The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, March 11, 1996 - 38
M wrestlers take
-7th at Big Tens
Wolverines qualify 6 for NCAA
journament; Iowa grabs title again
By Will McCahill
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING-Theobvious con-
nection here is between the Iowa
Hawkeyes and Richard Nixon.
Not since three years before Tricky
Dick was able to utter the words "I am not
a crook"has Iowa been able to say "I am
not a Big Ten champ."
The Hawkeyes won their 23rd straight
.nference crown yesterday before a
healthy crowd of 3,347 at the Breslin
Center, edging Penn State by a slim 62.5-
point margin (a margin, incidentally,
greater than the total number of points
scoredby seventh-place Michigan,which
finished with 57).
In light of Iowa's continued domi-
nance oftheconferencetoumey,the event
has Y- for the Big Ten's other teams -
#olved into an opportunity to qualify
restlers for the NCAA Tournament
while showcasing their talents before a
larger-than-normal audience.,
Michigan, then, seized its chances at
thetoumament,qualifying sixteammem-
bers for the collegiate championships, to
take place March 21-23 in Minneapolis.
Sophomore JeffCatraboneled the way
for the Wolverines, placing second in the
158-pound class, possibly the
Catrabone, who entered the Big Tens
itha 19-match winningstreakandaNo.
national rankinglost a tightly fought 4-
3 decision to Iowa's Joe Williams.
Williams,thenation's top-ranked 158-
pounder, grabbed the lead with an early
takedown, then quickly added another
before the end of the first period to build
a 4-2 lead going into the second frame.
The"Hawkeye Incinerator"-as Wil-
liams is nicknamed - came close to
pinning Catrabone with about 10seconds
left in the second period, but the two
rolled out of bounds.
Catrabone was able to add a point by
escaping after starting the final stanza in
the downposition,butthat wasascloseas
he would come to upending Williams.
"I didn't wrestle the match I wanted to
wrestle,"Catrabone said. "He blasted me
with (a takedown) right off the bat - I
don't know if I was quite aware of what
was going to happen."
Michigan coach Dale Bahr said Will-
iams' aggressive early moves caught
Catrabone off guardand forced a change
in the game plan.
"(Williams)neverhadto takethedown
position because he was ahead," Bahr
said. "He took control and we were basi-
cally wrestling his ball game."
Senior co-captain Jesse Rawls Jr. gave
Michigan its second-highest finish, plac-
ing fourth in the 177-pound class.
Rawls, ranked fifth in the country go-
ing into the weekend, lost to Iowa's Curt
Heideman, 5-4, on a controversial stall-
ing call in sudden-death overtime.
Heideman, seeded sixth in the tourna-
ment, and holdinga No. 13 national rank-
ing, used his shorter, stronger frame to
build a 3-0 lead after two periods, despite
back to the canvas several times.
Rawls was able to escape from the
down position to start the second round,
andhetook Heideman downshortly there-
after to knot the score at three.
Ariding-time advantageenabled Rawls
to pull back into a tieat the end ofregula-
tion, and the 4-4 score held through two
minutes of overtime.
But Heideman won the coin toss in
sudden death and started from the down
KRISTEN SCHAEFER/Daily
Bill Lacure qualified for the NCAA Tournament with a fourth-place finsh, yesterday.
position,and was close to escaping within
the allotted 30 seconds when Rawls was
whistled for the stall.
"Usually the refs don't call anybody for
stalling when it gets to overtime," Rawls
said. "The wrestler is supposedto win it."
In earlier matches, redshirt freshman
Chris Viola and sophomores Brandon
booked themselves tickets to Minneapo-
lis by finishing in the top six of their
respective weight classes.
Of these four, Viola was the only one
who won his match yesterday, outlasting
Penn State's Jason Betz, 12-10.
The win gave Viola fifth place in his
first Big Ten tournament appearance.
Howe, at 126 pounds, qualified for the
NCAAs for the second consecutive sea-
son despite losing a 7-2 decision to
Northwestem's ScottSchatzman. Theloss
gave Howe and the Wolverines sixth
place in that weight class.
At 150 pounds, Lacure lost by a whis-
ker to Illinois' Eric Siebert, 7-6,to finish
in fourth place. After a match that was
nearly even at every tum, Siebert was
able to accumulate enough riding time to
In the heavyweight class, Richardson
was able to overcome a case of strep
throat that had sidelined him all week to
place sixth.
After pinning Ohio State's Nick Nutter
in overtime of his first match Saturday,
Richardson was then pinned in overtime
by Tony Vaughn of Purdue. The loss
seemedto sap whatlittle energy thesopho-
more had left, as he followed the loss to
Vaughn with defeats against Jeff Walter
of Wisconsin and then to Nutter in the
fifth/sixth-place bout.
Both coach and wrestler said they were
a little disappointed with the finish -
Richardson had been seeded third-- but
given the circumstances, securing an
NCAA bid was enough.
"(Richardson) was throwing up after
every match," Bahr said. "He just didn't
have any extra zip."
"I was bummed about today,"
Richardson said, "but when I wake up
tomorrow I'll be happy about making the
NCAAs."
That,indeed,ismoreorlessallateamcan
be happy about coming out of a Big Ten
toumament these days, what with lowaput-
ting the kibosh on any team-title hopes.
Catrabone andhis teammates now turn
their focus to preparing for the trip to
Minneapolis, and hope that the city and
state which gave the world Hubert
Humphrey - a challenger to Richard
Nixon - will give them good luck, re-
venge, and maybe a few national titles.
"We've got a week and a halfofpractice,
and we'll belooking at the match and trying
to come up with a strategy for the next time
I meet (Williams)," Catrabone said.
"Hopefully in the national finals."
Dolpinzs, beer rnd szrn
dombiiate Florida*/ot,
WEY WEST, Fla. - Memo
To: My boss
rom: Ryan
Re: Spring Break column
Okay, I know what you're thinking boss, "He's sending me a letter, he must
have screwed up."
I didn't. Really. Sort of.
Remember that little chat we had where I said I was going to Florida and you
said, "Great! How about a column on some former Michigan baseball playersat
spring training."
Now, I know I said it sounded like a great idea, buta funny thing happened on
the way to the ball park: I drove right by it, and before I knew what happened the
road ended, and I was at Margaritaville.
Sorry.
But let's face it, besides the fact that the big leagues aren't on strike, are there
really any baseball stories in March that are worth writing about?
If you want baseball, though, Key West really isn't a bad place to start. The
Conchs are the No. I high school team in the country according to USA Today.
Key West High School also has a pretty decent softball team. After blowing out
North Miami Beach twice last week, Conch coach Judd Wise told The Key West
Citizen, "The game is about having fun and we did that today."
There's a quote I couldn't have found watching spring training.
I've got to be honest, boss, actual games, like the day of the week, don't really
mean much down here. The column by the sports editor at The Citizen the other
day was about a church that was leaving town. He just linked it to the Cleveland
No, aside from the southern most sports bar, "Time Out," where I watched the
Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2, whilea Rasta-man did his
best Jimi Hendrix impersonation on stage, the games don't garner much attention.
I guess that's what happens when you're 160 miles from the mainland.
I was sure, however, that there had to be something to write about down here so,
being the hard working reporter you think I am, I went in search of sports in the
tropics.
My first stop was the dolphin sanctuary on Sugarloaf Key. Now, watching
dolphins isn't exactly a sport, but neither is most everything outdoor columnists
write about in other papers.
The folks at the sanctuary have taken on the job of getting excess dolphins in
captivity back into their natural habitat. The sanctuary does it with what they call a
"radical" new process of "leaving them alone."
Actually, watching the dolphins chase each other around the bay reminded me a
lot of a swim meet. Flipper and friends swam with all the grace of Tom Dolan -
Dolan is just a little faster.
Obviously being at the end of a string of islands opens up many opportunities fo.
water sports, and the keys offer them all.
For 20 bucks there are dozens of people that would be more than willing to take
you snorkeling, fishing, parasailing or scuba diving.
The biggest spectator sport down here seems to be watching the sunset.
Every day hundreds of people gather on the west end of the island to watch the
sun paint the Caribbean sky, and every day the sun does itsjob, and the people
applaud.
It seems a little funny to be cheering for the sun at first, but think about it boss,
you just have to applaud that kind of consistency.
Still, I hadn't found the true sport of Key West, until I went, to of all places, the
bar.
A folk singer there was singing a song called "The Conch Republic National
Anthem," and part of the lyrics said that in Key West, drinking was considered a
sport.
Of course I had to research this further (noted in the $300 under miscellaneous
on my expense account), and from what I can remember he was right.
Which brings me to the point of this memo, boss. I don't think I'm coming back.
I'll just keep filing from down here and you can mail my check to me in care ofh
Capt. Tony's Saloon.
Thanks for the column idea boss,
Ryan.
- Much to his dismay, Ryan White is back in Michigan. He is also not bein
reimbursedfor his bar tab, but he can be reached over e-mail c
target@umich.edt
Iowa pinned the Wolverines and the rest of the Big Ten at the conference tournament in East Lansing.
HALKO
Continued from Page 1B
ust like (former Michigan captain
avid) Harlock did with Halko."
Four years ago, Halko arrived at
Michigan after scoring 61 points in
his final junior season and found him-
self skating next to the team captain.
jarlock taught him how to forego
offensive glory for defensive domi-
nance.
It worked. Halko learned so quickly
- he soaks knowledge up "like a
,ponge," Berenson says-he was ready
to teach class in just his sophomore
year. With defensemen like Harlock,
Aaron Ward and Chris Tamerlost to the
pro ranks, someone had to take charge.
-SoHalkoacquired his firstpupil: Blake
Sloan.
"(Halko) literally took over the lead-
ership of our defense his sophomore
year," Berenson says. "I saw him as a
potential captain when I recruited him,
nd he was ready to pass on what he'd
earned already (in his secondseason)."
Sloan was paired with Halko for two
years. They skated nearly every shift
together, and Halko is credited with
helping Sloan develop 'into the All-
CCHA candidate he is today.
"Being his partner was one of the best
things that could've happened to me,"
Sloan says. "Hehelpedmethroughthose
freshman mistakes and was there to back
pe up. He always worked so hard, so I
couldn't help but work hard too."
Berenzweig is having the same kind
ofexperiencethis season. The formerly
offensive-minded kid is now a solid
collegianon theblueline,havingpicked
up some pointers from last season's
CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman.
"(Halko) is the greatest defenseman
I've ever played with, and the smart-
est," Berenzweigsays. "He'sdonewon-
ders for my defense."
Halko's humility, however, keeps
him from taking credit, much like his
reserved nature stops him from being
the media's favorite soundbyte.
"I can't say any of (Sloan and
Berenzweig's) success had anything to
do with me," Halko said. "They both
had a lot of talent when they got here .
I've just tried to do what Harlock did
with me."
And for that, the Wolverines gave
him an honor he had never had before.
They named him team captain, giving
him the first "C" of his career. Halko
admits he isn't a typical captain. He
isn't very vocal or "rah-rah."
However, his coach describes him
like he would the perfect pie. Berenson
lists off ingredients for "the perfect
Michigan man: talented, hard-working,
good student, good citizen, loyal and
trustworthy."
From Berenson's description, Halko
could grace the cover of the Boy Scout
manual. But Berenson isn't the only
one with such comments. Opposing
coaches talk about Halko's class. Sloan
and Berenzweig praise their teacher.
And his other teammates give him the
greatest compliment they will give to
another player.
"He's a good guy," they say simply.
"Straight as an arrow."
Berenson says it goes much deeper
than that.
"Our kids chose Halko (to be cap-
tain) as much for the kind of person he
is as the kind of player he is," Berenson
says. "It's not if you're the best player,
it's the kind of person you are. There's
more than hockey to Steven Halko ...
"The way I judge people who come
through here is by asking, 'Would I
hire him?' Would 1 hire Steven Halko? probably ev
In a minute." hockey playt
The question now is: Will the Hart- ate and the t
ford Whalers hire Halko? gree in hand
The NHL club drafted him in the away, and gi
10th round of the 1992 entry draft, but be off to sch
the Whalers didn't come calling until Halko has
last summer. They told him he could
sign and play in the pros this winter,
though they didn't say where.
So Halko talked with Berenson, who
played and coached in both college and
the pros. Halko didn't sign. He was
about to become captain, Berenzweig
would be arriving, and he had some
teaching to do.
"I told Steven that pro hockey is
such a crapshoot," Berenson says. "It's
not a fun business. This is the best
time of his life, and that's why I don't
talk up pro hockey. The reality of it is:
Most that leave are miserable. It's not
a happy business - unless you're
damn good."
No one knows if Halko will be damn
good. He likely won't get into an NHL
game without buying a ticket. If that's ..
the case, no big deal. Berenson doesn't
consider Halko the prototypical Michi-
gan player because of his potential to Halko
play with Hartford.
Instead, it's because he doesn't need
to suit up for the Whalers to have a
bright future.
Whatever happens with hockey, A per
Halko will be happy, he says. There Gothi
won't be any dumbjock jokes. Few will
er guess he was even a
er. The student will gradu-
eacher will move on. De-
d, leadership skills tucked
lasses on his face. He will
ool.
some more teaching to do.
formance piece adapted from Mary Shelley's classic
c Novel and told from the Creature's point of view.
"The myth for our time!"
______ ii
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