The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - March 22, 1993 - Page 3
'M' places 11th at NCAAS
" Iowa wins again; Al-Americans Bonne4 Green, King shine
John Niyo
Blame It On Ni
VF
by Michael Rosenberg
Daily Sports Writer
AMES, Iowa - The Iowa
Hawkeyes won the NCAA wrestling
championship for the third
consecutive year and for the 12th
time in 16 years. The Hawkeyes beat
Penn State, 123.75-83.5.
Nebraska, Arizona State and
Ohio State rounded out the top 10.
Michigan (34.5) finished 11th. The
Wolverines were one-half point
behind 10th-place Cornell and four
points out of seventh place.
"I felt coming in that we were
clearly the most dominant team in
the nation," Iowa coach Dan Gable
said. "I wasn't too surprised that we
won as easily as we did."
Iowa won despite having only
two wrestlers, Lincoln McIlravy
(142 pounds) and Terry Steiner
(150), win national championships.
Hawkeye Troy Steiner (134),
who had not lost in two years, fell to
Penn State freshman Cary Kolat in
the semifinals. Steiner was one of
seven No. 1 seeds to lose.
Three Michigan wrestlers, 158-
pounder Sean Bormet, Lanny Green
(177), and heavyweight Steve King,
earned All-American status. Green
and King each ended up seventh.
Bonnet came closest to winning a
national championship, finishing
third.
After Nebraska's Lindland lost in
the first round to Boston University's
Earl Walker, Bonnet (No. 2) figured
to be the favorite at 158. But Bormet
struggled in his quarterfinal match
against Michigan State's tenth-
seeded Dan Wirnsberger. The match
was tied after regulation, and neither
wrestler could score in sudden death.
In the second overtime,
Wirnsberger had thirty seconds to
escape from Bormet. If the Spartan
had not done so, Bormet would have
advanced. But with 12 seconds left
and Bormet complaining to the
* referee that his thumb was caught in
Wirnsberger's jersey, Wirnsberger
escaped.
"The ref did not want me to win,"
Bormet said. "That's all there is to it.
I told him my thumb was caught,
and all he said was 'I don't see
anything.' (Because) my thumb was
caught, I was only holding onto him
with one arm, so he escaped."
Controversy filled the match
even before the non-call in the
second overtime. The referee twice
called Bormet for having locked
hands, which gave Wirnsberger two
penalty points.
"I've never been called for
having locked hands in my whole
career ... in my whole life," Bormet
said. "There's no way I locked my
hands twice."
Revenge was Bormet's, however,
when he beat Wirnsberger 2-0 for
third place.
Had he had won the first match
with Wirnsberger, Bormet would
have wrestled Arizona State's
Markus Mollica in the semifinal and
Penn State's Josh Robbins for the
championship. Bormet defeated
Mollica twice earlier this season, and
he beat Robbins for the Big Ten title
two weeks ago.
King had the misfortune of
having to wrestle N.C. State's
Sylvester Terkay in the quarterfinals.
Terkay, the top seed, came in with a
36-0 record. He beat King 14-0.
"King's tough," Terkay said.
"He's a smart wrestler. When I was
on top of him, he got out of bounds
real well."
In the consolation round, King
lost to Iowa's John Oostendorp, 14-
6. He then beat Northern Iowa's
Justin Greenlee 10-2 to take seventh.
"I'm real happy to make All-
American after falling one match
short (two years ago)," King said.
"But you always wish you did
better."
Green, who earned All-American
status two years ago, lost to Iowa's
Ray Brinzer 10-4 in the
quarterfinals. Green then lost to
Cornell's Kyle Rackley 9-3 before
beating Arizona State's Pat Lynch
12-5 for seventh place.
Wolverines Jason Cluff (126) and
Brian Harper (150) had some
success, but could not place.
Cluff defeated All-American
David Hirsch of Cornell, 4-2, but
even'tually he succumbed to Ohio
State All-American Adam DiSabato,
6-3. Cluff was down 4-3 in the final
period before DiSabato scored a
takedown to seal the victory. Oregon
State's Dave Nieradka eliminated
Cluff 3-2 in consolation.
"I thought I wrestled well," Cluff
said. "But I had hoped to do better.'
Michigan's James Rawls (142)
did not place.
Orr must still wait
for perfect ending
It wouldhave made for a nice final chapter.
The old man - the one who always took pride in saying what he
wanted to say and doing what he wanted to do - would go out with a
bang. Then call it quits.
He would go out a winner and he would get the last laugh.
Now, though, Johnny Orr must wait a little longer.
"Not many people up there know who I am anymore."
That's what Johnny Orr, former Michigan head basketball coach, told
me some time ago, when I asked him if he still had anything more than
memories of Ann Arbor, a place he left behind 13 years ago.
He is right, of course. There are some who remember the Orr days,
back when he was steering the Wolverines to Big Ten titles and to an
NCAA Final against Indiana in '76, but they are few and far between.
His athletic director, for one, is gone. Don Canham, who was a
penny-pincher when it came to coaches' salaries, was the one who
shocked alums - alums who screamed for a big name like John
Wooden or Frank McGuire - by choosing Orr to take over as
Michigan's head coach in 1969.
But Canham has moved on to retirement, away from the University
and the athletic program. So have most of the others.
Orr, meanwhile, is still plugging away. Coaching, because it is all he
has ever done. And it is all he has ever wanted to do.
Orr's 1992-93 season - his 28th as a head coach - ended late
Friday night. Iowa State, the school Orr calls home now, played poorly
and lost to UCLA (81-70) in Tucson, Ariz., in the first round of the
NCAA tournament.
Shattered are any hopes he may have harbored of pulling the big
upset. His old school, Michigan, awaited the winner. And Orr, who will -
retire in all likelihood in the next year or two, would have liked nothing
better than to have reminded everyone in Ann Arbor what they were
missing. Just like he did back in 1986.
That was the year that Michigan, led by Orr's assistant Bill Frieder,
waltzed into the tourney - Big Ten champs with a 28-4 record and a
No. 5 national ranking - only to go home with its tail between its legs.
"It looks like the JV vs. the varsity."
That line lives in infamy in Ames, Iowa. It is what CBS announcer
Dick Stockton said to his partner, Gary Bender, when Michigan bounded
to an early lead against Orr and his Cyclones in a second round matchup.
Stockton's comments, though not entirely off-base (Iowa State did
look outmanned), were a bit premature. It was the junior varsity, of
course, that won the game, 72-69, and went on to the Sweet Sixteen,
where the Cyclones would lose by 4 to North Carolina State.
Orr, beaming after the Michigan victory, declared it was his greatest
coaching win ever. It signaled Iowa State's triumphant arrival as a top-
notch college basketball program.
"When I left Michigan to go to Iowa State," Orr says, "everyone
thought I was nutty."
Lured by a big contract, Orr left what he felt were the shadows of the
Michigan football program to take over a program in 1980 that was
barely breathing. Iowa State had only one winning season in the
previous six seasons and hadn't made the tourney since 1944.
"I've got a great job at Iowa State,' Orr told the media when he
arrived. "I've got a great contract, the people at Iowa State are great, we,
have a beautiful basketball arena. Now if we didn't have to play the
damn games, it would be really great."
But they played them anyway, and the wins finally came. Orr used
his Michigan ties to bring in some top recruits ' Barry Stevens and Jeff
Grayer from Flint Northwestern, and Gary Thompkins from Jackson -
and the program turned the corner. An NIT bid came. Several 20-win
seasons and NCAA bids followed.
Somewhere in the middle of it all is that second-round upset of
Michigan in Minneapolis in 1986.
I think he might have liked to cap it all off the same way.
1~r
EVAN PETRIE/Daily
Michigan wrestler Jason Cluff lunges for his opponents' leg. Cluff defeated No. 5 ranked David Hirsch of Cornell at
the NCAA wrestling chamionships in Ames, Iowa this weekend.
In wrestling, sometimes
H A j. "j'I-']F It S the biggest is also the best
S
by Michael Rosenberg
Daily Sports Writer
AMES, Iowa - The biggest man in the arena is standing on a wrestling
mat before his match. His opponent, eighth-seeded Steve King of Michigan,
is bouncing on his toes, shaking his arms, stretching his neck, trying to stay
loose. The biggest man in the arena just stands. He is waiting for the match
to begin. The sooner it begins, the sooner it can end.
He is like a superhero. So big. So strong. He seems invincible. Who
could possibly beat him? Who could take down a man this big? Even his
name, Sylvester Terkay, is mythical.
King is 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, but next to N.C. State's Terkay, he
looks like Smurfette.
After the match, Terkay seems demoralized.
"I knew he was good, but I thought I could use some more moves on
him," he says.
He beat King, 14-0.
The questions fly at Terkay like the fighter planes flew at King Kong in
the movie. He swats them all.
How tall are you, Sylvester?
"I'm six-foot-five."
How much do you weigh, Sylvester?
"About 265."
Heavyweights can weigh no more than 275. Terkay is almost too heavy
to be a heavyweight. He is certainly too heavy for the other heavyweights.
Terkay has not lost all year.
He never wrestled in the state tournament in high school. Some years he
was hurt. Some years he was not good enough. Whatever. There were not a
whole lot of coaches who were dejected when they did not sign Sylvester
Terkay. He has come up from the dirt roads of Pennsylvania to become the
best in the country.
How much can you bench press, Sylvester?
"Well, I have a separated shoulder, so my bench press isn't that high."
How high, Sylvester?
"About 360."
Earlier, there was an almost comical situation. Terkay was on top of
King, holding him down. Spectators had to lean over to see King. The 210-
pound King was hidden beneath Terkay.
Can anyone beat you, Sylvester?
"I don't know. I guess so."
Is there anyone you are worried about, Sylvester?
"I just hope I don't beat myself."
Nobody beats him. Terkay pins Michigan State's Don Whipp in 1:43 for
the title. He does not struggle.
There has been talk of Terkay joining the NFL next year. He confirms
that "several teams have said they are interested." Terkay is too big for
wrestling. He must find another sport. Why not football? He has not played
football since the 10th grade.
What position would you play, Sylvester?
"Probably defensive end."
Why do you think you would be good at football, Sylvester?
"It can't be that hard, going after the quarterback."
The look on his face tells you that he is not worried about how he will
perform. He stuffs his t-shirt into his bag. He announces he must change
into street clothes. Like a man this size could just put on street clothes and
shrink back to reality. He walks off.
The legend grows.
Ft
RTS
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