Muscle Builder, Vol 16, Num 7, Page 12, November 1975
In the year 1939, a young, muscular, unknown named Bert Goodrich won the first Mr. America contest in Amsterdam, New York. Thirty-six years later, on June 19, 1975, another relatively unknown bodybuilder named Dale Adrian won the most recent AAU Mr. America title. Coincidently, both Goodrich and Adrian presently live in Canoga Park, California, which is barely further than a Brian Oldfield shot put toss from the home of Weider International and the editorial offices of Muscle Builder Magazine.
Short Class:
Medium Class:
Tall Class
Overall Winners
Subdivision Winners:
Most Muscular Man:
The new AAU Mr. America reminds one facially of Larry Scott with a dash of Robert Redford thrown in. Dale stands 5'7½" tall (the same as Scott) and weighs 198 pounds.
Dale possesses a near-perfect blend of ingredients that comprise the AAU Mr. America's standards of excellence. He is an outstanding athlete, has a degree in Health Sciences, works two jobs, trains seven days a week and still manages to find time for an occasional game of tennis and some swimming. In short, he is intelligent, hard working and dedicated. His outstanding muscular development, combined with his other accomplishments, make him an ideal representative of the sport of bodybuilding and a worthy Mr. America winner.
In a daring departure from tradition, the AAU boldly held the contest in height divisions--something the IFBB adopted more than ten years ago. It was popular with the contestants and audience alike. It opened up the event and allowed more men to receive recognition for their accomplishments.
The caliber of competition was outstanding. As the curtains opened, thirty-nine well developed athletes were lined up by height classes--Short Class in front, Medium in the middle, and Tall in the rear. It was impressive.
Pre-contest favorites Paul Hill (last year's second place winner) and Willie Johnson ('75 AAU Jr. Mr. America) failed to impress the judges. Hill finished out of the money in the Tall Class and Johnson has to settle for third in the same division.
The man who got most of the applause and the least of the trophies was the sensational Robin Robinson, a former college football and track star from Tallahasse. Florida. Until Robin mounted the podium, the audience had been responding with only moderate applause. But when Robin flashed his front double-biceps pose, the crowd suddenly came alive with an explosive ovation that lasted for a full minute after he left the stage!
SUMMARY BY HEIGHT CLASSES
Short Class
Pat Neve, former world bench press record holder (468-lbs. in the 181 lb. class), completely dominated this division. Neve has a dynamite upperbody loaded with mass, shape and razor-etched definition. If his lower body matched his upper, he just might be able to dump Pierre van den Steen! Sammie Willis finished a distant second. Although Sammie is very symmetrical, with good size and shape, he just couldn't overcome Neve's additional twenty-five pounds of muscle (Pat weights 180, Sammie is 155). Anibal Lopez posed well and placed third. Ron Hutchinson and Michael Kowach were the best of the rest.
Medium Class
This was the most hotly contested division, featuring nineteen competitors. Dale Adrian's excellent proportions, quality muscle and fine stage presentation was the margin of victory. Many in the audience thought that second place winner Robin Robinson should have taken both the Medium Class and the overall title. Third place was captured by Scott Wilson who also looked terrific. Unplaced but deserving recognition for their outstanding physiques were Chuck Amato, Mike Besikof, William Chapaton, David Johns, Joe Means and Tyrone Youngs. Most of the men in this class were good. It must have been an agonizing decision for the judges to narrow it down to just the top three.
Tall Class
Clint Beyerle was a clear-cut winner. He had his share of supporters who thought he should have taken the overall title. No one in the contest possessed as much vascularity as Clint. The veins in his delts and biceps resembled telephone cables! His posing routine is reminiscent of Chet "The Jet" Yorton's. Second spot went to the highly defined Mike Dayton. With more size, Mike could be dangerous next year. Willie Johnson, who's back looked half-as-wide as the stage, placed third. Rod Koontz, Floyd Odom, Steve O'Neil and Dan Tobollooked promising. Paul Hill appeared overtrained.
Summarizing the contest, it was well organized and featured an outstanding cast of competitors. They were all good. The contest was pre-judged in flat lighting in a marathon session that took the judges almost eight hours to arrive at their final verdicts. The presence of a television film crew (the event was aired on CBS's Sunday Sports Spectacular on July 27) and their bright flood lights, tended to washout the stage somewhat and diminish the impressiveness of the men under the posing light.
Although the contest started thirty-five minutes late (due to the weightlifting--which preceded it--running overtime), the sellout crowd of 2800 thoroughly enjoyed the event. It may well have been the best AAU Mr. America contest ever.
- The three Height Class winners at the AAU Mr. America: (From left) Clint Beyerle - Tall; Dale Adrian - Medium; and Pat Neve - Short. In the overall scoring Adrian was first, Beyerle second and Neve third.
- Clint Beyerle, 26, 5'10" tall and weights 208, has made sensational improvement in the past year. He is studying to become a Doctor of Chiropractic.
- Pat Neve, 28, 5'5¾" tall and weighs just over 180, is a former powerlifting champion who has unofficially bench pressed 480-lbs. as a lightheavyweight.
- Scott Wilson, 3rd - Medium Class; Willie Johnson, 3rd - Tall Class; Anibal Lopez, 3rd - Short Class;
- Robin Robinson, 2nd - Medium Class; Mike Dayton, 2nd - Tall Class; Sammie Willis, 2nd - Short Class;
- Dale Adrian, 1st - Medium Class; Pat Neve, 1st - Short Class; Clint Beyerle, 1st Tall Class;
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