Cagers battle brawny Badgers
The Michigan Daily-Thursday, January 19, 1978-Page 7
Pistons skin Braves
fly HENRY ENGE LIHARDT
If you want to play ball you gotta get the
grades.
Two key Wisconsin cagers, James "Stretch"
Gregory and Wes Matthews, will be ineligible for
the rest of the Big Ten season as of Monday the
23rd due to academic woes, according to a well in-
formed source.
THE INELIGIBILITY will not start until Mon-
day because the University does not begin winter
term until then.
When Badger coach Bill Cofield was asked
about the situation he gruffed: "No comment."
Gregory, a sophomore, led Wisconsin in
scoring and rebounding last season. However, he
will not bother the Wolverines in tonight's contest
that starts at 8 p.m. "Gregory won't even be
there," said Cofield.
MATTHlEWS, A FRESHMAN of influence, will
show up. He is the squad's leading scorer, averag-
ing 15.3 points a game, and is a likely starter.
Cofield, in a rather tempestuous mood, claimed
he did not know exactly who would start, but that 8
or 9 Badgers would see action.
Wisconsin brings a 5-7 overall record and 1-3 Big
Ten mark into tonight's game. Last Saturday the
Badgers upset Indiana in a turnover-filled game,
78-65.
Arnold Gaines, a burly 6-4 sophomore led the
way with 25 points, far above his 6.8 season aver-
age. He is paired against- Michigan's Tom Sta-
ton, while Dave Baxter covers Matthews.
UP FRONT the Badgers are big and meaty.
Sophomore Joe Chrnelich is 6-7, 215. Senior Bill
Pearson is 6-8, 218. Freshman center Larry Petty
pads his 6-9 frame with 240 pounds. Ray Sydnor, a
football player in the fall, is 6-6, 220. Claude
Gregory, "Stretch's" eligible brother, is 6-8, 205.
Contrast this with Michigan, where Joel Thomp-
son weighs in at 205 and only substitute Mike
Robinson is heavier.
Last year the Wisconsin bulk gave Michigan
two rough games. The Wolverines won them both,
but by a total of only eight points.
TIE MICIIIGAN COACHES expect a very
tough, physical battle. They have great respect for
Wisconsin's talent as Cofield has put brilliant
recruiting years back to back.
The Wolverines know that if they win tonight
they will be no worse than in second place. Purdue
plays in East Lansing this evening and if both the
Boilermakers and Wolverines win, they both will
be in a tie with MSU for the conference lead. If the
Spartans and Wolverines win them, Michigan will
be all alone in second place, one game behind
MSU.
WOLVERINE TALES: Of the top ten scorers in
Big Ten play thus far three are freshmen, four are
sophomores, one is a junior and two are seniors ...
Dave Baxter is third in assists in the conference,
averaging seven a game. He is behind Jerry
Sichting of Purdue and Earvin Johnson of MSU ...
Michigan and Wisconsin are tied for third in Big
Ten rebound average ... Michigan's defense has
allowed its four Big Ten opponents an average of
62.8 points a game, lowest in the circuit ... Wis-
consin last won a Big Ten title in 1947.
By RICK MADDOCK
and DAVE RENBARGER
Special to The Daily
DETROIT - Marvin 'Bad News'
Barnes played his first game in Cobo
Arena wearing an enemy uniform. But
the good news belonged to the Detroit
Pistons as they downed Buffalo, 113-
100, ending their five-game skid.
"We wound up penetrating their de-
fense and found some passing lanes in
there," said Piston Coach Bob Kauf-
fman. "I'm glad to see us get back to
playing tough defense, because that
generates our offense," he added.
Coming off a halftime tie at 51, the
Pistons outscored Buffalo 30-19 in the
third quarter. The Braves fought back
to within five points with 9:18 left in the
final quarter but Al Skinner cooled
them off with a3-point play.
Skinner kept the Pistons' spark alive
with 12 fourth quarter points. Bob
Lanier led Detroit with 30 and Eric
Money followed with 19. Buffalo's Ran-
dy SMith continued to perform well
against Detroit, as he was the game's
leading scorer with 32.
SENIOR CAPTAIN PROUD OF HIS RECORD
Toughnes,
By GEOFF LARCOM
Why? It's a question which most
wrestlers are asked and many con-
stantly ask themselves. Why continue
in this, one of the most physically de-
meaning of intercollegiate sports? Why
even start?
"Mainly because I couldn't do any-
thing else," said Michigan captain Karl
Briggs with a laugh. "I rode the bench
in baseball and was too light for foot-
ball, so I went out for wrestling."
Briggs' claim to athletic mediocrity
loses credibility upon examination of
his sparkling wrestling record. In high
school he continually improved, even-
tually winning the state title at 132 for
Bay City Western in his senior year.
The three-year letterwinner posted a 7-
I record in his freshman year at Michi-
gan, added a 5-8-1 mark as a sophomore
and was 13-10 in his junior year.
This year Briggs is rolling along at a
12-4 clip, including a second place in the
Penn State Invitational and a fifth in
the Chicago Midlands Tournament.
"Those two finishes have been the
highlight of this year," said Briggs. "In
the Midlands, you wrestle former
Olympic champions along with NCAA
titlists. It's a tough meet."
Briggs has had to work himself hard
in practice the last two weeks in order
to recover from a bout with the flue.
BALANCE BEAM SPECIALIST Linda Watson performs a one-hand handstand as
she polishes her routine for competition this season. The handstand is one of
the most difficult moves that can be performed on the beam. Watson uses this
move as one of the three superior moves necessary in a routine to attain
maximum difficulty and make her eligible for a higher score. This perform-
ance as well as those of her teammates will be on display tonight at 7 p.m.
at the Coliseum, when the'Broncos of Western Michigan visit Ann Arbor to meet
the tumblers in a make-up of the meet that was canceled last week.
BEAMing with fear?
pushes B
You look at him in practice, with sweat
pouring down his flushed face and
again the nagging question arises: why
continue wrestling?
"Mainly for pride," answers Briggs.
"I just want to have the best year'
possible. I want to have a final year that
I can look back to and be proud of."
The Midlands Tourney is a good
example.
"I thought of it being my last year
and I simply wrestled my butt off,"
recalled Briggs. "In addition, my being
captain is a real motivation to do well."
Like most wrestlers, the senior
education major has had his low mo-
ments, when the temptation to hang it
up almost became a reality. Briggs
however, is now using his rough experi-
ences to help the rest of the team.
"There are times when I've wanted to
quit," said Briggs. "I've had losses, in-
juries, I know what it's like to be down.
When a younger guy feels bad, I tell
him things will get better if he sticks
with it. I know from experience."
Known as an aggressive wrestler,
Briggs hardly looks the part. Blue eyed
and blond haired, he speaks easily, re-
flecting little of the intensity which
characterizes his wrestling.
"Karl's a super guy," said his coach,
Bill Johannesen. "But he can get angry
in a match. If he does, he's very tough.
He becomes a vicious competitor."
"There's a point where I get this
drive, my pride takes over and I go all
out to win," agreed Briggs. "I don't like
to lose. To me, winning is the greatest."
Tough competitors aren't the same
thing as tough guys. Briggs enjoys
people and the camaraderie that the
Larson
picked as
Alil-Star
Reed Larson, the Red Wing rookie
who has already broken the single
season record for goals scored by a
Detroit defenseman, was selected by
Montreal coach Scotty Bowman to
represent the Wales Conference in
next Tuesday's NHL All-Star game in
Buffalo.
Larson, who left the University of
Minnesota after his sophomore year
in 1976, joined the Wings in the
middle of last season.
-DAILY SPORTS
ALL INVITED!
UofM
SKI CLUB MEETING
Thurs. Jan. 19
7:00p.m.
Kuenzel Rm. Mich. Union
Discussing weekend and
weekly trips
iggs to top
team situation brings.
"I like to talk to people and goof
around," asserted Briggs. "It makes a
sport like wrestling more enjoyable. If'
I'm really beating a guy badly, I might
tell a joke or something like that to put
him at ease."
Briggs' communicative nature is a
boon to Johannesen who relies on him to
relay information about the team's at-
titude and status the coach might not be
aware of.
"Wrestling is a close knit team sport
and you need senior leadership," said
Johannesen. "Karl has communicated
well with the team and been an excel-
lent leader."
"'They're a great group of guys,'' said
Briggs of this year's team. The fresh-
men and seniors are all on one level.
When I began, we didn't even talk to the
seniors."
For Karl Briggs, four years of cutting
weight and dealing with the presure are
almost over and he's not about to give it
up now.
"March 15 (NCAA Tourney), that's
the date I'm pointing for,'' said Briggs.
After that I can say that I wrestled four
years at Michigan and made it. That's
something I think I can be proud of.'
PABST
EXTRILIGHT
A
A
"We got 12 points out of Al Skinner
coming off the bench. That was just
sensational," said Kauffman.
* ** **** *** ***** *** *** ** **
.4R.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Georg;
Allen has been fired as coach of they
Washington Redskins, the Wash-'
ington Post reported Wednesday
night.
In a copyrighted story in Thurs-
day's editions, the Post quoted Ed-
ward Bennett Williams, president of
the National Football League team,.
as saying, "I just reached the point
where I couldn't wait any longer for
George to make up his mind and
have so advised him of our decision
to look for a new head coach and.,
general manager."
"When I go in there hopefully they'll
give me enough time to do something.
And if I do make mistakes, just give me
a chance," said Skinner.
"I got a couple of easy shots and some
good passes; that made it easy," Skin-
ner added.
Only 4,711 showed up at Cobo despite
the return of Barnes, and the fact it was
free T-shirt night. Barnes only
managed four points, while the two
players who he was traded for-John
Shumate and Gus Gerard-netted 1,
and 10 respectively.
"I really don't have much to say. Now
I'm just a defensive player," said Bar-
nes. "I'm boxing out and moving the
ball."
[:SCORES I
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
EMU 86, Ball State 77
Duke 81, Wake Forest 72
Miami (0.) 80, CMU 76
Detroit 84, Bowling Green 78
Louisville 78, SW Louisiana 75
WMU 79, Ohio University 53
Toledo 64, Kent State 46
Providence 90, Holy Cross 64
Temple 68, Navy 59
virginia 66, virginia Tech 62
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By JEFF FRANK
It's sixteen feet long, approximately
four feet off the ground, but interest is
primarily focused on its four-inch width
which strikes fear into the hearts of
women all over the country, if not the
world.
What is this thing that disrupts the
thoughts and actions of otherwise nor-
mal gymnasts?
THE ANSWER, the balance beam,
perhaps the toughest of all the gymnas-
tics apparatus, is undoubtedly the most
uncertain and unpredictable event in
women's gymnastics.
"It's the hardest event for me," said,
sophomore all-arounder Mia Axon.
"It's important to try to stay calm and
concentrate on staying on. You can't
predict what will happen on beam."
Successful beam routines require
performing dance steps, leaps and tur-
ns, and tumbling moves without falling
off the narrow slab of wood. This re-
quires intense concentration by the
competitor on each move that she
makes on the beam, since it's easy to
fall on a simple move if she is thinking
of a more difficult one later.
"WHEN I HAVE 100% concentration
during a routine, I can't remember any-
thing I did on the beam," explained
freshperson Colleen Forrestel, "the
least loss of concentration up there and
you lose the whole routine. It takes a
great amount of mental strength."
This strength is important in over-
coming the nervousness experienced by
tumblers who are throwing flips, hand-
springs and aerials (a move executed
without the gymnast's hands touching
the team) with only four inches to land
on. Falling off the beam is an automatic
.5 deduction from the score of the per-
former, and losing points seems to
cause more nervousness than a possible
injury.
"I rarely fall in practice," said var-
sity record holder Sara Flom, "It's a
different kind of atmosphere in a meet.
Every little thing counts. We're under
so much pressure to do well."
This year's top scorer on beam,
sophomore Linda Watson, agrees with
Flom. "I love to practice. I can do my
routine 60 times a day during practice,"
said Watson. "When it comes to compe-
tition, I dread it. I tell myself 'maybe
I'll do well.' It's a great feeling after a
good routine."
DOING WELL on the beam can be
contagious. In last Sunday's meet
against Chicago-Circle, Michigan's fir-
st competitor, Katie Zobler, completed
her entire routine without a fall, and af-
ter this success the women threw five
more-sets with only two falls en route to
a team record in this event.
A bad start can also infect a team. "If
I could; I'd blindfold everyone until it
was time for her to go up on the beam,"
said Wolverine coach Anne Cornell.
"90% of beam performance is mental,
and those who go before a person have
to affect other's concentration.
"The key to success is the first two
people," continued Cornell, "if they hit
their routines it gives the others that
special confidence to stay on."
CORNELL, A COLLEGIATE beam
competitor herself, noticed great dif-
ferences in beam routines throughout
the years.
"The beam wasn't originally
designed for tumbling. Routines were
based on connecting dance moves and
graceful turns to make one thing flow
into another," she explained. "Tumb-
ling is now the big thing. Transition
between moves is weak, and rarely is a
competitor ever comfortable while on
the beam."
Beam and uneven bars specialist
Watson disagrees with her coach as to
the composition of beam routines. Cor-
nell prefers smooth, fast moving
routines with good transitions between
moves. Watson likes the new acrobatic
moves, and feels that spectators do
also.
"Beam should be exactly the way it
is. I think it's great," said Watson. "It's
more of a challenge to a gymnast, and it
fascinates people. It shows more to do
tricks and retain expression."
Another area of disagreement is the
addition of music to beam routines. Co-
captain Ginger Robey feels that music
is unnecessary.
-IT (MUSIC) WOUI) put more
pressure on a performer," said Robey,
"it doesn't have its place when you're
only going up and down the beam."
Several of her teammates prefer to
have music in the background to relax
them during a routine, while Cornell
feels that the addition of music would
put some of the beauty back into the
event.
Repetition, relaxation and confidence
were mentioned as key factors in devel-
oping a successful routine. "The harder
you work in practice, the sooner it will
show up in a meet," said Forrestel.
The tumblers host Western Michigan
tonight at 7 p.m. at the Coliseum.
I OPIS
The name of the author was in-
advertantly omitted from the full
court press which appeared in
yesterday's paper. Our apologies
to staff member Ernie Dunbar,
who wrote the story.
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