The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 5, 1985 - Page 5C Icers reach post-season; future looks positive N 1; Daily Photo by DAN HABIB Senior Chris Seychel and the Wolverine scoring-attack will need to revive their offensive output if Michigan expects to go farther than the first round of the CCHA playoffs in 1985-'86. By ADAM MARTIN Red Berenson's main objective is improvement. Hardly an unusual goal, but one that has become an obsession with Michigan hockey's second-year head coach. Berenson finished his freshman season at the ehlm for the Wolverines with an 11-20-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association record, 13-26-1 overall. By normal standards, 11-20-1 would be scraping league ineptitude,, but last year's Wolverines were good enough to just miss upending second-place Lake Superior in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. THE SOO LAKERS earned a top-ten-in-the-country ranking for most of the season before Michigan State tur- ned them away in the CCHA finals.' So how good were the Wolverines? It just doesn't matter, at least according to Berenson. "The important thing is that our younger players continue to improve," Berenson said with an eye to the future. "The chemistry will hopefully improve too. I want us to be a hardworking club. We had team spirit, but I would look for our team confidence to improve." AS RED fires his cigar, he talks briefly about the down points of his first season and lights up about the future of Michigan hockey. "The winning and losing has been tough on me," he noted, "but what's enjoyable for me is seeing progress, some light at the end of the tunnel. We're still not going to be pleased until we're making good progress on the ice, that's the bottom line." Progress last season, however, came slowly. After opening the season with an impressive 4-2 mark, the Wolverines' major problems surfaced. Rough, cold road trips produced little for the "W" column, and many of the players attributed the club's road problems to a mental inability to prepare for contests away from Yost Arena. "WE JUST didn't come ready to play," said downtrod- den defenseman Jeff Norton after the Wolverines dropped the away game of a home-and-home series to Bowling Green early in the season. Michigan did come ready to play when it really mat- tered, or at least when it faced elimination from playoff contention. In a late-season series at Ohio State, the Wolverines swept the Buckeyes in miniscule OSU Ice Rink (capacity, 1,400), sealing a berth in the CCHA Playoffs. Finishing seventh in the league is nothing to boast about, but compared to two consecutive ninth-place finishes in the previous two years, Michigan gained valuable ground. BUT THERE'LL be many more times up and down the ice before the Wolverines become a perennial power. Berenson, however, knows where to start. "My feeling and confidence about the team is documen- ted by the play of some of the freshmen," he said. "The future of the team is in the freshmen this year and the freshmen coming in this year." The future is bright. Berenson and Co. secured eight solid newcomers last spring, despite what Michigh4'V mentor labeled a not-so-strong recruiting year. The nuni- ber one freshman will be Calgary, Alberta's Myles O'Con- nor, a player who'll probably be taken in the first or second round of the NHL draft. "We felt (O'Connor) was the most sought after player in Canada," said Berenson. LOST TO graduation was sharp netminder Mark Chiamp. But Chiamp's vacancy should be fully filled by sophomore Tim Makris, the 1983-'84 Massachusetts Goalie of the Year, and newcomer Bob Lindgren, a US Junior League goaltender. On defense, Westborough, Mass. High's Billy Campbell and Boston's Dan Campuano should fill another vacancy created by senior Mike Neff's departure. Add to that "pepper-pot centerman" (as Berenson put it) Todd Brost, another Calgary product and a tier-two Junior A player, transfer student Billy Powers, a right winger, Mike Cusack from Anchorage, Alaska and Jeff Urban, a Minnesota native and the Wolverines are well on their way to a contributing freshmen class. Besides Chiamp and Neff, Michigan will lose center- captain Ray Dries, right wing Paul Kobylarz and left wings Doug May and Paul Spring, but Berenson feels the newcomers may step right in to the starting lineup. "It's a big jump (from high school to college)," Beren- son said, "but those that can make the jump will be a fac- tor. It may take some time for the others, but we're giving them the opportunity." Those opportunities and an experienced group of retur- ning lettermen should make Berenson's obsession worth- while. 17-2 grapplers finish fifth in the country WOLVERINES HIT BIG TEN CELLAR: Inexperience hurts women cagers By ADAM MARTIN With a hard-working group of star- ters, the wrestling team finished a surprising fifth in the country last winter, posting a superb 17-2 record overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten. Ahead of the Wolverines were the invincible Iowa Hawkeyes and second-place Wisconsin Badgers. Michigan, however, avenged its con- ference loss to Wisconsin by beating the Badgers at the NCAA Champion- ships. FOR HEAD coach Dale Bahr, the season was an exciting surprise because he figured his club would be a top-ten finisher, but not nearly as good as it actually was. Bahr said the Wolverines worked extremely hard, taking third place in the Big Ten, and added second place would be a realistic goal for this season, behind the never-faltering Hawkeyes. The work of freshman John Fisher was a highlight of the 1984-'T5 season. Fisher was labeled the best fresh- man in the country, grabbing more victories than any first-year wrestler in Michigan history. The Flint native, competing at the 126- and 134-pound slots, placed fourth at the NCAAs behind national champion Barry Davis of Iowa. Fisher, however, shocked experts earlier in the season when he upset Davis in a conference match. At 118 pounds, junior William Waters sported 30 victories against 16 losses. The Flint native also travelled to the Nationals but failed to place in the top four. THE WOLVERINES will lose 126- pound superstar Joe McFarland to graduation along with Cleveland's Bill Elbin at 190. Last season, Mc- Farland recorded a second-place national finish, just behind the Hawkeyes. Like Fisher, McFarland wrestled at 126 and 134, compiling an amazing 43-3 mark. Elbin scored in at 33-14-2. Both wrestlers should be well- replaced, according to Bahr. The only disappointment last winter was 142-pound Ricky Moore, a Mount Clemens native. Moore secured a 24- 18-1 record but was hampered by in- juries throughout the season. Tony Latora at 150 also suffered in- juries last season as did 167-pound Kevin Hill. Hill began the season in fine fashion before knee, shoulder and wrist ailments turned his year down- ward. Latora finished at 19-12 while Hill ended the campaign at 24-10. POSSIBLY the hardest, working Wolverine was 158-pounder Steve Richards. After a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships in 1983- '84, Richards, a Lansing product, took 24 matches like Hill and Moore last Fisher ....best freshman in country winter and dropped 18. At 36-4-1, 177-pound Scott Rechsteiner nailed down the best winning percentage of any Wolverine. Bay City's Rechsteiner wasn't a flashy competitor, but "he got the job done," as Bahr put it. Like McFarland, heavyweight Kirk Trost took second in the country at the NCAAs. On the way to his 44-11 mark, Trost upset a phenomenal number of the NCAA's best, and Bahr felt the New Lenox, Illinois native probably should have won the national cham- pionship. Among Michigan's accomplishmen- ts last season were a victory over national power Iowa State and a championship at the Ohio Open in November, the team's first ever win in that tournament. By RICK KAPLAN Don't look for a sophomore jinx to hit the women's basketball team this season. Nothing could possibly make things worse than last season's "freshman" year. The Wolverines finished dead last in the Big Ten a year ago with a 1-17 conference mark. After opening well (6-4 in non-league play), the squad fell apart, losing its last 14 games. PART OF the reason for the team's demise was the tougher Big Ten com- petition, but most of the problems were caused by inexperience. First-year coach Bud VanDe Wege was starting two freshmen, Lorea Feldman and Kelly Benintendi, and utilizing another, Sarah Basford, as the first player off the bench. With a year of college ball behind them, the outlook for the future is potentially better. Feldman, a 6-0 forward, led the team with a 13.7 points per game average and 7.1 rebounds per game. Her dead-eye long-range jumpers helped her shoot 51.8 percent from the floor, making Feldman the only Wolverine to sink more than'half of her shots. Benintendi, easily the team's most improved player, turned into a solid guard by season's end. Her backcourt partner, senior Orethia Lilly, led the team in assists. Basford should see significant playing time as the third Recruits, expe ne nce, should spur success for new-look spikers guard in 1985-'86. SENIOR WENDY Bradetich should inherit the team leader's role in the upcoming year. Bradetich, a physical forward, can hit from inside and out- side. The Eugene, Oregon native was the team's high scorer in her sophomore season. Sandy Svoboda could well be the team's new center. Diana Wiley's graduation has opened up the pivot spot. Svoboda saw limited action last season but as she played more minutes, her productivity increased. She was among the team's top rebounders in the second half of the year. By ADAM MARTIN To some, two coaching changes in as many years would indicate a bleak immediate future for the women's volleyball team. Not so, says 1984 head coach Barb Canning. "We lost a lot of close matches this year," Canning lamented, "but next year the results will be completely different." AND NOW for something com- pletely different-a new and Tumblers return By SCOTT G. MILLER It appears that the men's gymnastics team is ready to challenge for the Big Ten title after two seasons of rebuilding, and a last place conference finish last year. The team will only lose two Oseniors to graduation, and a young squad will return. Coach Bob Darden, who will begin his third year as Wolverine head man, is encouraged about this season, but does not want to use his team's youth as an excuse for its performance. "We are done saying we are young and rebuilding. We could use that excuse two years ago, but it wore out this past season," said Darden. "Everything from here on out reflects the amount of work and effort we put out in our sport." THE TEAM will have an excellent nucleus of all-arounders returning. They include juniors Gavin Meyerowitz and Mitch Rose, and sophomore Craig Ehle. Meyerowitz had an out- standing 1985 campaign, and he was voted the team's most valuable gymnast. Rose competed in the NCAA championships on the still rings, and finished 16th despite only being .15 points behind the first-place finisher. Rose was voted team cap- tain for 1985-86. In his first year, Ehle performed with the poise of an upperclassman. The lineup will be bolstered by junior Brock Or- Nelson is one of the team's st both the floor exercise and the Sophomores Ken Haller, Scott Moore made heavy cont and should be much improved The Big Ten will again be gymnastics conferences in th NCAA champions Ohio Stat Iowa participated in the NC nesota was the first alt graduated ten seniors, so th wide open for any team to < year. Women look to NCA The goal this season for strong nucleus nastics team is to reach the NCAA regionals. Last eadiest performers in year the team achieved all of coach Dana Kem- e high bar. pthorn's goals except being invited to the Nick Lanphier, and regionals. These goals included gymnasts setting tributions last season new personal marks, having a higher team d for this year. average than the previous season (it was four one of the toughest points higher), and finishing no worse than the ie nation. Last year's previous year's fourth-place mark in the Big Ten e won the Big Ten. championships (the team finished fourth). 'AA finals, and Min- "Our prospects for this season look very good," ernate. Ohio State said Kempthorn. "We recruited some strong all- e Big Ten should be around performers with high skill levels. I am capture the title this very excited about this year's recruits." THE WOLVERINES will lose seniors Dayna tAs Samuelson, Christy Schwartz, Andrea Scully, and the women's gym- Patti Ventura. All four competed in the all-around, and their leadership will be missed. Seniors Terri Shepherd and Caren Deaver will try to fill the leadership role. The top returning gymnasts are Angela Williams, and Heidi Cohen. Williams, the team's sterling performer, finished fifth in the all-around in the Big Ten championships. She also qualified for the regionals but did not compete due to injury. Cohen's hard work and determination made her one of the team's toughest competitors. The return of sophomore Karen Ghiron will be a bonus for the team. Ghiron missed all of last season with a knee injury. Coach Kempthorn is healthy version of the Wolverines (with a yet unnamed head coach at press time). Last season, Michigan was plagued by a series of injuries to its top athletes which severly ham- pered the club. Sophomore setter Lisa Vahi was sidelined the entire first half of the season with thumb and wrist ailments, junior Jayne Hickman was lost to a broken finger during the second half and sister Jennifer Hickman battled the whole season with an ankle in- jury assumed to be a stress frac- ture. With her stars healthy, Canning figured her 11-16 (1-12 in the Big Ten) rookie season would have. been dramatically more suc- cessful. "It (healthy players) would have made a big differen- ce," said Canning. "With the in- juries, we had to continually change our strategy with new lineups." STRATEGY and lineups won't be Canning's concern in 1985, as she departs with her husband who received a new job offer. Canning, nonetheless, and the athletic department were taking ap- plications last spring for the coaching vacancy with an eye for the future. "It (last season) could have been better," said Canning, "but I wasn't expecting a lot. We should improve." Michigan's improvement no doubt will be generated by last year's experience and a solid set of newcomers. New to the Wolverines this season will be Marie-Ann Davidson, a Canadian National player, Livonia's Pam Griffin and Portige Northern High School's Toni Hall, a player from Michigan's number one high school club along with a good cropnT Vahi ... real asset when healthy ......