Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 31, 1985
'M' escapes Morgan St.
By ADAM OCHLIS
Pity all of you who fail to find
collegiate wrestling interesting as well
as exciting. Last night the Michigan
wrestling team defeated Morgan State
in a thrilling dual meet that was closer
than the 24-12 final score would in-
dicate.
Six of the 10 matches were decided by
three points or less, with the better-
conditioned Wolverines taking five of
them.
MICHIGAN head coach Dale Bahr,
however, was not especially pleased.
"We struggled throughout the meet, and
a lot of our guys looked a little weary,''
he said.
After the teams split the two first
matches, Wolverine captain Joe Mc-
Farland put the home team out front,
winning his match after toying with
Golden Bear Mark Francis. Ahead 17-2,
McFarland was awarded a technical
fall - the slaughter rule of wrestling.
McFarland, who raised his record to a
spectacular 28-1 said, "I saw that
(Francis) got tired easily, so I just kept
him in the middle of the mat."
Morgan State did not die, however, as
they took the next two matches and the
lead 12-9. Golden Bear Leonard Taylor
pinned Michigan's 142 pound Rickey
Moore and Thomas Allen defeated
freshman Guy Russo 9-8, in what was
just one of many exciting matches of
the evening.
ACCORDING to Bahr, Russo has lost
confidence in himself by losing many
close matches in the last month.
"If he would wrestle in the last period
the way he does in the first, he'd be
okay," said Bahr.
Michigan took control after that,
however, winning the final five matches
in workman-like fashion.
AMONG those victories was a trium-
ph by 177-pound senior Scott
Rechsteiner. During this match,
Rechsteiner, who ended up beating
Paul Green 8-2 to raise his record to 26-
2-1, got into a "discussion" with Golden
Bear heavyweight Jeff Green.
During a time out between periods,
Green objected to how Rechsteiner
handled his opponent. The two went
nose to nose, and they weren't ex-
changing pleasantries, that you can be
sure.
Two matches later, senior
heavyweight Kirk Trost put Green in
his place by beating him 6-4.
Although Bahr attributed his team's
rather sluggish performance to the two-
a-day workouts and the ability of the
Morgan State squad -a team certainly
better than their 9-7 record would in-
dicate - McFarland thought some of
his teammates weren't prepared.
"We haven't wrestled them (Morgan
State) in a while, and the younger guys
might have taken them too lightly after
looking at their record," he said.
The 14th-ranked Wolverines raised
their record to an impressive 10-1 and
stretched the winning streak to seven
consecutive. Michigan hosts Big Ten
rival Minnesota tomorrow night at
Crisler Arena starting at 6:00 p.m.
4
Boilermakers sting Illini
WEST LAFAYETTE (UPI) - James
Bullock scored 18 points and Purdue hit
16 of 21 free throws yesterday as the
Boilermakers upset 7th-ranked Illinois,
54-34'
Doug Altenberger and Anthony
Welch were high with points for the
Illini, who average four players a game
in double figures. Illinois made only two
of seven free throw attempts on the
game.
The loss ended Illinois' six-game win
streak and dropped the Illini to 6-3 in
theBig Ten, 17-5 overall. Purdue is 14-5,
5-4 on the league.
The Boilermakers gave up 2 inches a
man to the Illinois starting five, but
forced the ball inside in the first half
and made nine of 11 free throws, in-
cluding three 3-point plays, to take a 27-
19 lead at intermission.
Daily Photo by KATE O'LEARY
All-American Joe McFarland knocks down opponent Mark Francis in last night's wrestling action at Crisler Arena.
McFarland won on a technical fall raising his record to 28-1 on the season.
Churella inspiration for grapplers
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By PHIL NUSSEL
It is nearly impossible and definitely
inaccurate to attempt to name sombody
as the "best" to ever play a sport, but
some people still do it.
Ron Good, the editor of the Amateur
Wrestling News, went out on such a
limb in a recent edition's editorial,
saying that if he had to pick the all-time
best amateur wrestler, he would pick
former Wolverine Mark Churella.
WHILE Churella might not be the
all-time best college wrestler, there is
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no doubt in some people's minds that he
is Michigan's all-time best grappler. He
was the only Wolverine to win three
NCAA individual championshps. In
1978, after his junior year, he was given
the NCAA Outstanding Wrestler
Award.
In addition to being a four-time All-
American, he holds team records for
most wins, most falls, most team poin-
ts, and most matches.
Now, after a six-year absence from
Michigan, he has returned as a part-time
assistant coach, something that former
Michigan coaching great, Cliff Keen
thinks is an asset to the team.
"Just to have his teaching, it's won-
derful," said Keen, who racked up 268
victories coaching at Michigan from
1925-1970. "It's bound to be important.
He's a classy guy, a great wrestler, and
I think (current head coach) Dale Bahr is
fortunate to have him on his staff."
CHURELLA'S time at Michigan is
divided between two responsibilities.
First, he practices with the team during
the week and attends home meets.
Second, he helps coordinate the newly-
formed Cliff Keen wrestling club, an
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organization designed to give Michigan
wrestlers top-level competition all year
round. When he's not coaching,.
Churella works with his father in Novi
dealing in insurance and mortgages.
After Churella left Michigan in 1979,
he was an assistant at Nevada-Las
Vegas for two years and then became
head coach there for three more
seasons. He returned to Michigan last
August after the Running Rebels cut
their entire wrestling program.
Despite the recent shakeup, Chur-
cella feels settled in his current-
situation.
Alumni
Update
"I DON'T see myself getting back into
full-time coaching basically for a
couple of reasons," he said. "Number
one, there's not very many coaching
jobs available. Number two, I think we
pretty much plan on staying in
Michigan. A head coaching job would
require a move out of state."
While Churella is not going to
devote his life to the sport again, he is
surely not going to give it up in the near
future. And, unlike a football coach who
stands on the sidelines during practice,
Churella still works out with the
athletes in intra-squad scrimmages.
"Basically," he said, "most of the
kids in the room are good, proven
collegiate wrestlers, but they're not
world class athletes yet. With the new
club situation and with guys like
(Olympic gold medalist) Steve
(Fraser) and myself in the room, I
think we can help them do that."
THE WHOLE picture unfolds into a
success story for the currently eighth-
ranked Michigan wrestling team.
"(Bahr has) really gotten it together
this year," Churella noted. "He's for-
mulated what I think is a great
coaching staff, he's gotten the kids
together, and he had a great recruiting
year."
oChurella
...fourtimeAll-American
Joe Wells, a sixth-year assistant un-.
der Bahr, commended Churella as a
coach. "He's a 'tremendous asset, not
only to the program and the coaching
staff, but to the individuals he works
with," Wells said. "He has a knack for
cutting through the garbage and getting
the message straight across to the
kids."
Having a four-time All-American
wrestler on a team indeed is a tremen-
dous asset, but to have one playing a
role in developing a team into world
class material, is perhaps even more
tremendous asset.
4
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