The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - March 8, 1993 - Page 7

.1..
Haw eye wrestling.
ready willing, Gable
by Michael Rosenberg
Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS - Certain things in life are guaranteed. World wars will
always involve Germany. Madonna will never be a nun. And Iowa will al-
ways win the Big Ten wrestling championship.
The Hawkeyes did it again this weekend, beating Penn State and every-
one else in the conference to take the title for a 20th straight year. Twenty
years in a row. Iowa makes the sunrise seem inconsistent.
Oh, sure, this year's win was tougher than most. The Nittany Lions en-
tered the tournament ranked first in the country. This would not be like last
year, when the Hawkeyes finished with 185 points, 81 more than second-
place Wisconsin.
Friday afternoon, the Hawkeyes were losing to Penn State by a whop-
ping three-and-a-half points, and coach Dan Gable was not happy.
"It's gonna be tight," Gable said. "We're down right now - really
-down."~
Hey. This is a man who considers a Timex unreliable. Gable, who has
won the national title in 11 of his 16 years as Iowa's coach, is not used to
close calls.
"He's the best coach in the history of the sport," said Dale Bahr,
Michigan's coach. "Maybe the best coach in the history of any sport."
For a while there, it looked like it would be close. Iowa took a scant 120-
107.5 lead into the finals. But when Penn State's 134-pounder, Cary Kolat,
lost to Iowa's Troy Steiner, the Nittany Lions were all but done.
You can't blame Kolat for being intimidated by the Hawkeyes. After all,
the last time a team other than Iowa won the Big Ten championship, Kolat
hadn't even been born yet:
In his career, Gable has lost exactly one dual match to a Big Ten team.
He has won 110. Earlier this year, the Hawkeyes tied Penn State, the only
other blemish on Gable's conference record.
Down years? Not at Iowa. Under Gable, the Hawkeyes have never fin-
ished below sixth at NCAAs.
Amazingly, uhtil this year, the Amateur Wrestling News, the sport's
bible, had never ranked one of Gable's recruiting classes first in the country.
But his teams always seem to come out on top. How do good wrestlers be-
come great wrestlers? What happens between when the recruits come in and
March?
The coach shrugged.
"We work very hard," he said. "We like our kids to have a certain atti-
tude, a certain work ethic."
Hard work and a positive attitude. Old-fashioned success.
The odds of one team sustaining such a high level of excellence for such
a long period of time are ... very high. So high, in fact, that a math novice
like myself has no idea how to figure out how high the odds are.
"It can't last forever," Gable told reporters after No. 20 was in the books.
"But as long as I'm at the helm, I hope it does."
Surely Gable has some advantages. The state of Iowa produces some of
the finest high school wrestlers in the country, and it also has some of the
sport's most rabid fans. But twenty years?
"Thirty years from now, if some other team's won 20 years in a row,
let's give them credit," Gable said.
Don't count on it.
- .-VI.VE -I.?Y -& JTN" l a!Ta J-1ela i

WRESTLING
Continued from page 1
with third."
Heavyweight Steve King was
disappointed with his bronze medal.
He was defeated by Billy Pierce of
Minnesota in the semifinals 5-4.
Four of Pierce's five points were
awarded by the referee after four
separate stalling penalties were
called on King.
The Notre Dame transfer headed
off to the consolations where he pro-
ceeded to pin the top seeded John
Oostendorp of Iowa. King waltzed
through his final match with a three-
point victory, but was not pleased
with his overall outcome.
"I could have won this," King
said. "I'll tell you how I feel after
nationals."
In his final run through the gruel-
ing Big Ten tournament, senior
Lanny Green placed third and got
some revenge of his own. After he
lost in the semis to Iowa's Ray
Brinzer, Green prepared to erase a
memory.
Like Bormet, Green lost a tough
match to a Penn State wrestler ear-
lier in the season. After losing to
177-pound Matt White in sudden
death in January, Green ran off the
mat in obvious agony.
Green and White re-entered the
realm of sudden death in the
consolation semifinals, but this time,
Green had his arm raised in triumph.
The co-captain added the third place
to his success by defeating
Minnesota's Brad Gibson 4-3.
Green's fellow captain, Jason
Cluff put together a nice tournament
by finishing fourth. In the third-

Michigan wrestler Sean Bormet faces off against Penn State's Josh Robbins in Saturday's final. Bormet beat
Robbins for the Wolverines' only Big Ten individual title. Michigan placed fifth overall in the tournament.

place match against Tim Harris of
Minnesota, Cluff was down by two
with time running down. Cluff's op-
ponent was called for stalling and
the lead was cut to one.
With two seconds on the clock,
Cluff sent the match into sudden
death by receiving one point for an
escape. Harris scored a takedown in
overtime and won, 6-4.
The disappointment of the tour-
nament was senior James Rawls. In
all likelihood his eighth-place finish

will end his collegiate career.
"Rawls, I think, is a hell of a
wrestler," Harper said. "For some
reason, he gets down on himself and
he doesn't perform like he can."
Brian Perkins (118) won two
matches on his way to a seventh-
place finish. Kyle Steinacker (190)
and Chad Biggert (134) both won a
match and finished in the eight spot.
Five Michigan wrestlers have
wrapped up bids to the NCAA tour-
nament in Ames, Iowa in two weeks.

All five could get seeded in the top
twelve of their weight class. Bormet
will probably be seeded second or
third.
"I think that most of the guys are
peaking at the right time," King said.
"All five of us (going to nationals)
have All-American abilities. All
you've got to do is win one or two
that you're not supposed to and,
bang, you're an All-American. The
sky's the limit."


WRESTLINGNOTEBOOK
Rawis'. career in limbo

after eighth
by Michael Rosenberg
Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS - Michigan se-
nior James Rawls' (142 pounds)
collegiate career probably ended
Saturday with his loss in the sev-
enth-place match to Minnesota's
Chad Collins. The top six finishers
in each weight class advance to the
NCAAs, and six other Big Ten
wrestlers receive wildcard bids.
Rawls did not receive a wildcard,
but he was named first alternate. If
any of the 66 Big Ten wrestlers who
made NCAAs is injured, Rawls will
make the NCAAs. Ohio State coach
Russ Hellickson indicated that 167-
pound Buckeye Jim Scavuzzo
might not be health for NCAAs.
"(Rawls) had the same problem
last year," said Dale Bahr,
Michigan's coach. "He has been a
good wrestler all year, but he just
can't manage to win at Big Tens. It's
not that he isn't trying. It just comes
down to who wants it most."
A HANDLE ON RANDLEMAN:
Ohio State's Kevin Randleman,
who won his second straight Big Ten

place finish
title at 177 pounds, didn't have to
wrestle his nemesis, Michigan's
Lanny Green. Over the past two
years, Green is 1-1-2 against
Randleman. Only one other wrestler
has even tied the Buckeye.
"I was glad I didn't have to
wrestle Green," Randleman said.
"He's given me a lot of trouble in
the past. He just keeps coming at
you. Eventually, he wears you
down."
"I was disappointed that I didn't
wrestle Randleman," Green said. "I
wrestle him very well. He doesn't
have many moves offensively, and I
know how to counter them."
MENDOZA'S LINE: Ohio State
heavyweight Ray Mendoza, who
placed fourth in 1992 but was an
injury-riddled 10-9 this year,
surprised everyone by finishing
second. Mendoza upset top seed
John Oostendorp of Iowa and fifth
seed Greg Troxell of Penn State on
his way to the finals.
"I didn't expect him to do as well
as he did," said Steve King,
Michigan's heavyweight.

Weight
Class
118
126
134
142
150
158
167
177
190
HWT

Wrestler
Chad Zaputil
Sanshiro Abe
Troy Steiner
Dan Spilde
Troy Sunderland
Sean Bormet
Dave Hart
Kevin Randleman
Rex Holman
Billy Pierce

Iowa
Penn State
Iowa
Wisconsin
Penn State
Michigan
Penn State
Ohio State
Ohio State
Minnesota

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Entry Deadline: Thursday 3/11
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IMSB Main Office
Tourney Date: Saturday 3/13
For Additional Information Contact IMSB 763-3562

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