THE MICHIGAN DAILY
aulter Gibson Leads
M' Captain's Ice Career
Initiated by Broken Skis
Track Team
By MIKE GILLMAN
A pair of broken skis when he
! was 10 years old started Bobby
Watt on his way to being the cap-
tain of the hockey team at the
University of Michigan.
Watt's story is a change from
the usual biography of a Cana-
dian hockey player who receives
his first skates at almost the same
time as his teething ring. The
junior defenseman from Barrie,
Ontario, relates that when he was
nine or 10 years old the family,
moved to North Bay at the foot of
the Laurentian Mts. and that
while he was there he was inter-
ested only in skiing,
"But," he recalls, "I was in a
junior ski-meet and broke my
skis. Since I only had a pair of
skates at home, all I could do was
skate, and I never went back to
skiing."
Started Late
Thus, at the ripe old age (by
Canadian standards) of 10, Watt
began his hockey career. While at
North Bay he played in the ju-
venile and midget leagues. But it
wasn't until his family moved
back to Toronto, that he began to
show himself as an outstanding
young puckster.
In Toronto, he played for St.
Michaels, one of the top junior
teams in Canada's best amateur1
league. Being captain is no new,
experience for Watt, for it was
while he was a senior at St. MikesZ
that he was elected captain there.
In choosing a college, he was,;
undecided for a while between
x
a sue' h
.._ ca'
THINCLAD CAPTAIN - Mamon Gibson, one of the top pole
vaulters in the Midwest will lead Coach Don Canham's sophomore
laden track squad in quest of Conference honors.
the team at a high level, and light of his career took place in
ost of all, '11 attempt to im- the Penn Relays last May. Com-
r aido peting individually, he cleared
ove my vaulting to d r14-ft. 4-in. to end up in a three-
Cleare 14." way tie for first place.
."Cleared 1416"Lookingahead to this season,
If past history is any indication, Mamon forecasted, "If all our
ne can be pretty sure this will oc- 3oys remain eligible, we should
ur. Over the summer, Gibson finish no worse than second. This
eared. 14-ft. 6-in. unofficially, year Landstrom is back, and we
hich is his best leap to date. have the top pole vaulter in the
Characteristic of Mamon was Big Ten."
s statement concerning his He should have said the top
reat vait nf 14 and nn hof fet I 'two' men in the conference.
noUtce U f btammaUts wuu e- tie stAteU, it sure was lucKy."
stowed the honor of being captain Michigan rooters and Track'18 e
upon him. Mamon, commenting Coach Don Canham hope for the -R ( i S
on his selection, said "It is sure continuance of such "good for-
an honor, and I hope I can do my tune." Other stories on winter sport captains on page seven
best. I will try to keep the morale Gibson claims that the high-
Murray Rises from Shadow of Former Greats
As captain, of course, he will-be
the team leader; and this job as-
sumes added importance this year
since nearly the whole team is un-
tried in competition. Advice from!
veterans to sophs is usually help-
ful.
For the first time, Murray as a
grappler will not be overshadowed
by other Michigan matmen this
season. Two years ago, the great
Mike Rodriguez, along with Jack
Marchello and Max Pearson,
grabbed the headlines.
Last year he was the third-best
wrestler on the team, but his per-
formances were generally unher-
alded, because seniors Pearson and
Marchello took the spotlight. Both
compiled excellent dual-meet rec-
ords, then won Conference cham-
pionships, Pearson for the third
time at 130 pounds, Marchello for
the second at 167.
Meanwhile, Murray, competing
variously at 123, 130, and 137
pounds, won six matches, drew
one, and lost only two as Michigan
was compiling a 3-6-1 dual-meet
record.
Close Defeats
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BOBBY WATT
. ..tough defenseman
Michigan and North Dakota. But
in his own words, "I drove out to
North Dakota, arrived at 7:00 in
the morning, and left at noon to
drive back and enroll at Michi-
gan. I'm really glad I did."
And so it happened that Watt
was chosen by his teammataes at
the end of last year, after only
one season of varsity play, to lead
Michigan's icers in the 58-59 sea-
son.
Commenting on the lack of
depth due to injuries this year,
Watt said, "I like playing a lot,
but we're really too thin rightI
now. Last week against Toronto,
we were only one goal down go-
ing into the last period, and we
were outshot, 22-4. We were just
too tired and lost 7-2."
Watt believes that many of the
better Junior League teams from
the Toronto area could probably
beat an American college squad.
Old Teammates Star
He points to the fact that four
of his former teammates at St.
Michaels, only two years removed
from Junior League, are now
playing professional hockey, one
with the Toronto Maple Leafs,
and three in Canada's Western
League.
On January 2 and 3, we'll see
just how accurate his estimateis.
F"or the first weekend of the new
year will see Bob Watt and Mich-
igan facing his old team, St. Mi-
cha'ls of Toronto,
subscrbe to The Michigan Daily
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Three of his victories came
while the Wolverine team was
going down to defeat. His only
two defeats were by close 7-4 and
2-0 decisions. Injured just before
the last dual meet of the season,
Murray couldn't compete against
Ohio State, and Michigan was
able only to get a 14-14 draw.
His was a fine record in a medi-
ocre Michigan season. Even so,
there are some good sophomores
that would like a crack at Mur-
ray's starting-team berth.
Letterman Mike Hoyles appears
to have the 123-lb. position tied
up. The challenge of former
Michigan high- school champion
Ambrose Wilbanks at 130, and
sophs Wilfrid Hildebrandt and
Jim Agnew at 137 should provide
Murray with sufficient incentive
to equal or better his record of
last year.
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