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