The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 15, 1995 - 11 eBlue to wrestle crowd at NCAAs By Jed Rosenthal Daily Sports Writer When theMichigan wrestlingteam concludes its postseason schedule at the NCAA Championships in Iowa City this weekend, the Wolverines will face a different kind of opponent. One which they have yet to con- front this season. The crowd. And to make matters more com- plicated, Michigan will have two in- experienced freshmen wrestling. This will be no easy task. Complete from a season of medi- ocrity which ended with a sub-par showing at the Big Ten Champion- ships where they placed fifth, the No. 13 Wolverines will face their stiffest competition this year. The top wres- tling programs from across the nation will be represented at . this tourna- ment. And then there is Iowa. The Hawkeyes sport as much success in their wrestling program as David Hasselhoff does in Ger- many. They have won 22 consecu- tive Big Ten titles and the most *National Championships ever in the history of the sport. And they are No. 1. Having been deemed "pointless" and "meaningless" by 167-pound Chad Biggert, the dual matches have been finished for a month. The Wol- verines have been preparing for this moment allseason, and with five wres- tiers qualifying for NCAAs, they have a legitimate chance of placing in the top ten. "I'd like to think that of our five guys, we can come out with at least three All-Americans," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "And possibly Chad (Biggert) could contend for the national title." Yet the Wolverines will miss one of their mainstays in the lineup. Jun- ior Jesse Rawls Jr. (177-pounds), wrestling with a torn anterior cruci- ate ligament at the Big Tens, wors- ened his condition and opted for surgery. 126-pound freshman Bran- don Howe replaces Rawls as a wildcard entry. "We're going to definitely miss Jesse, both as a wrestler and for emo- tional support," Bahr said. "He's a real good kid, and it's just a shame what has happened to him this sea- son." Howe has not had such a fine season, and he will have some huge shoes to fill. However, he can relate to Rawls' condition. "I can sympathize with Jesse," Howe said. "I tore up my knee last season, and I know what it's like. Jesse has had this problem before and has had surgery. He's going to have a long road ahead of him with recovery, but I know he'll bounce back. He's done it before." Accompanying Biggert and Howe will be 190-pound Jehad Hamdan, 158-pound Jeff Catrabone and fresh- man heavyweight Airron Richardson. Richardson has come full circle this season, as he played football for Morehouse College last year instead of wrestling. "Airron is a question mark," Bahr said. "He could do real well or he could lose a couple like the way he did in the Big Tens. He's right there with everybody, but then again, he hasn't had so much experience that he could hammer everybody. It just depends on how he gets going in the tourna- ment." And then there is the crowd, which poses the threat of intimidating the referees. "That's the one thing that bothers me as a coach," Bahr said. "It hap- pened at the Big Tens. I think the fans could influence the officials to a cer- tain degree, and it might happen here. But the fans can't get out there and wrestle the match." The Wolverines hope to keep the crowd out of the match by coming out aggressive and making an impact on the officials. Biggert is anxious about his na- tional audience. "I look forward to the Iowa faith- ful," Biggert said. "It's not often you get to wrestle in front of a big crowd like this weekend. It will just get me up more. But I don't care, because when I hear them cheer, Ijust imagine it's for me." EVAN PETRIE/Daily Michigan heads to Austin, Texas this weekend for the NCAA Championships. The second-ranked Wolverines are taking 17 swimmers to race against archrival No. 1 Stanford as well as Southern Cal and Florida. Women 'S waiting is over Swimmers finally get to make bid for NCAA crown By Rebecca Moatz Daily Staff Writer After an entire season of antici- pation, the time has come. The Michigan women's swim- ming team will begin its first day of competition at the NCAA Champi- onships in Austin, Texas tomorrow. The Wolverines enter the three- day event ranked second, with a full roster of 17 swimmers. The team finished the season with a 7-1 over- all record, losing only to top-ranked Stanford by two points. Last month, the Wolverines won their ninth consecutive Big Ten Championship, with first place fin- ishes in 12 of the 20 events. Even though senior captain Alecia Humphrey won four events at Big Tens, she, as well as sopho- more Rachel Gustin and freshman Talor Bendel, were not rested for the meet. They did not swim their fastest times. The three have been tapering for two or more weeks to prepare for NCAAs. Since Michigan finished its sea- son over a month ago, the Wolver- ine coaching staff was worried about the length of time between Big Tens and NCAAs and thus scheduled a triangular meet to break up the time. Michigan hosted Texas and Penn State two weeks ago to give them- selves one final competitive prac- tice before the national champion- ship meet. That leaves them with this weekend's meet. For the first time ever, Michigan may infiltrate the ranks of the nation's swimming powerhouses and be the first team to steal an NCAA title from Stanford, Texas and Florida. "I think there really is a chance," Humphrey said. "It just depends on how the other teams swim." Stanford enters the meet with the No. 1 seed in its attempt to earn a fourth consecu- tive NCAA title. Southern Cal holds the third seed and Florida holds the fourth. Michigan's Humphrey success at the Big Ten meet has the team excited and confident for NCAAs. The unprecedented first through fifth place finish in the 200-yard backstroke at Big Tens has Humphrey, senior Jennifer Almeida and junior Beth Jackson seeded in the top six for the event in Austin, while freshman Linda Riker and sophomore Melisa Stone are seeded in the top 20. Both the 200 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay teams are seeded second, while Michigan's other relay teams, the 200 medley relay and the 400 and 800 free re- lays are ranked in the top five. Relays always play an important role in NCAA meets. Last year Florida coach Chris Martin summed up all of the coaches' feelings when he said, "No relays, no meet." The results of the relay races may prove to be crucial for the Wol- verines, as they lost the Stanford meet in the final relay. This weekend's meet will pro-' vide Humphrey with her final op- portunity to win an NCAA title. In four years of swimming for Michi- gan, Humphrey has garnered 16 Big Ten titles, eight All-American hon- ors and has grasped the natio'n's top times in both the 100 and 200 back- strokes. In December, she swam the third- fastest 200 backstroke ever. Of the 17 Michigan swimmers participating in the meet, eight are returnees. The nine newcomers feel they are ready to enter the biggest meet of the season. "The most important thing is sticking together and being a team," Bendel said. "We have to remain a team and not be individuals if we want to win the meet." "The most im Portant thing is sticking together as a team. We have to remain a team and not in1- dividuals," - Talor Bendel Michigan swimmer And after having a successful season, the Wolverines have their eyes on one thing - the national crown. JOE WESTRATE/Daily The Wolverines are hoping to grapple a top-ten finish at the NCAA Championships in Iowa City this weekend. Lacrosse hopes to improve against the Spartans Michigan will try to stick another Big Ten title when it hosts Michigan State tonight at Oosterbaan By Amber Uyesato For the Daily The Michigan men's lacrosse eam's first conference match for the 1995 season has finally arrived, and not a day too soon. The Wolverines, thedefending Big Ten Champions, have not been play- ing up to expectations. In its last contest, Michigan was routed by the Lake Shore Lacrosse Club of Chicago, 23-11, dropping to 1-2. Today, Michigan hopes to redeem itself andreturn to championship form against Michigan State. The Wolver- ines begin their quest to defend their title atl0 p.m. tonight at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. Michigan lost four key players from last year's championship team, including its top two scorers and top two defensemen. The Wolverines will especially Oniss attackman Steve Simich, who was the team's best offensive player think it' good that we're starting our Big Ten season because it gets guys thinking of the bigger picture." - John Kolakowski Michigan lacrosse player whelmed Michigan State last season, beating the Spartans, 12-0. Never- theless, Michigan coach Robert DiGiovanni thinks this upcoming DO match may not be as easy a win as last season."1 * * * "I think it is going to be a more difficult game this year because I think they're more organized and they're N going to have more talent out there," POOL DiGiovanni said. "But I'm confident that we can chalk up our first Big Ten 1220 South Uiversity 665-7777 victory." 21 and over after 9n RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS two years in a row, and defenseman Ben Homuhth, who was Michigan's top defensive player for two years. Both players graduated along with defenseman Gannon Dudlar. Junior midfielder Dave Reichel is study- ing abroad, and he will return next season. The team, however, has 24 return- ing players and also has starting goaltender Anil Arora returning from injuries. Despite this, the Wolverines are still not playing as well as they would like to on the field or in practice. "Lately, in practice, wejusthaven't seemed to have much focus and we haven't been playing well at all," se- niormidfielderJohn Kolakowski said. In spite of the team's sub-par play, Kolakowski is still confident about its first Big Ten game. "I think it's good that we're start- ing our Big Ten season because it gets guys thinking of the bigger picture," Kolakowski said."This will hopefully get guys focused and hopefully will improve our play." . Interstate rival Michigan State may be just what it takes to motivate the Wolverines. The Spartan club team, only in its third season, has played Michigan twice and lost both matches. The Wolverines easily over- 1 I There's a world beyond your campus. " Earn academic credits while taking classes in Spanish or English at the S.U F .....,,.q :y' 4 , ..... ti. ' Lh w - '+. v v v ,aqv + ; v vx v vv ": . y :; ..