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Olympics or 1) us 2‘ for H/'// wres t/er Some of the lustre of this triumph was lost because he didn‘t get a chance to meet Gunowski who was injured at the time and didn‘t compete. , 10 times a loser “I've met him 10 times,” said Dunâ€" ford with a shake-of-the-head philosophy. “I‘ve_lost 10 times. The first couple of times were close but after that he trained more often than me and that Dunford has met and defeated every other top contender in Canada in his weight division including seven last summer in Winnipeg to win the Canadian Junior championship in the lOS-pound free style wrestling class. That rival, George Gunowski, is the one main obstacle between Dunford and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent his country in world com- petition at the Olympics this summer in Montreal. RICHMOND HILL â€" Olympic wrestling hopeful Gary Dunford probably hopes his favorite rival from Scarboro gets tired of beating him and leaves the country. Rams nip Tigers but slip to second That‘s all history now. so I‘ll just get down to the matters at hand. Jewellers in business The story now is that the Jewellers are back in business and the Newmarket Rays are out of business. Simple as that. Rays' owner Ray 'I‘winney an- nounced to a breathless world last week the club was folding and was RICHMOND HILL â€" “It‘s pretty close,” observed Richmond Hill Rams’ mentor Carl Brimblecombe as his team Beautiful summer Barry Timbers , . new Dynes pitcher At the same time the Richmond Hill Dynes Jewellers, still world champions, were floundering in a backwash of indecision as to whether they would even have a team. They didn't. What a difference a year can make. This time in 1975 (give or take a few months) the Newmarket Rays of the Ontario Fastball League were riding high with a powerhouse (comprising such ex-Dynesmen as Bob Domik, Les Downing. Derek Kinnersley) expected to carry them to the World championship in New Zealand now about to get under way. But all was not lost because it served to get me musing about the vagaries of life especially as it relates to the softball wars in the area. Anything, really. This mid-winter depression really saps my soul. I had a dream about summer last night. Beautiful. Just imagine my mood when I woke up in a snowbank. By Fred Simpson John Nickleson . . gets winner Barry was a pick-up from Oshawa and was a dominant factor in the Jewellers’ winning it all that year. More on it all later. . . Suffice to say that 26-year-old Barry has been looked enviously at by Dynes' manager Russell “Casey” Cripps ever since he helped Casey to the Canadian in Hull a few seasons ago. As for Timbers? I‘ll dwell at greater lengths on Barry at a later date. He‘s a good one and you can bet on that. It's the same old story. You like to watch the best in any walk of life. Strictly human nature. Very interesting And with the signing of Timbers. plus the presence of young Doug Webster of Richmond Hill, and the likely return of such former Dynesman as Les Downing, it bids fair to be an interesting summer. Now all we have :6 do is get through the winter. They‘ll have their choice of a variety of ball right along the line with, of course, the local industrial league back and looking stronger than ever. As for the Jewellers? There's no doubt in my mind a top-flight senior team will be welcomed back in the town. I for one like to watch the best in action. Take your choice I’m getting pretty wordy so I’ll end it all {or now by saying that it all means some good news for softball fans in the town . . . as of right now, anyway. So {he Jewellers, as of writing, look like good bets for Tuesday nights one way or another; So there you have it. No one wanted anything to do with Sunday but I doubt if it had anything to go with a waye of religious fervor. Tuesday night, at the time, had been reserved for a new junior softball team (yes) which ap- parently is having trouble getting off the ground simply because the manager pulled out of the line-up. It seems the only night open at either Pearson or the town park was a Sunday. Lively discussion That generated rather a lively discussion for a while which I won't get into too much because I don’t think it matters to the average softball watcher. He just wants to know the end result. That‘s why Dunford tended to relax a trifle in his training and that’s what the situation was until a recent phone call by Canadian Olympic officials sent the adrenalin flowing again. Train for Olympics “They called me and invited me to train for the Olympic trials in Thunder Bay for the next six months. That’s a The “they” were Western wrestling officials who watched the Canadian championships won by Dunford which qualified him for the World’s. Was good enough “I guess they figured the competition wasn’t that tough. They didn’t know that the best wrestlers are in Ontario and I beat a lot of them to get there. I was good enough to go.“ Disappointed “I was disappointed after winning the Canadian in Winnipeg because I didn't get the chance to compete in the Junior World‘s in Bulgaria. They obviously didn't think I was good enough." Frank Nigro blasted it past Aurora goaltender Bill Drewery before he could recover from the initial drive. Lead early The Aurora encounter at Richmond Hill arena saw the Rams take a 1-0 lead on their first sortie up the ice. Joe Greentree sent Mike Rowley down the left wing and his shot rebounded in front of the net. Up until a few weeks ago Dunford wasn't even thinking too much about wrestling let alone a shot at the Olympics. “We have five games left and it‘s still anyone’s ball game,” said Brim- blecombe. “It's between us, the Rangers and North Bay." Still optimistic Brimblecombe is still optimistic about “taking it all" although he still worries a trifle about the fact “we still haven’t really hit our stride. “We seem to do good against the strong clubs but we let down against the weaker ones and that has hurt us all season. I just hope we come up ‘gung ho‘ for the playoffs" was the big difference. But I think I can beat him." Fred Simpson slipped into second place beind front- running North York Rangers despite nipping Aurora Tigers Tuesday night of last week by 3-2. The Rangers, who have the edge in games on the Rams, just keep on winning. Play see-sawed back and forth for the (continued on 8-2) Less than three minutes later Randy Humphries intercepted a stray pass in Celebrates birthday Dale Roffey, who is 18-yearsâ€"old today, celebrated early by adding three assists to give him five points in his last two games. Part of the reason for this was the strong play of Dynes goalie Harold DeGeer who turned aside 31 shots in his first game back after suffering strained ligaments in his ankle. 'Dale Roffey started the scoring at 2:08 of the first period on a pass from Steve Sherman. The Thunderbirds, suffering a let- down after losing a must game 3-1, which doused any hope of reaching the final playoff berth, to the same Dynes Sunday night at Bond Lake Arena, never unleashed their scoring power. THORNHILL â€" The Richmond Hill Dynes Jewellers breezed past the Thornhill Thunderbirds 8-1 Monday night in Thornhill a game described by Dynes coach Peter Artemechuk as being “a bit of a yawner". Thunderbirds are out! “That’s what I need to get by that guy from Scarboro who has had all that from the beginning. You need that little extra experience to reach the top.” Learnedalot Dunford wasn’t minimizing the training assistance he has received during the past six years as a member of the Bayview Secondary School wrestling team under coach Larry Johnson. “I’ve learned a lot,“ he said, “it’s just a matter of going on.“ break because I'll be handled by top wrestling coaches in the best of con- ditions. remainder of the initial period and stalwart goaltending by Brian Stankiewicz and Drewery, plus some He's only fooling here but 20-year-old Gary Dunford of Richmond Hill will be deadly serious for the next six months as he trains By Robert Hughey Brian Stankiewicz . star All-Star Relax it's all in fun, right now Power play goal Dave Stuart notched a power play goal in the final frame to push the Cam Reston banged in his second goal with assists going to Steve Sher- man and Dale Roffey to give Richmond Hill a 6-1 lead heading into the third period. Finally at 4:03 of the second period, Kim Mabley found the mark .for Thornhill as he took passes from Barry Howson and Steve Cromb. Sixteen séconds later Larry Gueran notched the fifth Richmond Hill goal on a pass from Brian Carruthers. Steve Sherman was sent in alone on passes from Dale Roffey and Kirk Stover and he made no mistake to give the Dynes a 3-0 lead at 11:52 of the first frame. Dynes strike again The period ended without further scoring, but the Dynes started the second period with a goal off the stick of Cam Reston from Steve Sherman and Dale Roffey at 2:31. the Thornhill zone and fired home an unassisted goal-his first of two unassisted goals. At that time he weighed in at 72 pounds and reached the towering neight of 4' 2". But he definitely wasn’t a weakling. Head coach Johnson Head coach Johnson agrees. “I‘ve done all I can," he said, “now it's up to Gary to complete his education under the tutelage of our top coaches. He’s very good and aggressive and I think he can make it," Kinda small, eh? Wrestling was the last thing on Dunford’s mind when he first attended Bayview Secondary six years ago. Gord Barkley made it close in the last minute of play on a goal similar to Nickleson’s. The giganfic liarâ€"113’ defenceman slid a low shot into the corner of the net past a partially screened Drewery. Connelly was sent in alone from centre ice and flipped the puck high into the? top right hand corner. No further scoring occurred during the period. again, despite a number of good chances. The puck squirted out from behind the Aurora net and Nickleson took a couple of whacks at it before it finally eluded Drev/ery. Early in the second, Mark Connelly managed to get the disk past Stankiewicz with John Martini and Larry Greenslade drawing assists on the play. Big break The break of the game came at the 10:13 mark of the final when Nigro and Rowley handled the puck in the Tiger zone and managed to get it free to Bill Belzun charging up the slot. Nickleson gets winner John Nickleson scored what proved to be the winner at 15:14. missed opportunities by both sides, saw the score remain unchanged. “I guess I had something to prove in Thunder Bay in hopes of a shot at the Olympics in Montreal. Gary hoists John Cook of 402 Markham Road, Richmond score to 7-1. Assists went to John Lenneville and Ian Crockford. That guy, again “I lost out to that guy in Scarboro again,” said Dunford. Dunford who lives at 338 Neal Drive, will leave post-haste for Thunder Bay with another area wrestling aspirant, No need to say that Dunford turned out to be one of the best in his weight class to come out of Bayview on a team that won the York County cham- pionships last year and sent seven members to the Ontario chamâ€" pionships. because I was so small," he said,' “so I tried out for the wresting team." He’s now 5' 5"? and weighs 115 pounds. Outshot Rams The Tigers outshot the Rams 39-32 on the game . . . coach Brimblecombe will find himself wealthy in defen- ceman when Bill Stephenson returns from finishing exams in Windsor . . . a nice spot to be in for a change . . . the Rams are relatively injury free. Crucial games Tomorrow (Thursday) they travel to North Bay for a game there and Tuesday they take on the front-running North York Rangers, in a crucial contest. ‘ . Sports Dale Roffey . . . he'shot Wednesday, January 28, 1976 itihm'al Hill. Gary is currently Canadian junior champion and will be going all out to win the senior title next March. Classified Both Dynes goalie Harold DeGeer and Thunderbird goalie Danny Hildebrand faced 32 shots in this vir- tually penalty-free match. The cruncher Sunday night’s game was the crun- cher for the Thunderbirds who fought to He also braised Thornhill for playing a :‘gqod clean game." Top line Artemechuk praised the line of Roffey, Reston and Sherman, who picked up 10 scoring points among them, by saying, “they gave a good show every time on the ice.” Randy Humphries rounded out the scoring on a power play as he in- tercepted a desperation clearing at- tempt and slapped the puck high into the net-his second unassisted goal of the game. The final score was Richmond Hill 7 and Thornhill 1. Near playoff Richmond Hill Dynes coach Peter Artemechuk said, “it’s nice to be on a five game winning streak heading into the playoffs.” Go first class “If I finish second I get a chance to go to Montreal as a sparing partner," said Dunford. Only one member in each category will be allowed to compete in the Olympics so it‘s definitely a do-or-die proposition. . During the six months he’ll be competing in the Canadian ch'am- pionships in Montreal in March where‘ll he'll be meeting “that guy from Scarboro.“ John Gnap of Bradford, who wrestles in thg 189' pound category. All performed well and Stankiewicz was chosen as the game‘s third star. He made many brilliant saves during his tenure in the net in the first half of the game. . Goalkeeper Brian Stankiewicz, defenseman Belzun, Joe Greentree and forward Myles McCauley were the Rarps‘ participants. Allstar game On Jan. 21 five Rams performed for the victorious East All Stars in the annual all star game played at Lakeshore arena. The final score wa 5- “But that‘s not the way I want to go." Section B (continued on 8-2) (Pho'o by H099)