Muscular Development, Vol 4, No 9, Page 34, September 1967
TINERINO DID IT AGAIN! Fresh from his victory in the Junior Mr. America, Dennis Tinerino of Brooklyn took the big one. Dennis is our new Mr. America.
This year's contest was sponsored by the Columbus, Ohio YMCA. The event was held at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. James Lorimer of Worthington, Ohio, was General Chairman and Fraysher Ferguson of Columbus was the Meet Director and Masters of Ceremonies.
The meet was very well organized. There was a press luncheon before the contest and the Governor of Ohio, the Honorable James A Rhodes was the principal speaker after which the Mayor of Columbus, His Honor Maynard E. Sensenbrenner, praised the contest ideals and gave his blessings to the contestants.
| 1. | DENNIS TINERINO, Brooklyn, New York | 76½ |
| 2. | James Haislop, Tampa, Florida | 73½ |
| 3. | Will Whitaker, Chattanoga, Tenn. | 67½ |
| 4. | Ralph Kroger, Solana Beach, Cal. | 66½ |
| 5. | Boyer Coe, Lafayette, La. | 63½ |
| 6. | Chris Dickerson, Los Angeles, Cal. | 62 |
| 7. | Gilbert Hansen, Waterloo, Iowa | 59½ |
| 8. | Charles Estes, Nashville, Tenn. | 58½ |
| 9. | Dr. Craig Whitehead, McDill AFB, Fla. | 58 |
| 10. | Kent Kuehn, Lansing, Michigan | 52 |
| 11. | Melvin Meriweather, Michigan City, Ind. | 49½ |
| 12. | Philip Smeja, Chicago, Ill. | 46½ |
| 13. | Ronald Schiavoni, Cleveland, Ohio | 41 |
| 14. | Dominick Duche, Warren, Mich. | 39½ |
The big show was little late in getting started due to the number of 198-pound lifters. Their event preceded the physique contest. Without a doubt the Columbus Y gave the finest trophies we've seen in a long time. When Bob Hoffman accepted the Team Trophy (this marked the 36th time the York Barbell Club has won the team trophy) he was mighty pleased with it.
All the contestants were called out on the stage and presented to the audience which numbered about 2500. The contest was of very high caliber though there were only 14 entrants.
This field was narrowed down to eight and from them the sub-division winners were selected. Popular Boyer Coe of Lafayette, Louisiana took the first of the handsome trophies for Best Arms. Coe's arms were sensational. Jim Haislop of Tampa, Florida came out to take the Best Back.
Coe again made a trip to the posing dais, this time for the Best Chest. It was Haislop again for the Best Abdominals. Chris Dickerson of Los Angeles won the Best Legs as was expected.
The judges narrowed the field down to five -- and selected the Most Muscular Man. Coe was given fifth place while Dickerson made fourth. Third place went to Haislop and second to Will Whitaker of Chatanooga, Tennessee.
The winner -- Dennis Tinerino! Dennis copped the Most Muscular at the Juniors and now he became the big man at the Seniors.
It was time for the big event - the Mr. America of 1967. The five finalists were: Ralph Kroger of Solana Beach, California; Coe, Tinerino, Whitaker and Haislop. The judges, Bob Gajda, Joe Raymond, Doug Duggan, Lyall Ryden, Jim Messer, Ralph Countryman, Dave Collier and Perry Rader did a terrific job. We all knew that selecting Mr. America would be no easy task.
As in all Mr. America contests the judges work backwards from fifth place and that went to Boyer Coe. Coe won second place in the Junior Mr. America.
In fourth was judged Ralph Kroger. Kroger was last year's Mr. California. Will Whitaker won third place. He won third in the Juniors this year.
This left Haislop and Tinerino. Who would be the winner?
This is the most suspense filled moment of any Mr. America. Haislop and Tinerino are opposites; Haislop is blond and Tinerino dark. It reminded us of the 1947 contest between Reeves and Pederson.
Finally Fraysher Ferguson broke the suspense. In second place was Jim Haislop -- Dennis Tinerino was the victor! There was a wild ovation as Dennis accepted the winner's huge trophy. He deserved it.
Haislop was not without his supporters, many of whom thought he should have won and he too received a rousing round of applause.
Dennis trained hard for over a year for this big moment. Two years ago he won the Mr. North America title and prior to that the Teen-age Mr. America. The first title Dennis won was the 1964 Junior Mr. Metropolitan. In the course of the three years from that contest, he probably won more titles and trophies than any other physique star.
If Dennis is looking for new worlds to conquer -- there is only one contest left -- the Mr. Universe.
- DENNIS TINERINO, MR. AMEIRCA 1967!
- Contestants being judges for the Best Arms award
- Chris Dickerson flexes his triceps for the judges
- Jim Haislop gives the judges one of his poses
- Boyer Coe displaying his prize-winning chest
- Jim Haislop took Best Back and Abdominal awards
- Boyer Coe got Best Chest and Best Arms award
- Chris Dickerson, winner of the Best Legs
- Ralph Kroger was 4th place runner-up
- The three finalists in the Mr. America contest. L. to R: Will Whitaker 3rd, Jim Haislop 2nd, Dennis Tinerino title winner.
- Winners of the Most Muscular Man competition. Dickerson 4th, Haislop 3rd, Whitaker 2nd, Tinerino 1st.
- Judges of the Mr. America contest from left to right: Ralph Countryman of Oakland, Cal.; Bob Gajda of Chicago; Dave Collier of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Jim Messer of Norristown, Pa.; Chief Official Perry Rader of Alliance, Neb.; Joe Raymond of Cleveland; Doug Duggan of Atlanta, Ga. and Lyall Ryden of Greeley, Colo.
- The array of splendid trophies for the Mr. America contest. Contest was sponsored by Columbus YMCA and these prizes were donated by Columbus merchants.
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