The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, March 7, 1994- 5
Blue provides answers
with fourth-place finish
By RYAN WHITE
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
IOWA CITY - It didn't win the championship. It didn't even finish
second, but the Michigan wrestling team accomplished a lot at the 1994 Big
Ten Championships over the weekend.
All season long I was asked, "What's wrong with the wrestling team," and
all season long I had to ask coach Dale Bahr the same question.
In one weekend the Wolverines were able to answer their naysayers with
. a fourth-place finish.
Michigan was killed by injuries throughout the dual-meet season. Three
starters were lost to knee injuries - Brandon Howe (126 pounds), Jesse Rawls
Jr. (177), and Jehad Hamden (190)
The Wolverines struggled to a dual-meet record of 6-9 overall, and 1-9 in
the Big Ten. With those results, and the mounting injuries, it would have been
easy for the team to quit.
But it didn't.
Michigan came to Iowa City determined to prove that it was better than its
record indicated, and it did.
"We really struggled this year," said Sean Bormet, who won his second
straight championship at 150 pounds. "I think we came around great here at the
tournament."
They placed ahead of five teams that had beaten them in dual meets, and
would have been ahead of a sixth - Wisconsin - if the Badgers', who are on
NCAA probation, team score would have counted.
The best story for the Wolverines, aside from Bormet's championship, was
the return of Rawls.
An injury is never good, but Rawls' knee injury may have been a blessing
in disguise.
"I got stronger, and my mental attitude was a lot better once I came back,"
Rawls said. "I feel like I'm two different people. The Jesse before, and the
Jesse after."
The post-injury Jesse, a No. 6 seed, was able to blast through the 177
bracket to a third-place finish. One of Rawls' victories was a complete
dismantling of the No. 3 seed -- Northwestern's Roger Williams - 15-5.
The key to the Wolverines success was team points from wrestlers who
weren't really expected to pick up points.
Lanre Olabisi, filling in for Hamden, was 0-4 in his career entering this
weekend. He won his first match of the weekend, and placed seventh.
Olabisi's one win in the championship round gave Michigan one team
* point in the overall standings, and was the difference between the fourth-place
finish, and a sixth-place finish.
A second question that I heard frequently throughout the year was, "Can
anyone other that Bonnet, (Brian) Harper, and (Steve) King wrestle?"
Just like the first question the Wolverines provide the answer by qualifying
five wrestlers for the NCAA tournament, Mar. 17-19 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
After the Wolverines clinched the fourth spot Bahr was in the best mood
he's been in for quite some time.
"I'm happy we were able to come back," a smiling Bahr said. "I feel real
good about finishing fourth."
Thanks to the fourth-place finish he can finally quit answering my ques-
*otions, and I can quit answering everyone else's because there doesn't appear
to be anything wrong with the Michigan wrestling team now.
Mitchell leaves Mami to sign
with Lions for $11 million
WRESTLING NOTEBSOK
Iowa fans swarm to
watch their Hawkeyes
By BARRY SOLLENBERGER
and RYAN WHITE
DAILY SPORTS WRITERS
IOWA CITY - They love their wrestling here.
In the city that houses the school which has now owned Big Ten
wrestling for the last 21 years, the people came out in droves to watch the
top teams in the country battle for the conference title.
The paid attendance for the weekend was 29, 947.
That's 29, 947 very loud, very biased Iowa wrestling fans. With every
Iowa win throughout the weekend the crowd erupted, and come Sunday's
championship round they cheered every Minnesota loss, since the Gophers
were the closest team to them in the standings.
This weekend wrestling was to Iowa City what football is to Ann Arbor
- big. Many fans showed up an hour early for yesterday's final round of
competition.
Even tailgaters were spotted.
THE OVERTIME KIDS: In three previous matches this season, Steve King
(HWT) and Wisconsin's Jeff Walter had gone into overtime. The same was
about to happen Saturday when King, the No. 4 seed, and Walter, the No.
5 seed, were tied late into the third period. A fourth overtime, however, was
avoided when King scored a takedown late in the third period.
Sean Bormet and Dan Wirnsberger of Michigan State were not so
lucky. Yesterday, they met for the third time this season in an extra session.
This time a tiebreaker was necessary to settle the outcome. Like the two
previous encounters, Bormet emerged victorious.
TOUGH Ciass: Of the 12 wrestlers that were in the heavyweight divi-
sion, seven are nationally ranked -No. 1 Kerry McCoy of Penn State, No.
3 Tony Vaughn of Purdue, No. 4 Vito Maurici of Indiana, No.5 Jeff Walter
of Wisconsin, No. 6 Billy Pierce of Minnesota and No. 7 Steve King of
Michigan. McCoy defeated the defending champion Pierce in the final,
also in a tiebreaker.
FEW UPSETS: All wrestlers seeded number one and two in their respec-
tive weight classes reached the semifinals of the tournament. Only three
No. 3 seeds failed to reach the semis - Tad Yeager of Northwestern
knocked off Demond Betts of Michigan State, 3-1, to reach the final four
in the 126-pound weight class. Billy Pierce of Minnesota defeated Tony
Vaughn of Purdue 2-1 to reach the semis in the heavyweight class.
Michigan's Jesse Rawls, Jr. upset Roger Williams of Northwestern, 15-
5, to reach the semi finals of the 177-pound division.
REMATCHES, REMATCHES: King's 5-4 victory over Purdue's Tony Vaughn
Saturday was the second meeting this season between the two heavy-
weights.
Vaughn won the first meeting, 3-2, in the finals of the St. Louis Open
Nov. 20. King also wrestled Indiana's Vito Maurici yesterday for the third
time this season. He beat Maurici in overtime in the finals of the Las Vegas
Classic Dec. 4, 3-2, and. was forced to forfeit to him Feb. 20 at Cliff Keen
when he sustained a dislocated left ring finger. Yesterday, Maurici beat
him again for third place in the heavyweight championship, 8-2.
Harper has now met Scott Petche of Indiana four times including
yesterday's 6-3 Petche victory in the 150-pound third-place match.
JOE WESTRATE/Daiy
Michigan wrestler Lanre Olabisi prepares for a fall against Purdue earlier
this season. Olabisi finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships.
WRE.STLING
Continued from page 1
18, Rawls, the No. 6 seed in the weight class, captured third in the 177-pound
championship.
Ironically, he defeated Harvey, 3-1, in overtime to earn third place.
Rawls made definite strides when he was out of action.
"I got stronger," he said. "I hit the weights while I was hurt and my mental
attitude got a lot better. I was really able to keep focused throughout the entire
tournament.
In the third-place match, Rawls and Harvey battled evenly throughout
regulation before Rawls scored a takedown at the 1:29 mark of overtime to
claim the victory.
Rawls reached that match by defeating Nick Nutter of Ohio State, 10-2,
upsetting third-seeded Roger Williams of Northwestern, 15-5, and dropping
a tough 4-3 decision to second-seeded Greg Stiltner of Iowa.
The All-American King finished fourth for the Wolverines in the heavy-
weight championship.
In the third meeting this season between the two wrestlers, Indiana's Vito
Maurici defeated King, 8-2, to capture third place. The heavyweights had split
two previous encounters, with King taking a 3-2 overtime decision in the finals
of the Las Vegas Classic Dec. 4, and Maurici winning an injury forfeit decision
over King Feb. 20 at Cliff Keen Arena in the dual meet finale of the season for
both teams.
Yesterday, Maurici grabbed a quick 2-0 lead with a takedown and used a
strong finish to post the 8-2 victory.
"He put himself in (a poor) position when he gave up the early takedown,"
Bahr said.
Harper garnered another fourth-place finish for Michigan in the 150-pound
championship.
In the fourth meeting of the season between the two wrestlers, Scott Petche
of Indiana defeated Harper, 6-3, for third place.
In his first-round match, Harper defeated Petche, 6-4, in overtime, but he
couldn't rally from a 5-1 deficit late in the second stanza of the third-place
match.
He was able to score a takedown in the third period, but Petche escaped in
the following sequence to close out the scoring.
"Harper has got to open up more. He just doesn't seem to open up his attack
enough," Bahr said.
Biggert was the Wolverines' fifth wrestler to qualify for Nationals. He
finished fourth in the 167-pound weight class. Sophomore Lanre Olabisi
finished seventh at 190 and junior Mike Ellsworth finished eighth at 142.
Junior Matt Stout (118) and sophomores Andy Behm (126) and Bryan
Sosinski (142) did not place for Michigan.
Though he was disappointed with some outcomes, Bahr said the team made
strides over the weekend.
"I'm sure happy that we were able to come back and finish ahead of a pack
of (teams) that beat us in dual meets," he said. "I think that we're finishing the
season on a high note.
"To go out that way with all of the struggles we had is kind of satisfying."
PONTIAC (AP) - Quarterback
Scott Mitchell, the backup to Miami's
0 Dan Marino the past four seasons,
signed Sunday with the Detroit Li-
ons.
The Lions declined to disclose
terms. WWJ-AM reported Sunday
that Mitchell signed a three-year, $11
million contract.
The signing may finally put an
end to the Lions quarterback merry-
go-round. Erik Kramer, Rodney Peete
and Andre Ware had ill started for the
Lions the past two seasons and coach
Wayne Fontes was frequently criti-
cized for his handling of the quarter-
backs.
"Obviously he (Mitchell) was the
first quarterback we brought in and he
was the one we wanted," said Bill
Keenist, Lions vice president of ad-
ministration and communications.
Fontes traveled to Miami on Fri-
day to make a last-second pitch to
Mitchell.
"From what I understand, we were
the only team to make a second visit.
I think that shows how determined we
were to sign him," Keenist said.
Mitchell had planned to announce
his decision Saturday, but decided he
wanted another day to choose be-
tween the Lions and the Minnesota
Vikings. Mitchell also visited New
Orleans and the Los Angeles Rams.
Mitchell's agent, Tony Agnone,
didn't immediately return a message
left by The Associated Press at his
Baltimore home Sunday evening.
Unrestricted free-agent quarter-
backs Sean Salisbury, who played
with Minnesota last season, and Chris
Miller, who played with Atlanta, had
met with the Lions. The Lions also
had planned to talk with Bernie Kosar
of Dallas and John Friesz of San Di-
ego.
The 6-5, 230-pound Mitchell
hadn't started an NFL game until
Marino was lost to the Dolphins last
season when he tore an Achilles' ten-
don.
Freshman Gardner begins era, senior Van Pelt
ends one for men's track team at Silverston Invite
By TOM SEELEY
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
Saturday's Silverston Invita-
tional at the Track and Tennis
Building marked the beginning of
an era for one member of the
Michigan men's indoor track
team.
Sadly, however, it also marked
the end of an era for another one.
Perhaps "era" is overstating it,
but the meet highlighted two col-
legiate careers going in opposite
directions.
Both freshman Neil Gardner
and senior Toby Van Pelt contrib-
uted heavily to the team's Big Ten
championship performance of a
week ago, but Saturday's meet
was not so kind to both Gardner
"It's like 11th on the list and
they're taking 16 (runners)."
Gardner's best time going into
the meet was 7.33 seconds, which
placed him 20th on the list of
qualifiers.
Injuries have hampered the
freshman's season, and Saturday
was the first time that he has run
since being free of all medica-
tions.
Gardner said that the lack of
medication allowed him to feel
"fresher" for the meet.
"This is basically the first time
I've been close to injury-free,"
the Kingston, Jamaica native said.
"This is probably the best I've felt
running all year."
Van Pelt was not as fortunate,
feet, and I haven't done it yet."
With only nationals remaining,
Saturday's meet was Van Pelt's
last indoor performance in a Wol-
field when the whole team is do-
ing well."
With most of those who have
already turned in qualifying marks
This is basically the first time I've been close to
injury-free. This is probably the best I've felt
running all year.
Neil Gardner
Michigan hurdler
verine uniform.
"I am very disappointed," he
said. "(I am a) fifth-year senior
and (have) never qualified to go
to nationals."
sitting out, the meet also provided
some of those not going to the
NCAA championships with op-
portunities to strut their stuff.
Sophomore Dave Barnett came
US j