r . E L N . The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, January 22, 1996 - 7B Wrestlers By Jennifer Hodulik Daily Sports Writer Go big or stay home. if wrestling was as simple as that, Michigan (5-4) might well be on its -way to a national title. n Friday night against an inferior tral Michigan team, the upper weight classes dominated the over- matched Chippewas (2-4), sweeping the final five matches. However, the lower weight classes proved to be a weakness for the No. 13 Wolverines as wrestlers under 158-lbs. dropped four of the first five decisions. Michigan coach Dale Bahr acknowl- edged the trend in Michigan wrestling to load up talent in the heavier weight *ses while the lighter weight classes remain out of the spotlight. "That has been our history in recent years," Bahr said. "The lower classes have to step up. They need to get better and they need to wrestle better." Friday's event opened with a close 4- 3 victory by Central's Davon Gray over Michigan's Joe Warren at 118-lbs. Warren, a freshman, has been success- so far this season, compiling a 14-9 rd. After Wolverine sophomore Bran- don Howe (126) won a convincing 9-2 rally past decision over Chippewa Brian Maksimowski, the meet was tied at three. However, freshman Corey Grant (134), junior Drew Pullen (142) and freshman Jeff Reese (150) dropped the following three matches for Michigan, placing the Wolverines at a 12-3 disad- vantage. But this lead was short-lived. Michi- gan sophomore Bill Lacure (158) set the tone for the remaining matches by scoring four points on a major decision over Ken Rumps, 14-3. After a win by sophomore Jeff Catrabone at 167, senior captain Jesse Rawls Jr. (177) also recorded a major decision forthe Wolverinesover Armin Michelson, 19-5. Another bright spot for Michigan was senior Lanre Olabisi's 8-2 win over Mike Mikesell at 190. In filling in for the injured Frank Lodeserto, Olabisi recorded his first career dual meet vic- tory and put the Wolverines ahead for good. "That was a nice win for us," Bahr said. "We needed some backup at 190 and heavyweight, and we needed him." Rounding out the competition was a 3-1 overtime victory by Michigan sophomore Airron Richardson over " uippewas Rollie Ferris. The consensus opinion following the meet was that Michigan must improve in the lower weight classes to stay competitive in a Big Ten conference that features 11 teams ranked in the top 25. "We're not going to win very many matches in the Big Ten if we don't win two of the first four matches," Bahr said. "I knew we would have problems in that area." Catrabone, who turned in a typically strong performance to improve his dual meet record to 9-0, agreed with his coach. "A lot of our lower classes need to work harder," Catrabone said. "Real good teams are going to take advantage of this weakness." Bahr also indicated that inexperience was a factor in the early losses. "We've got four new people in those weight classes," Bahr said. "Three of those are freshmen." Rawls was optimistic that the lower weight classes would contribute more to the team in time. "We've got tough guys in the upper weight classes that have been around," Rawls said. "The lower classes should come around by the end of the season." ELIZABETH LIPPMAN/Daiy Michigan's senior captain Jesse Rawls Jr. putting Central Michigan's Armin Michelson to the mat in Friday's victory. Gophers golden in upset of women By Nancy Berger Daily Sports Writer The Minnesota women's gymnastics team has just accomplished a feat that no other Big Ten team has been able to do for almost three years. Saturday night at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, the Golden Gophers de- feated Michigan. The Wolverines haven't lost to a Big Ten foe since they were beaten by Michi- gan State at the State ofMichigan Classic on Feb. 7, 1993. Their streak of 32 con- secutive dual meet victories also ended. "What happened was that we breezed through the first meet and we got compla- cent," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said after the 191.25-190.325 Gopher win. "lopefully we learned a lesson." For the Wolverines, losing the meet was not as painful as the loss of one of their top performers. Freshman Nikki Peters could not finish her routine after being hampered by leg trouble. As a result of Peters' injury and her performance in the event, Michigan was forced to drop her low score and use senior co-captain Dianna Ranelli's score of 9.275 as the fifth score in the event. Michigan's results on the floor were reflective of how the gymnasts felt. "RanelIi had sonic stomach problems and nissed her first pass," Plocki said. "Heather Kabnick landed short on her first and second passes and could barely finish her routine." For Michigan, the cloud that lingered over Minneapolis had a little silver lining - the Wolverines scored a Sports Pavil- ion-recordon the vault with 49.025 points. Michigan's domination on the appara- tus was not even contested by Minnesota as the Wolverines swept the first five places and outscored their opponent by almost two points. Peters emerged victorious in the event with a score of 9.90, while senior co- captain Wendy Marshall finished third (9.875) and Kabnick finished the sweep (9.80). With its successan the vault.Michican was looking to get back on track after a dismal start on the uneven bars. "Only two girls did well on the bars and four fell," Plocki said. "I thought that we got on track on the vault." This was not the case as Kabnick and Ranelli fell on the floor and lost Peters was lost to injury. M innesota, however, would not allow this meet to be another"busi ness-as-usual" day for Michigan. Minnesota had a gymnast place firsin the other three events. Mindy Knaeble led the Gophers, win- ning the all-around (38.90) and floor (9.850). Other individual winners for Minne- sota were Susan Castner on the balance beam (9.80) and Kristin Vandersall on the uneven bars (9.825). Marshall led the Wolverines, placing second in the all-around (38.90) and in the vault (9.875). Marshall was followed by junior An- gymnasts drea Mc[Donald, who placed third in the all-around(38.350),bars(9.825)andfloor (9.850). Despite a loss at the hands of a BigTen team, sophomore Lauren LaBranche doesn't feel that the team is headed in the wrong direction. "i don't think it will effect us nega- tively," LaBranche said. "Everyone has to stick together, keep this season in per- spective, and make realistic goals." STEPHANIE GRACE LIM/Daidy Michigan's loss to Minnesota was its first to a Big Ten opponent since Feb. 7, 1993. Join our winning team Write for Daily Sports. 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