members Len Hagberg and Earl Fuller and Section 5 President Carl Palumbo also attended. After the meeting, I was directed to poll our members by telephone and to issue a statement to the press when I had a majority one way or the other. I released the following prepared statement which appeared in another article authored by Jim Castor of the Democrat and Chronicle. “After considerable negotiations Monday night and a telephone poll last night of our membership, we agree to officiate for the present fee and to continue negotiations for acceptable fees next year. The vote was no where near unanimous, but it passed by a majority vote of the association’s 48 members, 40 of whom were contacted. We’ve been assured by the Section 5 people that they will try their utmost to help us again next year. We accept that and because we also have the best interest of wrestlers in mind, we chose to work the season as scheduled.” A couple of important points need to be emphasized: this was the first time anyone ever referred to fees being “negotiated” and they said they would “bargain in good faith.” Our officers felt these points were very significant, so this was a victory of sorts.
Perhaps one of the significant positive outcomes of this unfortunate situation is that it led to discussion by leaders from different sports associations, namely basketball, soccer and wrestling. All had complained about the way “fee negotiations” took place but wrestling was the only group that took a strong stand. This is what led to meetings at MCC and the eventual formation of the Association of Greater Rochester Sports Officials Association (later called United Sports Board Council) in 1973.
The 1972-1973 rules eliminated the word predicament and allowed for either a 2 or 3 point near fall. The rules also clarified that a fall or near fall could be earned only while the shoulders of the defensive wrestler were in bounds but allowed wrestling to continue even when the vertical plane of the boundary line was intercepted by the shoulder or shoulders of the defensive wrestler. Prior to this, wrestling was stopped if the wrestler had earned predicament or near fall points inbounds and then the vertical plane of the boundary was intercepted.
The time out period granted because of injury from an illegal hold was no longer to be deducted from the wrestler’s injury time allowance. There would be a separate 3 minutes to recover. Officials were also told by the NYSWOA President and State Rules Interpreter, Bill Tschirhart, that it was potentially dangerous when the defensive wrestler stood up while the offensive wrestler applied a half nelson and “pump handle.” The State Wrestling Committee requested the match to be stopped in this situation. They referred to a fatality that had occurred several years ago.
WCOA CERTIFIED OFFICIALS 1972-1973 SEASON (List includes inactive officials who meet certification requirements)
*Probationary and J.V. – includes first year officials, JV officials and officials who did not meet 5 point plan in previous year or were returning from inactive status| Barnett, Fred – Rochester | *Curry, Bob – Rochester | Hackemer, John – Warsaw | *McLean, Roy – Pittsford |
| Bentivegna, Seb – Rochester | DeBadts, Don – Geneseo | Hagberg, Len – East Rochester | Molino, Joe – Ontario |
| Billitier, Jim – Rochester | Eaton, Bob – Geneseo | *Hall, Bob – Scottsville | *Mosley, Bob – Rochester |
| Boyle, Bill – Canandaigua | *Fales, Wm. – Victor | Harris, Jim – Rochester | *Quethera, Lou – Geneva |
| Brown, Bob – Pittsford | Feuz, Alfred – Brockport | Hastings,Roscoe – Rochester | *Rolland, Bruce, Webster |
| Brown, Charles – Mumford | *Frank, John – Brockport | *Hunter, Jack – Pittsford | *Rosier, Robert – Rochester |
| Bush, Lance, Warsaw | *French, Ernie – Kent | Incardona, Frank – Rochester | *Serafine, Ralph – Webster |
| Capone, Joe – Newark | Fuller, Earl – Rochester | Jermyn, Dick – Rochester | *Skiptunas, John – N. Chili |
| Capone, Ralph – Seneca Falls | Furano, Don – Geneva | *Johnson, Moody – Rochester | Smith, Ron – Castile |
| Cargoni, Jim – Rochester | Gathard, Jim – Victor | Johnston, Dan – Rochester | Traver, Don – Webster |
| *Catalano, Charles – Ontario | Gentile, Al – Ontario | Jones, Bob, Penn Yan (transfer) | *Trout, Tom – Marion |
| Chadwick, Brian – Rochester | Giagios, Mike – Rochester | Knisley, Don, Seneca Falls | *Wilson, Mike – Spencerport |
| *Chamberlain, Ron – Rochester | Gilfilian, Gordon – Waterloo | LaMonica, Tony – Spencerport | |
| Churchill, Doug – Ontario | *Greth, Bob – Victor | Marotta, Frank – Rochester | |
| Clintsman, Richard – Rochester | Habecker, Steve – Marion | McElligott, Bill – Rochester |
- All sections were encouraged to experiment with the use of red and green armbands for officials. They are expected to become mandatory. (It should be noted that some of our 344members led by Al Feuz and Sam Williams, who was a dual member from Section 6, really initiated the use of armbands and were instrumental in getting our members on board. Our section was really the leader in initiating this change which was not only adopted by N.Y. State and later by the National Federation, although the Federation did resist it at the beginning.)
- Ideas about guidelines for mat judging were to be submitted in writing to Dan Johnston and Frank Marotta who had been appointed by the NYSWOA to develop a state wide list. (Our list was adopted and was officials used by the entire state for the years that mat judges were used. Again, Section 5 played a leadership role.)
- Officials were advised to keep a record of serious or unusual injuries suffered by contestants for insurance purposes.
- The Executive Council proposed and the membership agreed that Leo Bernabi and Bob Baker be made Life Members and honored at the annual banquet on May 4.
- The members also approved a By-law that any official who violated the WCOA rule of working more than one match in one day would be forfeiture of the higher fee to the association and failure to pay would result in loss of the right to officiate on the varsity level for the following season. Members also voted to increase JV dues to $15 because current dues did not cover their expenses.
- The fees for 1973-74 were approved by Section 5 as follows: Duals – Varsity = $22, JV = 11.50; Tournaments – Varsity = .90 per bout, JV = $1.00 per bout; Modified = $9.00 per official (Note that there was no limit on the number of bouts.) Mileage would be paid at .15 per mile, one way after the first 10 miles.
1973 – 1974
For 1973-1974, the high school rules were published in a separate National Federation Wrestling Rule Book for the first time. Major rules changes were that matches would not be stopped when warning either wrestler for stalling but would be stopped when penalizing either wrestler, that wrestling would be allowed to continue when the defensive man was on his back near the boundary as long as there was a possibility that the offensive man could bring him inbounds, eliminated the awarding of 1 point for riding time and established 3 degrees of unacceptable conduct on the part of either wrestler: misconduct, abusive or unsportsmanlike and flagrant.
The Fall Business Meeting was held at M.C.C. on November 27, 1973.
- Members agreed to donate $100 to the Section 5 Wrestling Coaches Clinic which was held at the Flagship Hotel and featured Coach Stan Abel of Oklahoma and two Oklahoma NCAA champions, Jerry Stanley and Mike Saeger. It was an outstanding clinic but it lost money.
- Members also approved raising the varsity dues to be equal to the fee received for one varsity dual meet.
- A report from the NYSWOA informed members that they no longer had to abide by the clean shaven rule but had to comply with the same hair rule as competitors.
- President Roscoe Hastings informed the members that during the past summer, the Association of Greater Rochester Sports Officials had been organized with the purpose of protesting mileage fees and negotiating a fee package for all member associations. Hastings was elected president of the group. The WCOA membership voted that we join and that Hastings, Marotta, Hagberg and Fuller would be delegates. It should be noted that this organization was formed because of the frustrations that we had in previous “negotiations” with Section 5 and that Hastings and Marotta were instrumental in getting leaders of other sports, namely basketball and soccer, to organize such an association. This is another example of our association’s leadership in making improvements. At the start the group represented all male and female sports except football, which did not join because they had strong ties to the Section 5 leadership at the time and Section 5 initially was not happy with our demand that they negotiate with all sports for a contract. It is also noteworthy that this method of negotiation became required by the NYSPHSAA and is the method used for all sections in N.Y. State. Our group in Section 5 eventually changed its name to United Sports Boards Council and represented all high school sports officials in Section 5 even if they did not join the organization. WOA Executive Secretary, Frank Marotta, was the negotiator of two 3 year contracts lasting from 1987 to 1993 and has served as Vice President of the USBC since 2000.
- It was reported that the Association of Greater Rochester Sports Officials had negotiated a contract that had been approved by the Section 5 Executive Council but had to be voted on by the schools.
- President Roscoe Hastings appointed Dan Johnston, Tony LaMonica and Joe Molino to develop ideas for the Leo Bernabi Memorial Award and the suggestion that it be presented to the “Official of the Year” was approved. Leo suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Spain in February and was one of our founders. A committee made up of Mike Giagios, Bruce Rolland, Dick Jermyn, Steve Habecker and Jim Cargnoni was appointed to establish some criteria and to make a selection.
- There was considerable discussion about evaluation of officials and President Hastings appointed Len Hagberg as committee chairman to further investigate evaluation methods such as post cards, rating lists, dropping highest and lowest ratings, etc. Jim Gathard, Dick Jermyn, Jim Cargnoni and Don DeBadts made up the rest of the committee.
- Len Hagberg was reappointed as interpreter.
- The nomination committee, headed by Earl Fuller, recommended that the current officers (President Roscoe Hastings, Vice President Len Hagberg and Executive Secretary Frank Marotta) be retained and the members approved. Jim Harris was elected Vice President of Officials.
- Limited a contestant to not more than 4 matches in one day
- Authorize the referee to stop the match when warning either wrestler for stalling in the neutral position
- Specified a procedure for penalizing a coach who repeatedly questioned the referee on judgment calls
- Defined the Salto and Suplay as illegal holds
- Prohibited a coach from overruling a doctor’s decision as to whether a wrestler should continue to wrestle after an injury
- Specified a signal to indicate a caution for a false start
- It was also the first year that the National Federation published a separate manual or case book to further assist the referee in understanding and applying the rules and interpretations.
The Fall Business Meeting was held on November 25, 1974 at M.C. C. Members were informed that the required statewide liability insurance would cost $2 per member and that wrestling officials received the highest fee increase of all sports officials in Section 5. The Evaluation Committee recommended that pre-stamped post cards with a check list should be given to each coach prior to the match and members approved this procedure for one year. Members also approved an amendment to our bylaws which read “Dues for varsity officials shall be equal to the fee received for one varsity dual meet.” That was increase of $7 and was needed to cover our expenses.
WCOA CERTIFIED OFFICIALS 1974-1975 SEASON (List includes inactive officials who meet certification requirements)
*Probationary and J.V. – includes first year officials, JV officials and officials who did not meet 5 point plan in previous year or were returning from inactive statusBarnett, Fred – Rochester DeBadts, Don – Geneseo Harris, Jim – Rochester *Miller, Dan – Attica *Bell, Dell, Perry Eaton, Bob – Geneseo Hastings,Roscoe – Rochester Molino, Joe – Ontario Bentivegna, Seb – Rochester *Ehlers, Robert – Fairport Incardona, Frank – Rochester *O’Donoghue, James – Caledonia Billitier, Jim – Rochester *Ferrington, Gerald – Hon. Falls Jermyn, Dick – Rochester *Pierson, Norm – Waterloo *Borgus, Craig – Dalton Feuz, Alfred – Brockport Johnson, Moody – Rochester *Robinson, Ray, Caledonia Brown, Bob – Pittsford *Frank, John – Brockport Johnston, Dan – Rochester Rolland, Bruce, Webster Brown, Charles – Mumford French, Ernie – Kent *Knapp, Bruce – Seneca Falls Rosier, Robert – Rochester *Bush, Lance, Warsaw Fuller, Earl – Rochester Knisley, Don, Seneca Falls *Sentz, Mike, Rochester Cargoni, Jim – Rochester Furano, Don – Geneva LaMonica, Tony – Spencerport *Shanly, Barry, Rochester *Carpenter, Mark – Albion *Gates, Terry – Avon Lang, Dick – Lockport (transfer) *Skiptunas, John – N. Chili Catalano, Charles – Ontario Gentile, Al – Ontario *LaRonde, William – Rochester *Stackus, Mike, Waterloo Chadwick, Brian – Rochester *Gentzke, Ken – Honeoye *Lenowicz, Paul – Mt. Morris *Stevens, Bruce, Avon *Chamberlain, Ron – Rochester Giagios, Mike – Rochester *Lessard, Mark – N. Chili Stiehler, Richard – Rochester *Churchill, Doug – Ontario Gilfilian, Gordon – Waterloo *Marano, Gus – Nunda Trout, Tom – Marion *Collins, Bob, Rochester *Greth, Bob – Victor Marotta, Frank – Rochester *Volkmer, James – Rochester *Compson, Larry, Rochester Habecker, Steve – Marion McElligott, Bill – Rochester Williams, Sam -Tonawanda (transfer) *Corrigan, Mike, Rochester Hackemer, John – Warsaw *McDuff, John – East Rochester *Wilson, Mike – Spencerport *Cotton, Terry – Rochester Hagberg, Len – East Rochester McLean, Roy – Pittsford *Woodworth, Roger – Fairport The annual Spring Business Meeting was held at M.C.C. on April 14, 1975. The report from the NYSWOA informed members that:
- Arm bands would be mandatory in N.Y. State in 3 years
- Officials associations cannot discriminate because of sex
- That the NYSWOA requested the use of mat judges on all bouts in the State Tournament and that the Officials Coordinating Agreement with the NYSPHSAA spells out procedures for handling complaints (e.g. legality of mats) and that officials are not to handle these things on their own but should go through the association President.
- The Officials Coordinating Agreement which every N.Y. State high school sports officials’ association signs and is bound to follow and has provisions such as requiring schools to use certified officials at all levels of competition, prohibiting officials from having a strike and a provision for settling contract disputes. However, there was concern about the make up of the grievance or fact finding committee provisions which were dominated by the schools. They agreed that this would be examined in the future if there were problems. That took quite a long time and it was finally changed, at our association’s strong request, after some obviously unfair fact finding and arbitration decisions involving our Section 5 contracts in the 1990’s.
President Roscoe Hastings reported that the fees negotiated will be sent to schools for a vote. If approved, a varsity dual would be $27.75 (50 % for JV). He reappointed Earl Fuller as Chairman of the Coach of the Year Committee as well as other members Brian Chadwick, Roscoe Hastings and Don DeBadts. Mike Giagios was reappointed as Chairman of the Bernabi Committee along with other committee members Steve Habecker, Jim Cargnoni, Dick Jermyn and Bruce Rolland. Both awards will be presented at the banquet. Len Hagberg reported that in his opinion the evaluation card system worked well and members agreed to continue the system for another year. President Hastings said there was a need to revise our constitution and appointed Frank Marotta as committee chairman and Fred Barnett, Jim Harris and Mike Wilson as other committee members.
In other business, a By-law was adopted to establish a maximum number of active varsity wrestling officials at 45, Ron Smith was approved for induction as a Life Member, and the secretary’s stipend was increased to $300. Officers for 1975-1976 were elected as follows: Len Hagberg, President; Jim Harris, Vice President; and Frank Marotta, Executive Secretary. On a separate ballot, Al Fuez was elected Vice President of Officials.
The season was marred by a couple of controversial situations. One involved the use of a mat that did not meet specifications in size and safety area around the mat. There had been newspaper articles and school board arguments in January regarding the mat situation and our official was informed by the coaches that Livonia would forfeit the match because an illegal mat and that he should raise the hands of the winning Keshequa wrestlers. Actually, this was really a “political” situation aimed at providing leverage for those who wanted to get funds for a legal mat. The second situation occurred in a dual on February 1. The Spencerport and Canandaigua match started with questions about the size of the mat, some questionable sportsmanship antics during the introductions, some controversial calls regarding potentially dangerous and illegal holds, arguing between the coaches and the coaches and the official, unnecessary roughness, alleged biting and crowd tension. The meet ended during the 155 lb. match when the Canandaigua team left the gym. Needless to say, the Finger Lakes area newspapers had a field day with this one.
WCOA CERTIFIED OFFICIALS 1973-1974 SEASON (List includes inactive officials who meet certification requirements)
*Probationary and J.V. – includes first year officials, JV officials and officials who did not meet 5 point plan in previous year or were returning from inactive status| Barnett, Fred – Rochester | Curry, Bob – Rochester | Hagberg, Len – East Rochester | McLean, Roy – Pittsford |
| Bentivegna, Seb – Rochester | DeBadts, Don – Geneseo | Harris, Jim – Rochester | Molino, Joe – Ontario |
| Billitier, Jim – Rochester | Eaton, Bob – Geneseo | Hastings,Roscoe – Rochester | *O’Donoghue, James – Caledonia |
| *Boyle, Bill – Canandaigua | *Ferrington,Gerald – Honeoye Falls | *Hunter, Jack – Pittsford | *Quethera, Lou – Geneva |
| Brown, Bob – Pittsford | Feuz, Alfred – Brockport | Incardona, Frank – Rochester | *Robinson, Ray, Caledonia |
| Brown, Charles – Mumford | *Frank, John – Brockport | Jermyn, Dick – Rochester | Rolland, Bruce – Webster |
| *Bush, Lance – Warsaw | *French, Ernie – Kent | Johnson, Moody – Rochester | *Rosier, Robert – Rochester |
| Capone, Ralph – Seneca Falls | Fuller, Earl – Rochester | Johnston, Dan – Rochester | *Skiptunas, John – N. Chili |
| Cargoni, Jim – Rochester | Furano, Don – Geneva | *Knapp, Bruce – Seneca Falls | *Stevens, Bruce – Avon |
| *Carpenter, Mark – Albion | Gathard, Jim – Victor | Knisley, Don, Seneca Falls | Stiehler, Richard – Rochester |
| *Catalano, Charles – Ontario | Gentile, Al – Ontario | LaMonica, Tony – Spencerport | Trout, Tom – Marion |
| Chadwick, Brian – Rochester | Giagios, Mike – Rochester | *Lenowicz, Paul – Mt. Morris | *Volkmer, James – Rochester |
| *Chamberlain, Ron – Rochester | Gilfilian, Gordon – Waterloo | *Lessard, Mark – N. Chili | Williams,Sam – Tonawanda (transfer) |
| *Churchill, Doug – Ontario | *Greth, Bob – Victor | *Marano, Gus – Nunda | *Wilson, Mike – Spencerport |
| Clintsman, Richard – Rochester | Habecker, Steve – Marion | Marotta, Frank – Rochester | *Woodworth, Roger – Fairport |
| *Corrigan, Mike, Rochester | Hackemer, John – Warsaw | McElligott, Bill – Rochester |
The Spring Business Meeting was held at M.C.C. on May 7, 1974.
In June of 1974, President Roscoe Hastings received a letter from Fairport Athletic Director Dave Martens requesting that our association consider the assignment of officials to Monroe County League JV wrestling matches. We thought about this and we felt that this would be a good way to distribute assignments to be sure that all officials got enough work and would provide for a more equitable distribution. This would be done by the Executive Secretary and it did expand his duties and place an additional burden on him because this would be done in addition to coordinating all the varsity availability and JV availability for other leagues. However, this was in the best interests of our members so it was worth doing.
1974 – 1975
Major National Federation rules changes for 1974-1975: