16 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 13, 1994
'M' wrestlers given short break
By Tim Smith
Daily Sports Writer
While most people will be enjoy-
ing good food and a relaxing time
throughout the holiday break, the
Michigan wrestling team will have to
cut its festivities a little short in order
to get back to business.
After a week off for the holidays,
the Wolverines will be back in Ann
Arbor December 27 to prepare for the
annual Holiday Midlands Tournament
held at Northwestern December29 and
30.
The tournament, which attracts
some of the best college teams in the
country and some of the best non-
collegiate wrestlers as well, will be a
change of pace for the Wolverines who
are used to an extended holiday break.
"It will probably be the toughest
tournament we will be in all year,"
Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "It's
the premier Christmas tournament in
the country."
The tournament may also help to
keep the wrestlers sharp considering
the winter layoff usually makes them
come back to the mats a little rusty.
"It's hard," junior Jesse Rawls Jr.
said of the usual transition back to
wrestling after break. "This will be
the first time that we've wrestled over
Christmas. But when we come back,
we're usually flat when we don't wrestle
over Christmas.
"The Midlands will be a good tour-
nament to go to. It's like a precursor
for the nationals (in March). So ev-
eryone will be real pumped up to
wrestle because it's such a big tourna-
ment."
The Wolverines will bring two
extra wrestlers, along with the normal
lineup, in hopespof taking the colle-
'This will be the first
time that we've
wrestled over
Christmas. But when
we come back, we're
usually flat when we
don't wrestle over
Christmas.'
-Jesse Rawls Jr.
Michigan wrestler
giate title. If they seriously entertain
thoughts of winning, however, the
Wolverines need an improved per-
formance from the lower weights.
In Saturday's duel meet loss to
Illinois, four of the five lower weights
lost, leaving the pressure on the up-
per weights to pull out the victory.
"I'm disappointed," Bahr said of
the lower weight classes. "I need to
split with those four (matches). When
I look back on that match, we've got
to split those four because all the
pressure is on (heavyweight Airron
Richardson)."
Richardson lost 2-1 in sudden-
death overtime to let the Illini take the
match 17-16 and the momentum the
Wolverine upper-weights had gar-
nered.
"He told me, 'I made the classic
mistake that all athletes make,"' Bahr
said of Richardson, "'I wrestled not to
lose instead of to win."
Richardson, and the rest of the
Wolverines, however, will have three
weeks to recover from the loss and
concentrate on trying to win the chal-
lenging Midlands.
"I don't think we'll be down,"
Rawls said of the teams attitude after
the loss. "I think we'll just work a
little harder to get ourselves back to-
gether and get things turned around."
And to do that, they must stay
focused.
"I use this (the tournament) as a
motivating tool to keep them practic-
ing over Christmas," Bahr said. "We'll
practice hard this week but we'll break
off a little bit on training. But we'll
keep working. The main thing is to do
well on final (exams) but keep condi-
tioning."
Four top prep
teams to meet
in Ann Arbor
FROM STAFF REPORTS
There will be some Michigan
ties at this weekend's Ann Arbor
Holiday Basketball Invitational.
The showcase, Saturday at Hu-
ron High School, will feature four
of the state's top high school pro-
grams.
Game one, at 6 p.m., pits Detroit
Cass Tech against Warren
DeLaSalle.
The second game sends Saginaw
Buena Vista against Detroit
Pershing around 8 p.m.
Buena Vista is the defending
Class B State Champion and fea-
tures one of the top high school
players in the country, Terrance
Roberson. Roberson still has Michi-
gan on his list of possible schools
for next season.
Pershing is tied to the Wolver-
ines by the fact that freshman Willie
Mitchell was on last season's squad
that lost to Detroit Murray-Wright
in the state championship game.
Tickets for the games are $7 and
can be purchased at Moe's Sporting
Goods in Ann Arbor, Puffer Red
record store in Ypsilanti or at the
door the night of the games.
JOE WET.RIA.TJ/aN
The Michigan wrestling team will be spending a portion of their winter break
in Northwestern at the Holiday Midlands Tournament.
The
6 AMES
- Rachel Brett Michael Chad *Maceo
BACHMAN ORREST OSENBERG AFRAN TN
Michigan vs. Colorado State
Penn State vs. Oregon
Ohio State vs. Alabama
Wisconsin vs. Duke
Illinois vs. East Carolina
Nebraska vs. Miami
Florida vs. Florida State
Colorado vs. Notre Dame
Arizona vs. Utah
Kansas St. vs. Boston College
Colorado State
Penn State
Alabama
Wisconsin
Illinois
Miami
Florida
Colorado
Arizona
Boston College
4-5
69-37-3
Colorado State
Penn State
Alabama
Duke
Illinois
Nebraska
Florida
Colorado
Arizona
Boston College
5-5
72-35-3
Michigan
Penn State
Alabama
Wisconsin
Illinois
Miami
Florida
Colorado
Utah
Boston College,
3-7
67-40-3
Michigan
Penn State
Alabama
Duke
Illinois
Nebraska
Florida
Colorado
Utah
Kansas State'
4-6
75-32-3
Michigan
Penn State
Alabama
Wisconsin
Illinois
Nebraska
Florida State
Colorado
Drop off picks at Daily sports desk on second floor of the Student
Publications Building by 5 p.m. Today. Winner receives a $15 gift
certificate to O'Sullivan's Eatery & Pub. Five entries per week.
1. Holiday: Michigan vs. Colorado State
2. Rose: Penn State vs. Oregon
3. Citrus: Ohio State vs. Alabama
4. Hall of Fame: Wisconsin vs. Duke
5. Liberty: Illinois vs. East Carolina
6. Orange: Nebraska vs. Miami
7. Sugar: Florida vs. Florida State
8. Fiesta: Colorado vs. Notre Dame
9. Peach: North Carolina State vs. Mississippi State
10. Cotton,: Texas Tech vs. Southern California
11. Freedom: Arizona vs. Utah
12. Independence: Texas Christian vs. Virginia
13. Gator: Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech
14. Sun: Texas vs. North Carolina
15. Copper: Oklahoma vs. Brigham Young
16. Alamo: Baylor vs. Washington State
17. Aloha: Kansas State vs. Boston College
18. Carquest: South Carolina vs. West Virginia
19. Las Vegas: Central Michigan vs. UNLV
20. Heritage: South Carolina State vs. Grambling
Tiebreaker -Michigan vs. Colorado State Total Points:
Name:
Phone:
+
Last Week
Overall
*This week's guest selector is Michigan men's basketball player Maceo
Baston. The selector three weeks ago was women's cross country coach Mike
McGuire who picked six of 10 games correctly.
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