Muscular Development, Vol 1, No 10, Page 10, Ocotober 1964

1964 MR. AMERICA & Most Muscular Man CONTEST

By John C. Grimek

THE MR. AMERICA CONTEST, as usual, proved to be the main event of the National Championships this year, and this in spite of some very good lifters making some very fine lifts. yet the question that was on the tongue of everyone was - who will win the Mr. America title?

Several of the competitors this year were strongly favored, and although there was the usual exceptional entries, it was difficult for any judge to "give 'em the once over" and then make his snap decision . . . which can be done if you're prejudice and favor some particular individual. But judging the Mr. America contest requires more thought and deliberation before the final decision is made.

This was the third consecutive year that the contestants were judged behind the scenes, that is, the winners were selected backstage hours before the actual contest takes place. This is done to save time and keep the program from lagging, during the time it took to tally up the scores, so it is a very good idea.

SUMMARY OF THE MR. AMERICA AND
MOST MUSCULAR MAN CONTEST
1.VAL VASILIEFF, Sicklerville, N. J.94
2.John Gourgott, New Orleans, La.90
3.Randy Watson, Manchester, Tenn.89
4.Bill Seno, Melrose Park, Ill.87½
5.Dr. Craig Whitehead, USAF, Texas87
6.Mike Ferraro, Buffalo, N. Y.86
7.Sergio Oliva, Chicago, Ill.83½
8.John Decola, Framingham, Mass.82½
9.Joe Nista, Jr., Downey, Calif.80½
10.Arthur Turgeon, Harrisburg, Pa.78
11.Bob Gajda, Chicago, Ill.77½
12.Charles Estes, Nashville, Tenn.76½
13.Paul Wachholz, Englewood, Colo.74½
14.William St. John, Glassboro, N. J.73
15.Steve Sakoulos, Chicago, Ill.73
16.Floyd Despirito, Union, N. J.73
17.Robert Cameron, Kokomo, Ind.72½
18.Jerry Doettrel, Buffalo, N. Y.72
19.Gilbert Hansen, Waterloo, Iowa70
20.George Wojnowski, Franklin, Wisc.66½
21.Steve Kotis, Chicago, Ill.65
22.Gary Neu, Deer Park, Ohio64½
23.Anthony Tisovec, Wilowick, Ohio64½
24.Charles Kutzer, Chicago, Ill62
25.Henry Vega, Chicago, Ill.60½
26.Kent Kuehn, Saginaw, Mich.59½
27.Edmund Cook, Waco, Texas59
28.Dean Elery, Indianapolis, Ind.59
29.Francis McFarland, Honolulu, Hawaii57½
30.Dominick Duche, Warren, Mich.57

SUMMARY OF THE MOST
MUSCULAR MAN CONTEST
1.BILL SENO, Melrose Park, Ill.
2.Val Vasilieff, Sicklerville, N. J.
3.Sergio Oliva, Chicago, Ill.
4.Mike Ferraro, Buffalo, N. Y. (tie)
John Gourgott, New Orleans, La.

On Saturday June 13th all the Mr. America contestants were requested to appear at the Irving Park Y for the interrogation and prejudging. A panel of seven judges, including a chairman, presided. This included Clarence Johnson, Peary Rader, Steve Stanko, Dave Mayor, Morris Weissbrot, Joseph Paul, Bob Bendel and Joe Raymond. These men began their interrogation quite early in the morning and stayed at their post until well past the noon hour before completing their thankless job. Of course others were involved in keeping things moving. John Terpak, Norman Zale and some AAU and Irving Park Y members keep the contestants moving along rapidly and smoothly. Terpak called out the name of the next contestant who would then appear before the judges for some background material and physical appraisal. When this was done he was told to step back 10 or 12 feet and go through some of his poses. This posing, I might add, was done without the benefit of any arranged lights. Only the regular overhead lights were used. Nevertheless it gave the judges a chance to look each man over carefully without the benefit of special lighting effects. And even though the winner was known hours before the actual contest, the chairman of the judges, Joe Raymond, did not reveal the name of any winner (even to the men who did the judging) until only a short time before the contestants appeared on stage for the Mr. America contest. This kept each competitor in suspense and when they came out to vie for the Most Muscular Man title the first night, they gave their best.

In this contest, the Most Muscular Man award, impressive Bill Seno took the title, Val Vasilieff was given the 2nd, and Sergio Oliva placed 3rd.

Even before the events of the first night were finished the scores of the prejudging were tabulated and the place winners were known to but two men. But as the time for the Big Event drew near all the contestants were lined up, and this was followed by each man going through his posing routine. From this group 10 final contestants were selected. And from this group the 5th place winner, Dr. Craig Whitehead, was called. There were those who favored him and with him in 5th place, it was anyone's guess who would be the winner. Another favorite was Bill Seno. He was called out for 4th place. Then Randy Watson was called up for 3rd place, and when Dr. John Gourgott was called for 2nd, this narrowed the field considerably. Then a long pause followed. This kept the crowd in great suspense. There were still a couple good men left and the question that obviously raced through everyone's mind was: Who will it be? Then slowly and very deliberately, Rudy Salbo who was doing the announcing, almost shouted out the name of the winner -- Val Valilieff, Mr. America! For a few seconds pandemonium reigned! Then almost as quickly as it started, the din ended, while photographers were flashing away and snapping pictures of the five winners on stage.

There didn't seem to be any disgruntled contestants, although who could say how they felt emotionally. Many of them shook hands and congratulated each other, thus ending another year and bringing to the spotlight another Mr. America . . . Val Vasilieff, Mr. America for 1964.

PHOTO CAPTIONS

- Left: The five finalists in the Mr. America Contest. Left to right, Bill Seno 4th, Dr. John Gourgott 2nd, Val Vasilieff Mr. America, Randy Watson 3rd, and Dr. Craig Whitehead 5th.

- The Judges during a brief lull in the contest. Left to right, Steve Stanko, Clarence Johnson, Bob Bendel, behind him Morris Weissbrot, Joseph Paul, Peary Rader and Dave Mayor.

- Below: Bob Hoffman congratulating Val upon his victory in winning the Mr. America title. Val looked greatly improved this year and was able to display his physique to better advantage, all of which helped him win the title.

- Dr. John Gourgott, New Orleans, La.

- Randy Watson, Manchester, Tenn.

- Bill Seno, Melrose Park, Ill.

- Dr. Craig Whitehead, USAF, San Antonio, Texas

- The winners of the Most Muscular Man title. Left to right, Val Vasilieff 2nd, Bill Seno, winner of the award, and Sergio Oliva 3rd. The attractive girl on the right is Evelyn Lehare, Queen of the Championships who presented trophies to the winners.

- The fine muscular back, massive deltoids and arms of John Decola, Jr. Mr. America winner, is strikingly impressive in this unusual shot of him taken during the posing of the Mr. America contest.

- The massive, almost monstrous, size of the triceps as displayed here by Sergio Oliva, a defector from Cuba, was sensational. Sergio's overall development was very good. He has mass plus plenty of muscularity.

- Dean Elery, Indianapolis, Ind.

- Gilbert Hansen, Waterloo, Iowa

- Art Turgeon, Harrisburg, Pa.

- Robert Cameron, Kokomo, Ind.

Note: Sergio Oliva's name was spelled Olivia and Olivio.

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