PAGE EIGHT THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, AUGUST 29,1967 PAGE EIGHT THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1967 Mat By BOB LEES April is normally a slow month for followers of inter sports.' Basketball has had its finals, gymnastics is done, swimming and indoor track are finishing up, and sports editors are hard-pressed to find interesting tidbits to inform' their readers. So why, on the night of April 8 last spring, was The Daily's sports desk flooded with calls about an obscure meet being held in the un- likely location of Stillwater, Okla- homa? The answer is that the "obscure" mee was the East-West All-Star dual wrestling meet, and the call- ers were just a part of the amazing number of followers of one of Michigan's most exciting - and consistently winning - winter sports squads. Ever since Clifford.P. Keen took, over as coach of Wolverine wres- ters in the 1924-25 season, his squads have maintained one . of the most successful won-loss rec- ords in sports history. Going into last season, his teams had amassed 245 victories against only 87 losses and 11 ties in dual ineet competi- tion, while gaining the Big Ten conference crown nine times since official championships began in 1934. And last year's squad was no ex- ception. Following a four-year skein which saw Wolverine grap- plers lose only one meet, while at Men' one time winning 34 straight, 1966-67 edition breezed thrc eleven meets without a loss, cluding a thrilling come-from hind victory over '67 NCAA ch Michigan State. Though .this same State si went on to cop both the Big and NCAA crowns, Michigan s ed, right behind the Spartan both tourneys, gaining set places in each, as the two Big arch-rivals ended the Oklaho Oklahoma State domination o: national scene. And the '67 team gained "n' individual honors in additioi their team laurels. Bob Fehrs, pound captain of the '67 ag gation, copped first place in weight division at the Wil Barre Invitational, then wen, to grab his third Big Ter ci pionship as well as runner-a the NCAA for the third time Fellow seniors on that sc 145-pounder Burt Merical 160-pounder Jim kamman, g bed a first and a second, res tively, in the Midlands Invital al at LaGrange, Illinois. They lowed this with a second ar first, respectively, in the Big 7 Kamman, wrestling at 152-po in the nationals, took the c: in that division. But these men have gradu and glory'should now focus or "youngsters" from last y squad, who are properly exp eek To Regain Crown Tennis Team Paced By Sophomore Stars to lead the way for this year's bunch. "Yet, we have a lot of good guys coming up from the freshman team, too," says assistant grap- pling coach Rick Bay, beginning his second year as Keen's assis- tant. "Though the returnees will show the way for awhile, we expect good fights at all positions." The returning letterman are led by Lansing's Dave Porter at heavyweight. Two years ago Por- ter capped an undefeated season by winning both the conference and national championships, and last year was named "Outstanding. Wrestler" in the Big Ten tourney by winning his crown on three consecutive pins. Though upset in the semi-finals of the nationals, this year's cap- tain avenged his loss by pinning the NCAA champ at the East-West meet. And other holdovers brighten the scene. Senior Fred Stehman, also of Lansing, starting off with a third at the Midlands in the 152 division, went all the Way in that weight to grab the Big Ten crown, and moved up to 160 to take third place nationally. Among this year's juniors Geoff Henson and Pete Cornell also re- turn. Geoff, from Arlington, Va., tok a fourth at both the Wilkes- Barre and the Big Ten in the 130 range, while Cornell, according to Keen, "lost a close one at 177" at LaGrange. "But Pete really improved as the season progressed," remembers Bay, and the records bear him out. Finishing up a fine rookie season with a sensational victory in the State meet, the Lansing graduate was edged out in the Western Conference finals, then dropped down to 167 to take a third in the NCAA's. Although, as Bay says, "you're always hurting when you lose a lot of experience through grad- uation," the freshman squad "was a good one." Frosh Good In the Michigan Freshman Tourney, held last winter with five other area frosh squads, the Baby- Wolverines amassed 83 points to for outdistance the pack. Second- place MSU had 48 points, while Bowling Greens 45, Central Michi- gap's 39, Toledo's 27, and Eastern Michigan with 10 rounded out the competition. And according to Bay, the out- standing member of that squad was 130-pounder Lou Hudson. "He worked out with Fehrs a lot last year," recalls Bay, "and he al- ways gave him a rough time. He's a tough competitor." The Hixon, Tennessee, graduate was a national champ in the Le- high Prep School Championships, being named Outstanding Wrestler his senior year. He also won his weight in the frosh tourney on two won his weight in the invitational first-period pins, yet the coaches by pinning his Bowling Green op- fear he won't be too much of a. ponent in 45 seconds flat. help at 130. "He's still a growing When it comes to the 167-pound boy," laughs Bay. "We'll probably division, Bay is firm. "We need; have to put him in the 137-pound help here," he says, "and Steve division." Eldridge will provide it." But o t h e r lower-weighters From Grosse Isle, Eldridge came brightened the tourney picture. here last year "not knowing too Ron Sheer, 123 pounds, of Cleve- much about tactics, but he's an land took his weight class in two aggressive type and just may prove By.PHILLIP BURSLEY i .i i i This year's tennis season al- though frustrating weather-wise, turned out to be a better year for the Michigan netters than had been expected. "I was surprised at how well we did," said Michi- gan coach Bill Murphy. "My hopes went up as the dual meet season progressed." Highlights of the year were Murphy cited "the doubles com- bination of Pete Fishback and Dell as the toughest match of the Indiana meet." Falling behind in the first set, the duo came back to win, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and cinch the Wolverines' important 8-1 vic- tory that knocked Indiana out of e T first place by taking sole posses- sion of the top spot. In the last meet of the season, 3!Minhi r~ n.ild rif ntPd th I1_ matches, but had to work to make the lineup, as Perrysburg, Ohio's Mike Smith gave him a fine chal- - I a sleeper." He took fourth in the tourney. Another of the "inex- perienced but aggressive "types is 177-pounder Bevan Alvey of Lin- coln, Illinois, who grabbed second at the tournament. Heavyweight The last starter, and another second-place winner at the in- vitational, was heavyweight Bill Warne of Sante Anna, California. He had the dubious honor of being tossed around the wrestling room in practice by Dave Porter, and Bay claims that "he learned a lot from it. He's quite a competitor," says the assistant mentor rue- fully. Another newcomer to this year's squad is Steve Rubin from Cleve- land, a transfer student from Ohio State. Though he wasn't eligible for competition last year, he is ex- pected to help out in the 137-145 range. Also challenging will be Bob Seegar from Westbury, New York, at 123; Arnold Segal from Hart- ford, Connecticut, who sat out most of last year with mono but will give the lower weights a tussle; and Mike Touma from Port Huron, whom Bay describes as "a hard worker and second to Sanger in improvement." Bob Noel, who started several matches at 123 last year, will also return to make that weight a good dogfight. mcnian easl ae eaten tie i meets against Indiana, Michigan linois team 9-0. Dell, by virtue of State and Notre Dame. Murphy his 6-4. 11-9 victory, ended the aii ta h fnlhn "TmaIc sad that the tougest was a oss to Notre Dame. Michigan was led this year by sophomore ace Dick Dell, from Betheshda, Md, and captain Brian Marcus. These two stars led Michigan to a second place finish in the Big Ten (behind Michigan State). At the season's end in the NCAA finals at Carbondale, Illi- nois, the Wolverines finished. tenth nationally as a team. "With luck we might have made it to the seventh position," FRED STEHMAN OPAL Traditionally for Fall.. Redwood & Ross presents its Fall 1967 collection of natural shoulder clothing and related furnishings. Authentic traditional styles that take you anywhere in classic comfort, dignity, and good taste. ,/I=P\ lenge. And Frank Lucido, another Lansing product, survived a shaky start which led to a first-match loss by wrestling back for third place at 137. Upstarts While Geoff Henson has those "upstarts' to c'ontend with in maintaining his starting role, Fred Steiman expects some challenzs e SUITS edwood & Ross suits are cut along natural lines, narrow lapels, center hooked vent with plain front trousers. A complete variety awaits your inspection, including Cheviots, Coverts, Worsteds, and Sharkskins-many with vest . . . gOtiism . in the middle weights, too. His Optimsm 152-pound division, in fact, was The team overall may find it filled on the freshman squad by a hard to regroup after losing so familiar name-Lane Headrick. many top stars, but Bay is op- timistic, especially after watching Headrick, from Chattanooga, the frosh in action. "It was posi- has a brother who lettered for tively enlightening the way they Michigan, and in high school lost took *that MSU bunch," he beams. only' one match-to Lou Hudson. "State had better credentials, but He proved his ability in the north- our kids were hungry. As enthu- land, too, by taking the frosh siastic as they were in that tour- crown on three match victories, nament, we expect battles at all two by pins. positions, and no pushovers when The 145-pound slot was filled by the season starts." Walled Lake's John Hellner. In the Big Ten, though, Michi- Though he was edged out 4-3 in gan State lost few starters, and the finals of his weight, Bay "ex- will probably by the favorite. Bay pects good things from him. He agrees, but says that "Michigan was third in the state in high also has to be a team to beat," school, and always gave Kamman with Northwestern and Minne- and Stehman good workouts." sota a pair of strong darkhorses. As if they weren't enough, 160- Having the first two positions in pounder Jim Sanger from Madi- the nationals in this conference son, Wisconsin, was termed by is an honor to be sure, but Wol- the coaches "the most improved verine followers would like to see freshman." Only fourth in Wis- a repetition. consin's state tpurnaments, Sanger With the numbers reversed. RON TEEGUARDEN said Murphy. He added, "There were some really fine and out- standing teams in that tourna- ment, Michigan was certainly one of them. I thought we held our own very well against the best collegiate tennis has to offer in this country." Hindu Wins The dual meet loss to Notre' Dame was highlighted by Marcus' loss to the Fighting Irish's Hindu standout, Jasjit Singh, following Dick Dell's defeat. Marcus came back the next day to put away Indiana's Mike Baer 12-10, 6-1, Del kept his Big Ten conference dual meet record unblemished with a 6-2, 6=0 basting of the Hoosiers' Dave Brown. dual meet season with an un- beaten record, one of three in the conference. Thanks to the shut- out win, the Wolverines were able to retain possession of first place by one point over fast-rising Michigan State. Fine performances were put in by the entire team. Notable were Pete Fishbach who defeated Mike Eibi 6-1, 6-4; Ron Teeguarden, downing Steve Leveson, 6-1, 9-7; and Bob Pritula over Rich Berk- holder, 6-2, 7-5. The all-important Big Ten Meet shaped up as ,a show-down between Michigan and Michigan State before the first ball was lobbed. Both teams were experi- enced and strong finishers. The pre-title dual meet season was a virtual deadlock and the title figured to go down to the wire. Murphy pointed out that the Spartans had "a well-balanced team and their scores with other schools were similar to' ours." Michigan, the winner of the Big Ten crown for the past three years, was thus set against an equally tough and formidable foe, not to mention individual strong- men from other teams who would try to dent the Wolverines' drive. At the end of the first day, the Spartans paced the meet by only a point, 98 to Michigan's 97. A distant third, Northwestern was 23 points back. The stage was cleared for the tension of the final playoffs where victory might be measured in teaspoonfuls. During that first day, Michigan doubles team of Marcus and Tee- guarden had been eliminated. It was vital that Michigan win the No. 3 match competition. Ed Waits and Pritula did just that by team- ing up against Indiana's Bob Gray and Dave Shumacher, 3-6, 7-5, 8- 6. The win was a satisfying one because the Hossiers had turned the tables on the Wolverine pair just a month earlier. The outlook for Michigan ap- peared to brighten as they battled back on the second day of the tournament to take a 112 point lead oler MSU, 119-117./2 How- ever, the Wolverines were sorely wounded by Dell's defeat at the hands of Wisconsin's Dan Bleck- inger. Ironically, Dell had beaten him earlier in the season. Decisive Blow The loss of Dell in the No. 1 singles proved to be the decisive blow as the Wolverines faltered and finished second behind the Spartans. The Spartans' margin was only 41/2 points, 1342 to 130. Michigan had outdistanced all other comers, leaving third place Indiana behind at 84 points. The long season of dual confer- ence meets and three days of rug- ged competition boiled down to the No. 3 doubles match where Waits and Pritula were called upon to perform another miracle. They faced MSU's Jim Phillips and Vic Dhooge, whom they had defeated in East Lansing earlier 6-8, 7-5, 9-7. In an extremely close match, the Spartans walked away with the championship, 5-7, 6-3, 8-6. Murphy commented after the tournament, "I have been asso- ciated with the Big Ten tennis for 20 years as a player and coach and this is the closest tournament I can remember. We gave them quite a fight for it." Michigan wound up with three individual conference champions. Sophomore Brian Marcus claimed the number 2 singles; Pete Fish- back dealt a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to Northwestern's Tom Mansfield in the finals of the No. 3 singles; and Ed Waits kept his No. 4 crown by defeating Hoosier Mike Meis, 6-2, 6-3. So ended a thrilling Big Ten meet, with Michigan eagerly awaiting next year's tournament with revenge in mind. The Wolverines went on to the NCAA national tournament. In close and tough matches, the Michigan netters tied for 10th. Commenting on the past season, Murphy said, "This was a frustra- ting year. We were continually fighting the elements; the weather was terrible for tennis. I am also disappointed in the second place finish in the Big Ten. "However, I am extremely hap- py we made it that far. Dick Dell was obviously a fine player for us, but ,seemed to go a little wrong in the tournament." Dell will be back this year with another season to go beyond that. from 59.50 to 100.00 ii :}':Y';+:' :i our distinctive sweater collection features McGeorge and Cox Moore fine lamb's wool and Scot- tish shetlands in riew heather tones. Hand : .:..' ' framed and fully fashioned. {xdS. r: r :V-necks & Crews 15.95 pit, x ' * Cardigans 19.95 '1 Springtime is swingtime on a Yamaha sportcycle. So come on down and sel spring swinger, the Twin Jet 100. You'll flip, because the Twin Jet is-a lotta s 2 cylinders, 2 carburetors, 2 exhaust pipes, double everything in the GO de The styling is lean and low. 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