John: I like your plan except I can't do a whip&tongue on that short of a stub. I've had very good luck with W&T but would need several more inches to work with. Then if the W&T fail, T bud in May on that same stub or a new sprout as soon as the wood turns from green to reddish. I'd do the W&T when the tree first starts to push leaves, probably March where you are. I've had great luck with T budding in May and forcing after 2 weeks if the bud takes. I'd keep more laterals and space them out up and down the trunk. It won't hurt to do two or three of each W&T and the same on budding if needed later. As long as you cut back on all remaining laterals, the tree will be fine starting out with 9-12 branches. Latter select the best of each variety.

The big box store trees can be a problem. First, in order to sell well, they are grown large. This is problematic even with a good bare-root harvest. Then, to compound the issue, the roots are in pretty rough shape. The combination leads to not enough roots to support the top. So, heavy pruning of the top is advised in order to balance them out until the roots can regrow. IMO, more cutting may be in order. If you do cut them off low, be sure to check for live buds below the point you hope to cut. Most of my experience is with peaches, and doing this to an older tree such as those sold at big box stores can be lethal as there is no live buds along the trunk to grow out. I think apples and pears may be more capable of putting forth new branches low on the trunk, but I'm not certain of that. Either way, I wouldn't be heading those off so severely as I would try to maintain the central form. The shipped cherry, and the store trees may have been treated differently, causing the differential growth. It is possible the store-trees were cooler-stored until just before shipping to the store. Only time will tell. And if they are as dormant as you say, it is not too late to prune further if you so desire.

I got some trees the middle of last week, couldn't plant until the weekend. All I did was open the packaging up to make sure the roots were still moist, then closed up the box and laid it on the north side of a lilac bush where it wouldn't get any sun on it. Figured they wouldn't be hurt in the same temps. they would have been in if I had planted right away. Daytime highs were mostly in the 50's, maybe a low 60. Nights around freezing. Planted them on Saturday and they all looked good.

I think you will find that most bare root fruit trees are at least 2 years old - they are grown on a full year after grafting to assure the graft "takes" properly. Info on Stark's website confirms they sell 2 yo trees and other sources may stretch it out another year/growing season. Generally once you get past 3 years, the trees are too large to handle easily by bare root. I'm also not sure I'd agree about determining a tree's age just by planting date. A great many trees are grown on in containers for various lengths of time and they obviously have an age to them before someone purchases them and plants them in the ground.