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Show J No Retiring In Future Wilde Wins National Racquet ball By GARY R. BLODGETT 53,(i News Editor 101-" 113., CENTERVILLE -- While most men are 122 " looking forward to age 65 and retirement. Luzell Wilde is "just getting warmed up" y winning national racquetball champion- ships. Ll'ZELL, A long-time resident of Center-yiHe, Center-yiHe, won two national titles in the past two months - the Golden Masters Invitational ln Chattanooga, Tenn., a couple of weeks 14 ago, and the Masters Singles championship n last February in Dallas. f The Golden Masters Invitational was in fi the 65-over age group while the Masters M Sngles in Dallas was for players 60 and n oyer. The latter was a round-robin tourna-J tourna-J ment of 10 players in each age group. J HE WON the Golden Masters (60-over) in Tempe in 1981 and last year placed second jn the Golden Masters Invitational held in Jp' Colorado Springs, Colo. "The Golden Masters in Chattanooga . Was my biggest win - the one I wanted to "..he most," said Luzell. "I was hurting physically but 1 pkned well with a lot of intensity, especially in the final game." Ll'ZELL PLAYED Alex Guerry. a hotshot hot-shot competitor who is co-owner of the Sports Barn where the national championships champion-ships w ere plaxed. Alex had been tour times runnerup to the national title but he never won the big apple. "I had a touch matchup against I'd Lohr. of Portland, and a hard came against Stan Barnev. of San Piego. in the semi-finals."' said Luell. "I w as tired and hurting physically physic-ally when I met .Alex in the championship match. "BUT I WAS intent on beating him. knowing that I had to play with a lot of intensity to do it. I must hae rea!l pl.ned over my head." And by the looks of the championship round scores. Luell muM hae r'aed his best. The final score was 211. 21-2. "I COULDN'T do any thing w rong." said Luzell. w ith a broad grin. "One of the other players told me 1 made onl o: e v.', ;ous mistake in the came. Al'icr the first (21-2) match I thought I might be able to shut him out in the second match. It would have been a real thrill to win the national title w ith a shutout, but I just couldn't do it." Luzell was almost eliminated in the quarter-finals, battling from behind to w in 21-19 and 21-12. His semi-final match scores w ere 21-6 and 21-5. Luzell then placed fourth in the doubles. LL'ZELL. WHO plays about a doen tournaments a year -- most of them out of state - also won the Sports Mall championship champion-ship in A-bracket doubles in Sa.lt Lake City in March. He placed third in the 4-oer Masters Singles in the same tourney, losing by one point in the semi-finals. Sponsored by Eklcton. of San Diego. Luzell has been an agent for New York Life Insurance Company for more than 40 years. His wife, Georgia, drives to most of the tournaments with Luzell. "SHE'S AS well know n on the circuit as 1 am and gies me a lot of supp;Ml. ! couldn't play like this as an am,.urv.itbout the support sup-port of my company and my wife," he said. f' i, 't IV rf" 1 ; -... '-Vf v. . j '; ' f " ' ' L- : . 'A V.w - . -5 -' .... v (W. ..... V :' : ' ' . ::; Now that he is f5 c:ir M, 1 nn-W Wilde is jn't ' Mi?. t; v !i tnc 1 '!!. I. . '.mi - i , -cent national i u If.. |