IronMan, Vol 25, No 6, Page 28, September 1966
(only Junior Mr America reported)
ONE of the finest lifting and physique contests ever staged was presented at the Junior Nationals and Jr. Mr. America contest at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California May 28th and 29th.
Bill Yarbrough of the YMCA, the sponsoring organization, and Chairman Don Wilson, Ralph Countryman, Betty Harris, Jackie Yarbrough, and other committee members and helpers are to be congratulated on a difficult task very well done.
Although only 12 men competed in the Jr. Mr. America contest, the competition was about the toughest we have seen, with Oliva possessing a fantastic physique but winning over Bob Gajda by only ½ point. John Corvello took third place and looked very good. Ken McCord was amazingly developed and greatly improved over last year, and certainly would have placed higher with a little better posing presentation. Boyer Coe has such huge arms that they almost dwarf his shoulders, and his pectorals and lats are so big that they stick out beyond his arms and shoulders in certain positions. Talk about muscular bulk this boy has it, but needs more definition for higher contest placement, and a little more shaping up. Incidentally we think Corvello has one of the finest physiques in the country but lacks the bulk usually needed to win top titles. He will develop this in another couple of years if he continues to train.
Judges: John Terpak, Peary Rader, Mabel Rader, Bob Hise, Bud Mucci, Betty Harris, Ralph Countryman.
Other contestants: Dennis Tinerino, unatt., Brooklyn, N.Y.; Bud Schosek, York CA, Buffalo, N.Y.; John Kanter, Jr., J&J Gym, Phoenix, Ariz; Robert Steele, unatt., Arcadia, Cal.; Al Souza, unatt., Sacramento, Cal.; Eugene Dickerson, Seven Seas Gym, San Diego; Joe Townsell, San Jose YMCA. Judges: John Terpak, Peary Rader, Mabel Rader, Bob Hise, Bud Mucci, Betty Harris, Ralph Countryman. |
Tinerino had bulked up and had not trained hard enough to attain the definition he needed. All this was changed in the Senior Nationals as you will read elsewhere. Gene Dickerson looked good and is a hard working Chairman of the Southern Pacific Association. Bud Schosek, former Teenage Mr. America, has a pair of the most tremendous calves we have seen. He came by these naturally, but says be has had to work them very hard too. Joe Townsell continues to improve and looks good, while Bob Steele is of the tall, rangy type, with excellent shape and definition, presenting a very fine appearance, but again not attaining the bulk that most contest judges look for in winners (along with shape and definition).
Here are a few items about the contestants that might be of interest:
Al Souza from Sacramento, has a very fine build and is graying a little at the temples, so is no longer a young fellow, but still looks great. He lettered in football and baseball while in high school and has won many top contests such as Mr. Iron Man, Mr. Pacific Coast, Mr. New Mexico, Mr. Sacramento, Mr. Northern California, and others. He is a rocket jet technician. He does some weightlifting and is an odd lift or power lift champion and holds records in the bench press and squat. At 39, he bas a 17½ arm, 46 chest, 25 thigh, 31 waist and weighs 179 at 5'9".
John Corvello is the 1965 Mr. Calif. and has won several top titles. He is 22, single, and is now in college and may major in business administration. He does not take drugs and doesn't believe in them for gaining. Though he does some lifting, a knee injury resulting from an automobile accident curtails this somewhat, but he does some running. He is 5'10" and weighed 192, though he normally weighs 200. He has a 17½ arm, 47 chest, 30 waist and 25 thigh. Some of his other titles: Mr. Northern California 1965; Teen Age Mr. America in 1960; Mr. Jr. Northern California 1963 and Mr. China Beach 1961.
Sergio Oliva is originally from Cuba and was a weightlifter who defected to the USA while on tour. He has two years of college and is now attending school in the states at night to learn better English, and works as a butcher in Chicago. Sergio has perhaps the most fantastic physique of our present time. To see him perform on the posing platform is to see something that you can hardly believe. He has won Mr. Illinois, Mr. Chicago, Mr. Midwest, Mr. Iowa, and Most Muscular in the Mr. America contest last year. Sergio is 24 years of age and has 9 sisters and 10 brothers. He claims he has one brother who is much better than he and that his brother is attempting to come to the USA. Sergio has been in the states four years and is 24 years of age. Before a contest he trains every day, but otherwise he works 3 times per week and uses a standard program common to most bodybuilders. He started training in 1959 and is also a very outstanding lifter and plans to enter lifting again soon. He has a 20½ inch arm, 54 chest, 28 thigh, 31 waist, and is 5'10" tall, normally weighing 225, but training down to 210 or 215 for contests.
Boyer Coe is 19 years of age and a sophomore in college, taking pre-med. He started training at 14 and has won many contests including Mr. New Orleans, Mr. Southwestern USA, Mr. Louisiana, Mr. Texas, and many others. He played football in college but has done no Olympic lifting. He weighed 112 when he started but now ranges from 195 to 200 at 5'8" tall. We don't have his measurements at hand but they must be at least 20" arm, and 50 chest. He is huge in this area. He is good at the power lifts, having done 395, 480 and 520 at 195 bodyweight. He does many sets of 6 to 8 repetitions in training.
Kenneth McCord bas made tremendous improvement both in shape and definition this past year. He has a brown belt in Karate and wrestled in high school and lettered in basketball. He is 24, single, and a hair stylist.
At 6' in height, he weighs 208, started training in 1961 and does very well in power lifting, having squatted with 600 and bench pressed 415 and dead lifted around 575. Ken says he has tried tissue building drugs but was not satisfied with them and finds best gains are made with good diet and hard training. He feels that intense mental control is of great importance, and follows a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein. He would advise leaving the drugs alone as he says he went way down when he quit taking it. Several of the fellows mentioned trying the drugs but made the same statement--that they lost everything they had gained when they stopped taking them. McCord listed the following measurements: arm 19, chest 52, thigh 26¾, waist 32.
Dennis Tinerino is 20 years old and a tool and die machinist. He has won a lot of top contests including Teen Age Mr. America and Most Muscular, Mr. Eastern America, Mr. North America and others. He has a 19½ arm and a 51½ chest, with 27 thighs, 33 waist, at 6' in height and bodyweight of 220. He started training at 15 and takes supplements, but has never taken drugs. He was a little smooth here but subsequently spent about a month at Bill Pearl's, in training, and developed such good condition that some thought he should have won the Mr. America title in York.
Bob Gajda, as you know, won the Mr. USA title last year, and trains somewhat differently than other bodybuilders in that he uses a sequence system in which he divides the exercises into groups of about 5 or 6 and then goes through one set for each exercise of the whole group, then through the whole group for another set of exercises and so on until he has performed several sets in this manner. He does not believe in developing the heavy pump that some muscle builders rely on. He is 5'9" tall and weighs from 190 to 210 or more, but weighed about 195 here, and has arms of over 18 cold, chest of 49, waist of 29, thighs 25½ and calves 18 1/8. Those calves are tremendous. Bob is program director at the Duncan YMCA in Chicago. He received his degree from George Williams College and is now working on his Masters. He is married and has a beautiful 19 month old daughter. Bob was in the US Air Force for 4 years and taught combat judo and has the Black Belt in Judo.
Joseph Townsell is a big man over 6' tall weighing 228, with 18½ arm, 51½ chest, 27 thighs, 31 waist and a lot of power. He has won many titles and is married and has 4 children. He has had 3 years of college and works at Lockheed as a research technician. At 28, he has been training for 5 years, having weighed 168 when he started.
Gene Dickerson who has also won a lot of titles, is 28 years of age, with 4 years in the Marines and 3 years in college. He has arms of 18½, chest 52½, thighs 24, waist 31½, height 6'1" and weight 205. He is also an excellent power lifter.
Bud Schosek is a past Teen Age Mr. America and has won many other titles, and has calves that are amazing, measuring well over 19, but look larger. Bud is 21, with 18½ arm, 50½ chest, 26¾ thighs, 31¼ waist at 6' and 211 lbs. He is taking business education and will be a high school teacher as soon as he completes his education. He started working out at l6½ and was good at the shot put and does considerable running.
Robert Steele is 34 and has a very well shaped and defined physique, having won many titles. He is quite tall, 6'2½, 210 lbs., with 18¼ arms, 50 chest, 26½ thighs and 30 waist. He is an engineer and is Assistant Superintendent of pipe design at the United Concrete Pipe Co. He follows a high protein, low carbohydrate diet.
We would point out that all these men have 18 to 20 inch arms and yet they all look different. Many men feel that if they get an 18 inch arm they will look great. We have seen 22 inch arms that didn't look as goos as some 17 inch arms.
rest of weightlifting report not included
- On the right is the new Jr. Mr. America and Most Muscular winner, fabulous Sergio Oliva. His is an unbelievable physique.
- Bob Gajda was ½ point behind Oliva for the Jr. Mr. America title and looked very good.
- John Corvello squeezed in for third place and looked imprved, and shows great promise for the future.
- Kenny McCord came in 4th and was greatly improved, with terrific definition.
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