Page 4 -The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday- March 26, 1990
by Jeff Sheran
Daily Sports Writer
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - In watching three days
of championship-level wrestling, two trends became
painfully evident about the NCAA tournament: Okla-
homa State seemed to field a contender in every weight
class, and so did the Big Ten.
The reason for this trend stems from the fact that the
Big Ten, which is unquestionably the most dominant
conference in the nation, sent the most qualifiers (49) to
the tournament. In addition, the Big Eight, which
includes defending two-time national champion Okla-
homa State, sent 42, including 10 Cowboys.
The major flaw in this system is that the Big Eight
is a deceiving title; only five teams sport wrestling pro-
grams in the league. So in effect, out of the fifty.
wrestlers in the ten weight classes, only eight don't
compete for the NCAAs. The Big Ten fields 100
wrestlers, qualifying 49 percent to the Big Eight's 84
percent.
Wrestlers dream of reaching the NCAA tournament.
Only then can they possibly achieve the ultimate goal
in collegiate wrestling: a national championship. In the
Big Ten however, this dream is greatly hindered by the
initial difficulty of qualifying for the tournament.
The Big Ten sent six 134-pounders to the tourna-
ment. Four reached all-American status, including the
national champion and runner-up. Michigan's Joey
Gilbert fell one match short of all-American honors,
losing both his matches to conference opponents.
Then there is heavyweight, the only other division
to field six Big Ten wrestlers. Again, four were all-
American. Furthermore, two semifinalists, Oklahoma
State's Kirk Mammen and Cal-State Fullerton's-David
Jones, share an interesting distinction: both lost to
Wolverine heavyweight Phil Tomek during the season.
Where did Tomek finish at nationals? He didn't
finish because he spent the weekend at home after
Big Ten deserves
more NCAA bids
,.
a
failing to qualify from his conference.
The difficulty in qualifying for the NCAAs no doubt
hampers Big Ten coaches' ability to recruit wrestlers.
Individuals with great potential, but with borderlinc.
chances of qualifying out of the Big Ten, may certainly
find it more advantageous to attend college elsewhere,
like Big Eight schools.
This yet, one-seventh of the competitors hail from
the Big Ten, but one-quarter of the all-Americans were
from the conference. Such a ratio is unparalleled by any
other conference, and though the Big Ten was awarded
two more qualifying positions over last year, it deserves,
still more.
The major drawback to increasing the total by great
margins is that the number of NCAA qualifiers is fixed;
more Big Ten wrestlers therefore means less wrestlers.
from other smaller leagues.
But there is no divine purpose in keeping the field
constant. The NCAA tournament is a profitable event,
and the cost of expanding the tournament is not likely
to exceed the increased revenue created by the flat
support for the additional wrestlers.
A just number of Big Ten qualifiers is 60. The top
six athletes from each of the ten weight classes move
on. Such a system eliminates the politics that occur,
within the existing process, where the top four advance,
plus nine wildcards. The selection of those nine wild-I'
cards is subjective, and therefore potentially unfair.
But if a predetermined six places are asserted to be--.
come qualifiers, the rift that can occur between coaches;
as a result of the selection process would be eradicated.
So congratulations to Oklahoma State on making'
the most of their opportunity. But let's see every de-_
serving wrestler from the Big Ten get the opportunity
to reach the NCAAs, and maybe even dethrone those
JOSE JUARE/JDai4
Brent Lang celebrates his victory in the 100 freestyle at the NCAA men's swimming championships Sunday in
Indianapolis. The Wolverines finished fourth behind Texas, Southern California and Stanford.
Mike
Gill
INDIANAPOLIS - To be quite honest, I find it
difficult to be around swimming pools - which
means the huge puddle of water they call an Olympic-
size pool in Indianapolis did not exactly endear itself to
me at first.
Let me relate this true personal story. At the age of
seven my mom and dad enrolled me in swimming
lessons. On the Saturday morning of my first lesson,
my mom felt I would need an extra big breakfast to
provide me with the stamina I would need to paddle
and kick in the water.
I ate pancakes.
And more pancakes with syrup. Sausage and eggs,
too. Thirty minutes later, I jumped into the water, and.
slhortly after, put on the exhibition of displaying my
mother's great cooking to the entire public.
Only this time, it was a little red. And a little
chewed up. And then they evacuated the pool and the
instructors had to move all the floating pieces of my
breakfast into the trough.
That didn't exactly endear me to my instructors.
But life went on and I never drowned. Then again, I
never came close to setting any records Mike,
Barrowman could someday break.
In fact, my idea of a "pool party" usually revolves
around a green table with holes on the end. Or at the
worst, a "pool party" revolves around someone's back-
yard bird bath - complete with a lounge chair and a
six-pack of beer.
But let me tell you something else.
Watching Saturday's -NCAA Swimming and
Diving Championships - from a distance, mind you
Pools aren't so
terrible, after all
- proved to quell my hate, as well as bring up a few
questions. Like...
How does Mike Barrowman look so graceful in the
water? How does he accomplish so much? How does
he remain so low key with a stack full of accomp-
lishments that could fill up a landfill?
In fact, the entire Michigan team should have its
picture in a thesaurus under the term "low key."
For instance Brent Lang, minutes after winning the
100-yard freestyle, sat and spoke of his desire to be a
Rhodes Scholar. With a 3.82 grade point average and a
major of industrial engineering, Lang is thinking of
retiring from swimming.
The whole experience of watching this meet proved
the old thesis that college athletics should be center
around fun, enjoyment, and growth for the athlete.
After watching Michigan basketball for the past year,
that seemed to be forgotten. It seemed as though those
players felt the enormous pressure the entire cycle had
placed on them - from coaches, to fans, and most
importantly television. It appeared the game played
with a ball and two hoops had become a job.
So watching players - such as Barrowman, Lang
or Eric Wunderlich - smile and feel relaxed and
ultimately, to be able enjoy their competition and
accomplishments proved to be satisfying.
Let this be known too:
They aren't receiving payments.
They aren't selling football programs illegally.
They aren't shooting up the dorms.
They aren't shooting steroids.
And they aren't puking mom's pancakes either.
Cowboys.
.
SWIMMERS
Continued from page 1
Mike Barrowman set a new NCAA
record in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Coaches voted Barrowman .NCAA
Swimmer-of-the-Year.
Michigan finished behind Texas
(506 points) Southern California
(423) and Stanford (354.) Texas' win
is a three-peat, their third consecu-
tive national championship. In all,
Saturday's third and final day of
competition, proved to be fairly suc-
cessful for the Wolverines.
"You always like to finish on a
win - not the other way around,"
Urbanchek said of the final race. "It
took away some of the excitement
-- some of the great things we did
today. All in all, this was a very
good day for us."
Barrowman's 200-yard breast-
stroke time of 1:53.77 set a new
NCAA record, American record,
United States Open record, and pool
record.
"It was exhilarating," Lang said
of watching his teammate race.
"Mike just astounds me. He's a heck
of a good competitor. It's real funny
because when he talks, he'll be talk-
ing for weeks about how he didn't
feel.good, how he's doubting him-
self. Then he hits the water and he's
just fantastic. You don't see some-
one break a record by 1.3 seconds by
accident.
Barrowman broke his own pool
record he established last year, and
shattered Southern Methodist's and
former Olympian Steve Lundquist's
NCAA, American, and Open record
of 1:55.01, which were established
in 1981.
"It needed to be broken," Bar-
rowman said, noting that most of
the other records had been set in the
last few years. "This'one was getting
old. I've been thinking about it since
three years ago, so I've definitely.
been thinking about it tonight. I
figured that to win tonight, someone
was definitely going out ahd go un-
der it."
Not only did Barrowman break
the old record but so did his closest
competitor, Texas senior Kirk,
Stackle, who won the 100-yard.
breaststroke Friday. Stackle led for.'
half of the race with an extremely
quick pace and finished at 1:54.81.
"I really wasn't planning on go-=
ing so fast," Stackle said (f his start.
"I went out fast and I had to just,
hang on. I couldn't." Stackle led
after 50 and 100 yards but Rarrow-
man gained a slight lead at the three;
quarter point of the race and puled
away.
"I think he swam as perfect a race
as he could," Urbanchek raved of 40
Barrowman, who continues to grab,
records and awards at an astounding:
pace.
Lost in the shuffle of the Bar-F
rowman-Shackle duo, Michigan's
Eric Wunderlich finished third with a
1:55.51. "I guess you could say I
was overshadowed," Wunderlich ad-
mitted. "But I'm really happy witlh
my times."
-
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The University of Michigan's Third Annual
Central America Awareness Week
Mairch 6-1
Monday 3126 "Environment Under Fire"
Video and discussion with John Vandermeer, U-M Professor of Biology.
Pendleton Room, Michigan Union, 7:30 PM
Tuesday 3/27 "Central America and the Drug War"
Video presentation and Discussion.
MLB Basement Room 115,7:00 PM
Wednesday 3/28 "Nonviolence in Action: Peace Brigades
International in Guatamala"
Slide Show and Discussion with Phyllis Ponvert, local PBI activist.
Guild House, 802 Monroe, 6:45 PM
Wednesday 3/28 "Guazappa"
Video and Discussion after LASC Mtg.
Pond Room Michigan Union, 9:00 PM -
Thursday 3/29 "Guatamalan Indian Children of War"
Panel discussion with Prof. Brinton Lykes, Psychology, Rhode Island
College and Esteban Costa, Coordinator of the Movimento Solidario de
Salud Mental, Argentina.
Residential College/East Quad Room 126, 7:00 PM
Friday 3/30 "Mental Health and Human Rights"
Lunch Forum with Professor Lykes and Mr. Costa
Guild ouse, 12-1 PM
Friday 3/30 "Children of War: The Practice of Psychology
in Latin America"
Presentation and discussion with Professor Lykes and Mr. Costa.
Institute for Social Research (IS R), Room 6050,4:00-5:30 PM
Friday 3/30 "The Official Story"
A l .111 wnth -Film PPentin
GRAND PRIZE : A 1990 PONTIAC
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awarded each semester in the tall 1989, a Sunbird convertible and
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