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." - ANN ARBOR CONTACT LENS CLINIC SADD USIC Largest Inventory of Bausch & Lomb Lenses in the Area Specializing in difficult & unusual fittings *Over 500 Fashion & Designer Frames =Authorized Giorgio Armani Distributor 0 nsre- d by Spyss CFrrCAI SR'tNkr. OF GMAC CO-SPONSORED BY : Pan Hellenic/ SAEPEP Grokl Wc.r nmifn 545 Church St. On CamDus 769-1222 I I U I FC, bMtrcr, uree VVak Commtee, Alpha Phi Omega HOW MANY CDs CAN IT INTO THE PONTIAC MUSICMOBILE FrI DATES: March 28, 29, 30 PLACE: The Diag - 000 K- 0 0 ,000000 f f *. 1st Prize: 2nd Prize: 3rd Prize : IIIII. U FABULOUS PRIZES plus an opportunity to win a 1990 PGNTIAC* Emerson Programmable CD Player Plus 25 A&M CDs Emerson Portable Cassette Player Plus 25 A&M cassettes Emerson Portable Cassette Player. Plus a subscription to SPIN Magazine 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 A AM 'bmerson. "All entries go into a drawing for a 1990 PONTIAC. Two cars to be awarded each semester in the tall 1989, a Sunbird convertible and Grand Am; and in the spring 1990, a LeMans GSE and Firebirdl I - - I I U L I