Hockey
vs. Notre Dame
Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Yost Ice Arena
The Michigan Daily
SPORTS
Wrestling
vs. Northwestern
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Crisler Arena
Page 9
Friday, February 10, 1989
WRESTLERS SIGHTS PINNED ON THREE WINS
Steve Blonder
Blonder's Ponders >
Time to give Frieder
his due in Iowa win
it started out as a game neither team deserved to win.
Michigan reverted to times of the past, as the basket seemed to move
whenever a Wolverine shot was in the air.
And for Iowa, they must have felt as if they were playing in parts
unknown, as even on their home floor, the Hawkeyes could not buy a
basket.
But by the end, it was a game neither team deserved to lose.
The crowd let their feelings be known early as they hooted and
hollered while throwing things at Michigan coach Bill Frieder. They
didn't care that their team was down by 18. The crowd never lost faith in
their fellow students.
Michigan's oft-maligned bench
did its job.
Sean Higgins got the big basket
when his team needed it. His three
three-pointers in the first overtime,
and 22 points overall, kept the
Wolverines from a (relatively) early;
shower.'
The one factor that didn't come
into play was what a Purdue
basketball writer termed "the Frieder
factor". Simply put, this reporter
said if a team can stay close to
Michigan until five minutes are leftZ- b
in the game, the Wolverines will F r e l d e r
always lose because of their coach. ...coached great game
Frieder could not have coached this game any better than he did.
Despite rumors emanating from the West suggesting Frieder would bolt
the cold midwest winters for the warmth of Arizona State, Frieder put
the distraction behind him and got the most out of his charges.
"You have to give credit to the coach, because he taught us to handle
pressure, This victory belongs to him," said Michigan forward Glen
Rice.
Frieder says his team needs to shoot 55 to 60 percent every game to
win. But to win this game, his team needed something else - character.
That's what this game is all about. Michigan saw Iowa erase a 18
point deficit and take the lead. But the Wolverines never gave up, even
when they found themselves trailing in overtime by five. They kept their
composure and worked to get the shot they strived for - the three-
pointer.
RUNNING OFF THE COURT screaming "we did it," Frieder
pumped his arms in the air and gave Higgins a Michigan sized bear hug.
For these two, each of whom has been much maligned by the press this
season, the game was a moment of triumph.
But such wins only last for a day. Tomorrow, Michigan will have to
battle it out again against a Minnesota squad that hasn't lost a Big Ten
game at home this season.
"The biggest thing we have to is forget about Iowa," Frieder said.
"Any type of let down will be disastrous."
The players may forget, but the rest of us will remember one thing.
It all boils down to character.
'M'
continues to tag
BY STEVEN COHEN
"I'm waiting for next year," declared Ohio
State wrestling coach Russ Hellickson, when
asked how his No. 18 Buckeyes wouldwfare
against Michigan today in a three-way meet with
Tennessee-Chattanooga. The Wolverines face
No.13 Northwestern at Crisler on Sunday.
"We're not in their caliber this year,"
continued Hellickson. "I don't have a bad squad,
but I've made the decision to redshirt a lot of
people. Michigan has a great team. I don't ever
like to concede a match, but we would have to
wrestle out of our minds to win."
The Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes, 30-6,
last month at the Virginia Duals, winning every
match from 134 pounds and up. But this time
around the Ohio State squad is weaker due to the
loss of 150-pounder Kenny Ramsey who is in
the process of moving down to 142 pounds and
134-pounder Mark Marinelli who is out with a
skin infection.
MICHIGAN also has undergone some
changes. 126-pounder John Moore has a sore
neck, and 150-pounder Sam Amine has bruised
ribs. Moore is questionable while Zac Pease will
fill in for Amine.
"This is the toughest time of the year," said
Michigan coach Dale Bahr. "It's tough in late
January and February. It's the low part of the
season. You've been watching your weight for
three or four months and you're still four weeks
away from the tournaments (Big Ten and
National Championships).
"We just want to finish this weekend with
three wins," said Bahr.
Though Tennessee-Chattanooga has fourth-
ranked Charlie Buckshaw (190 pounds), eighth-
ranked heavyweight Chris Thornbury, and
eleventh-ranked Ben Reichel (118), Michigan
shouldn't have too much of a problem against
them or Ohio State. Michigan counters with
Fritz Lehrke, Bob Potokar, and Salem Yaffai.
THE WILDCATS, at 11-4, will pose some
problems for Michigan. They finished fourth at
the Great American Duals Classic and have five
top teams
parucularly soua wrestlers: second-ranked 190-
pounder Mark Whitehead; fifth-ranked 118 and
134-pounders Jack Griffin and Joei Bales; sixth-
ranked 167-pounder Brad Traviolia; and 1987 All-
American 177-pounder Mike Funk.
Northwestern's strength at those positions
could make it a close match, but the Wildcats'
lack of a true heavyweight will hurt them.
Potokar should beat Matt Case, who last year
was a 167-pounder. Michigan's Mike Amine
defeated Case, 10-1, last season.
Michigan's John Fisher has wrestled Bales
several times and, though the scores have
sometimes been close, Fisher has always been
victorious.
Northwestern's talent at 167 could also go to
naught. No. 5 Mike Amine defeated Traviolia
earlier this season and would like to redeem
himself after a loss against Minnesota.
Michigan is likely to pick up extra points
from top-ranked Joe Pantaleo and eighth-ranked
Larry Gotcher at 158 and 142 pounds
respectively.
OT
Continued from Page 1
Iowa came right back with Roy
Marble, who led the Hawkeyes with
a career high 32 points, hitting a
layup with :07 remaining. After a
marvelous clutch hoop, all looked
grim for Michigan when reserve
point guard Demetrius Calip, play-
ing because both starter Rumeal
Robinson and backup Kirk Taylor
had fouled out, slipped and fell with
the ball in the Iowa zone.
Calip had enough presence of
mind, though, to keep his dribble
and pass it to Sean Higgins, who
contributed 22 points off the bench,
subsequently gave it to Vaught for
the game-winning basket.
The Wolverines were down in
both overtimes before coming back
to pull the victory out. Michigan
was down six points in the first ex-
tra period and five in the second.
"The motto of the week was
poise and pride under pressure," said
Michigan Assistant Coach Steve
Fisher. "I say we did what we wanted
to. Wouldn't you?"
Michigan had a 16-point lead at
halftime, 45-27, that was at one
time extended to 18 before the,
Hawkeyes stormed back. Iowa took
the lead, 82-80, for the first time
since the 1:10 mark of the opening
period and was seemingly in control
until Michigan fought back.
"The way Iowa plays, any kind of
a lead is never safe," said Wolverine
center Mark Hughes. "Their style is
such that any team can be caught at
any time."
Mike Griffin cut the Iowa lead to
one with a free throw, 82-81, before
Hawkeye senior guard B. J. Arm-
strong hit one of two foul shots to
make the lead two once again.
After a Michigan miss, Iowa for-
ward Ed Horton was fouled. The 56
percent foul-shooter missed his first
shot and the rebound went to Taylor.
He threw the ball to Griffin, who
missed his shot, but it was re-
bounded and put in on a fallaway
jumper at the buzzer by Terry Mills
to send the game into overtime.
"I think we smelled the opportu-
nity for a Big 10 championship,"
said Taylor. "We wanted it more
than they did, and it showed."
On a sour note for the 18-4
Wolverines, who are 6-3 and in sec-
ond place in the Big 10, Robinson
was diagnosed as having torn liga-
ments in his thumb. The junior
guard, though, still came back in the
game during the first overtime, when
the Wolverines needed someone to
a# y
play.
Robinson tallied 20, and Vaught
added 18 points for the Wolverines,
who shot only 41.7 percent from the
field, a far cry from their nation-
leading percentage of 58.7.
Armstrong and Horton both had
19 points for the Hawkeyes, who
dropped to 17-5 overall, and 5-4 in
the conference at the halfway point
of the Big 10 season.
"They're (the Michigan players)
not getting credit for playing their
butts off. These kids are playing
hard," said Frieder, who was
swarmed with questions concerning
his apparent contact with Arizona
State, which is looking for a new
coach. "It shows that they've got
character."
THE DAILY
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Rice
...scored 24 points
O
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Free Oral Screening
Saturday, February 11,1989
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
The Students and falculty of
* All ages are welcome
There will be parking available
in the Fletcher St. Parking structure