Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 2, 1990
Grapplers shoot for
title without Amine
Women tankers end season
by Matt Rennie
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan wrestling team
must feel like a kid on Christmas
Eve. The moment it has been
waiting for is almost here.
For the entire season, the Wol-
verines have been pointing toward
the Big Ten Championships. Each
segment of the season has been a
step toward that goal. Pre-season
tournaments were preparation for
dual meets, which, in turn, were pre-
paration for the Big Ten meet.
The tournament, which will take
place in Evanston, Illinois on March
10 and 11, now looms on the
horizon, but the Wolverines must do
without one ingredient in their
winning formula. Sam Amine,
Michigan's starter at 158 pounds and
the would-be No. 1 seed in the Big
Ten, is sidelined with ligament
damage in his left knee.
The injury affects coach Dale
Bahr's expectations regarding his
team's finish in the tournament.
"Iowa will be the favorite,
probably followed by Indiana" Bahr
said. "After that, it's anybody's
ballgame. If Sam was healthy, I
think we could have battled Indiana
for second, but without him, we
drop back in the back."
From the standpoint of an in-
dividual wrestler, the tournament is
the only chance to qualify for the
NCAA meet. The top four finishers
at each weight class will advance to
nationals, as will nine wildcards,
which the coaches select.
Bahr listed Fritz Lehrke (190
pounds), Larry Gotcher (158), and
Joey Gilbert (134), as having the
best chance to qualify for nationals.
He expected to take four or five
individuals to nationals, and men-
tioned Justin Spewock (167) and
Lanny Green (177) as people who
could also earn bids.
"When you consider the strength
of the weight class, I think Fritz
might have our best shot at being a
Big Ten champion," Bahr said.
Lehrke's primarywcompetition
will come from Iowa's Brooks
Simpson, last year's conference
runner-up. Both wrestlers have spent
the season ranked in the top five
nationally.
Gotcher was conference champion
last year at 142 pounds. He wrestled
at 150 for most of the season, but
moved up after the injury to Amine.
Bahr doesn't think the jump of two
weight classes will affect his star.
"Gotcher's the type of guy that is
always ready at tournament time," he
said. "I think he feels more active (at
158) because he doesn't have to cut
(weight) as much."
The primary obstacle facing Gil-
bert is the strength of his weight
class, which many consider to be the
toughest in the conference. The Big
Ten boasts the top two 134-pounders
in the country in Iowa's Tom Brands
by Jared Entin
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan has one last chance to prove itself.
This weekend's EMU Invitational for women's
swimming and diving is more than just Michigan's last
regular meet of the season, it's also the last chance
Michigan has to qualify more swimmers for the NCAA
Championships in March.
Michigan has qualified eight swimmers already, two
just last week at the Michigan Open. Coach Jim
Richardson said that although he was happy for the
qualifiers, "I'm still disappointed that Lisa (Anderson)
didn't make it. She missed it by two hundredths of a
second, I can't even get that on my (stop) watch."
In addition to Anderson, senior Stefanie Liebncr was
very close to qualifying last weekend, missing the
required time in the 200-yard backstroke by two tenths
of a second. The outlook will be even better for Liebner
this weekend because she was ill last week.
Joining Anderson and Liebner in the ranks of the
'almost' is senior Laura Rollins. Last weekend, Rollins
missed qualifying in the 200 breaststroke by only four
tenths of a second - an exact repeat of her performance
at Big Ten Championships two weeks ago.
But this weekend's meet has further implications
than just the NCAA Championships. Last weekend,
Michigan's froshes made surges in many races and this
weekend may prove very similar. Richardson said:
"Both Caren Henry and Jennifer Zakrajsek had very good
meets." Zakrajsek was only two seconds off the NCAA
mark in the 200 breaststroke. Claudia Vieira, another
first-year swimmer, was also only two seconds off the
NCAA mark, in the 200 Butterfly.
One last aspect of the meet is the fact that it is the
last meet that half of the senior squad will swim in as
Wolverines. Co-captain Amy Honig, Paula Colombo,
Kirsten Hirsch, Liz Kowal, Brenna Tymko, and Jeanne
Wiemer, all three-time letterwinners, shall swim in
their last regular meet this weekend, and all will leave
behind a great four years at Michigan.
The four years included 37 straight Big Ten dual
meet victories, in addition to four Big Ten
Championships, and three top ten NCAA finishes. The
four years resulted in the chance to help Michigan crack
into the top five women's swimming teams in the
country at the March championships.
and Minnesota's Dave Zuniga. Gil-
bert has been struggling of late, but
Bahr thinks many of his problems
will be solved before the tourn-
ament.
"It's a long season for a fresh-
man," Bahr said. "We're going to
start lighter workouts next week. I
think he'll be able to build up some
energy and throw his whole self into
each match."
Michigan completes the final
stage of its preparation with a tri-
meet with Morgan State and Central
Michigan this Saturday. The meet
will provide the opportunity for the
wrestlers to adapt to wrestling more
than one match in a day.
"We're weighing in the night
before, just like Big Tens," Bahr
said. "We're treating this as a tune-
up, so when the real thing comes,
we'll be ready."
B
by Albert Lin
Daily Sports Writer
The men's gymnastics team will
have a tough task ahead of them as
they fly to Iowa City for this
weekend's Big Ten Championships.
The squad does not have a win
against a Big Ten team this year, but
they hope to score well enough to
gain an invitation to the NCAA East
Regionals next month at Penn State.
An ideal score would be in the 270
range.
The meet favorites are Ohio State
and Minnesota, ranked second and
third, respectively, in the country.
Both teams are capable of scoring in
the 280's.
This competition arrives at an
opportune time for the Wolverines
as they are coming off their season-
best score of 270.85 last week at
Navy. And just two weeks ago,
Michigan had to settle for a tie after
a Wisconsin protest led to a scoring
change that denied the Wolverines
their first league victory.
Individually, the Wolverines have
high hopes for fifth-year senior Tony
Angelotti and sophomore Glenn
t j
Hill. Both are ranked in the top ten
in the country in their respective
events - Angelotti on the floor
exercise and Hill on the pommel
horse. In addition, Angelotti was the
Big Ten runner-up on floor in last
year's championships, and Hill is
coming off of a career high 9.70 on
horse in last week's meet.
After this weekend, the
Wolverines bypass Ann Arbor and
fly straight to Colorado where they
will be joined by Michigan State for
a meet at the Air Force Academy
next Friday, March 9.
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