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 Rent a Car from Econo-Car OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK ;a 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 WE RENT TOD19 YR. OLD STUDENTS! " Choose from small economical cars to fine luxury cars. * Special weekend rates. " Pick up services upon request. " We accept cash deposits. 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 ECONO-CAR 438 W. Huron 761-8845 ANN ARBOR 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 I 4 in Daytona Beach From DetroitTo:* 1altimore ................... $89 Carlotte .....................79 Dallas/FtWorth.299 Greensboro.............59 Houston.................919 Jacksonville, FL......#199 FromDetroitTo:* Miami ...........................12 New Orleans .........125 Norfolk .............. 69 Raleigh/Durham *79 Aamfs ..........................11 1 No, we haven't changed our phone numbers here. Our local number is still 962-8765. Anour toll-free number remains 1-800-251-5720. What we have done is lower our fare numbers. Dramatically And when you study those numbers and remember that we're a full-service U -~ J