10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 12, 1996 Abe crucial link to Penn State's success By Will McCahill Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING-Saturday, he was the only Big Ten wrestler with his own camera crew. Sunday, he was the only Big Ten cham- pion with his own camera crew. Meet Sanshiro Abe of Penn State, the best 126-pound wrestler in the confer- ence. The fifth-year senior has been the driv- ing force behindthe team's 1995-96 cam- paign, which thus farhas brought aNo. 11 national ranking and a second-place fin- ish in last weekend's Big Ten tournament to the Nittany Lions. A three-man crew from the Tokyo Broadcasting System followed Abe from StateCollegeintothebowels ofthe Breslin Center as he got down tothenitty-gritty of r - a- * Lecture Notes * Course Packets * Resume Services * Copy & Bindery * Fax Services winning a Big Ten crown. Abe missed six of the Nittany Lions' final nine meets while wrestling at tour- naments overseas. The three events, held in Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria in Febru- ary, helped Abe train for two events: the Big Ten championships and, more im- portantly, this spring's Asian Games, which determine spots on the Japanese Olympic squad. Abe has already earned his spot on the Japanese national squad and needs only to finish in the top four at the Asian Games to book his ticket to Atlanta. Despite his relatively diminutive stat- ure - he's 5-foot-5 - he has made a huge impact on his team's results during the regular season. While the Lions went 8-2-1 in meets in which Abe competed, they went 3-6 in his absence. Although wrestling is not a popular spectator sport in Japan,the Tokyo Broad- casting System deemed Abe's quest for a Big Ten title worthy of televising. Abe, evidently oblivious to the glare of the lights and unbiased stare of the lens, ripped the competition to shreds. He powered through his first opponent, Ohio State sophomore Mike Glane, pin- ning him just 1:30 into the first round. Abe's next opponent fared a little bet- ter against the Lions' pride, as Michigan State senior Brian Bolton was rendered a loser after being pinned 6:36 into the match. This win clinched a berth in the finals for Abe - a highly anticipated show- down with Iowa's Jeff McGinness, with whom Abe has often flip-flopped at the top of the national rankings. But alas, it was not to be for Abe, as McGinness pulled up lame before the final bout and had to forfeit. Although he was disappointed at hav- ing been denied a showdown with the Iowa wrestler, Abe has his sights set on the ultimate goal - the final show- down at the NCAA championships at Minneapolis' Target Center March 21- 23. "I was kind of looking forward to see- ing him in (the Big Ten tournament)," Abe said Sunday after being awarded the conference title. "But I'd rather win the nationals." Afterlosing to McGinness in last year's Big Ten final, Abe had hoped to avenge his defeat on center stage at Breslin. But now, maybe, he'll get another chance - and on a bigger stage. "We'll find out at the nationals... hope- fully." Grade A Note Takers are Seniors and Grad Students. They attend class and take accurate and complete lecture notes. These notes can make great supplemental study guides. Anthro 110 Astron 103 Bio Sci 101 BioSci 112 Bio Sci 241 Bio Sci 312 Chem 251 Crim Just 101 Econ 321 Geog 140 History 101 Mngmt 475 Nutr 151 Poni Sci 100 Fin/Econ 365 BOOKSTORE Stop by and check them out! Grade A Notes at Ulrich's Bookstore Second Floor " 549 E. University 9 741-9669 M' tumblers struggle in New Mexico By Sharat Raju Daily Sports Writer What a tough week. This sentiment could not be more ap- plicable to the Michigan men's gym- nastics team's recent trip West. After taking fourth in the four-team field at Brigham Young on March 7, the Wolverines met the same fate at New Mexico on March 9 -they finished last out of six schools. "There are two different leagues now, the top five or top 10 teams in the natic that we are competing with," Michigan coach Bob Darden said. "We'renot com- peting at that level." The host Lobos won the meet with 227.9 points, followed by Penn State (225.575), Michigan State (222.65), Ari- zona State (214.225), Air Force (212.3) and Michigan. The Wolverines showed a slight im- provement from their last competition. At New Mexico, the team scored 209. points compared to its 207.5 showing BYU. "We're still tryingto work consistency into our competitions," Darden said. "We're trying to show how hard we're training by bringing it to the floor." "Consistency" is the key word. "Although we improved (from March 7), we didn't hit sets," Michigan senior -Chris Onuska said. "We hadthe same old inconsistency." Onuska, however, has been one C the Wolverines' most reliablegymnasts. He finished ninth in the all-around with a score of 53.2 and recorded a 9.45 on the pommel horse. Junior Flavio Martins and senior Kris Klinger also contributed. Martins re- ceived a 9.35 on the rings, and Klinger led the squad in the high bar with a 9.2. Some pleasant surprises came from freshman Randy D'Amura and sopho- more Tim Lauring. D'Amura led th* team in both meets in the floor exercise with scores of 9.2 and 9.4. Lauring had a career-best vault performance, scor- ing a 9.35. However, Michigan was outdone by individuals from the otherfive schools. Blaz Puljic of New Mexico won the all- around with 56.85, highlighted by a 9.8 on the pommel horse and a 9.7 on the high bar. Teammate Kendall Schiessi finished first on the horse with 9.9. Penn State's Steve McSparren won the floor exercise with 9.85. Michigan State's Joe Duda (55.65) and Ethan Sterk (55.6)capturedthethird andfourth spots, respectively, in the all-around. This season has proved to be a rebuild- ing year, Darden has said. The Wolver- ines hope improve now and in the future. "Our goal is to send a clear message (to our recruits): We have been and will be, in the near future, contenders at a+ national level," Darden said. TOURNEY Continued from Page 9 ter and more confident, and it's really fun to see." Penders is a solid coach, but he is an even better magician. Back in November, Penders appeared to have assembled his team, waved his magic wand, and shouted: "Abracadabra!" The results .. Freshman Chico Vazquez went from a high school forward to the Longhorns' starting pointguard. Freshman Kris Clark was moved from high school small for- ~w w E k'E ~ w~nlAVd f~m icxh~cbn1 ~21If..