10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 27, 1996
Blue grapplers
to taCkle Iowa
powerhouses
By Jordan Field -
Daily Sports Writer
On the wall of the Michigan wrestling team's practice
room in Crisler Arena, there is a sign that says, "Fatigue
Makes Cowards Of Us All. Fatigue Can Conquer You or
You Can Conquer Fatigue."
Those will be words to live by as the the Wolverines
head to Wisconsin for the all-day Northern Open on Friday.
"This is going to be a grueling day for all of us,"
Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "It's a long one-day tour-
nament, our guys will be wrestling from eight in the morn-
ing to 10 at night. That's a long 14 hours."
The No. 10 Wolverines will be facing national power-
houses such as No.1 Iowa and No. 4 Iowa State. With the
challenge ahead of them, the Wolverines are confident
coming off a positive showing in East Lansing last week-
end at the Michigan Open.
"We faced very good competition last week, and we
know we are going to see strong competition at this Open
as well," Bahr said. "The teams (in Wisconsin) may even
be a notch above the teams last week, and that just means
that we'll have to pick our performance one notch as
well."
Michigan will be led by returning All-Americans, Bill
Lacure (150), Jeff Catrabone (158) and Airron Richardson
(heavyweight). Each looks to this tournament as an oppor-
tunity to secure an early-season win.
''For me, my goal going into a tournament like this is to
win the tournament," Richardson said. "There will be some
very good wrestlers there, and this is my chance to beat
some ranked guys.
"This is a tough tournament and I didn't place in this
tourney last year. My goal without a doubt is to go there
and leave with a win."
Michigan will be without All-American Brandon Howe
(126), who is sidelined for the season with a shoulder
injury. The Wolverines won't be at any disadvantage
though, as this tournament is solely an individual tourna-
ment and does not calculate team points.
Michigan will also not be at any disadvantage, because
Howe's replacement at the 126-pound class is unbeaten
freshman Damion Logan.
Logan, a true freshman, is 8-0. He won the Michigan
Open and shared first place at the Muskegon Open.
"I'm a freshman and still the underdog in every match,"
Logan said. "I have nothing to lose, and I go out every
match and try my best to win."
Michigan may also be without Chris Viola (118), who
injured his groin in the Michigan Open. But even with him
out of the lineup, Michigan is feeling optimistic going into
Wisconsin.
"This tournament is still really early in the season,"
Michigan assistant coach Joe McFarland said. "Everyone
can learn, and every gains from a tournament like this."
Bahr agrees that, although this tournament has implica-
tions to be very tiring and competitive, it also does not put
pressure on the wrestlers.
"Everyone healthy will get a chance to wrestle and this
will be a good experience for everyone," he said. "It's a
chance to see guys wrestle and to solidify our depth as a
team."
Hoops, sun, leis at the.
Rainbow Classic
By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
Basketball, sunshine, beaches and luaus - the
basic ingredients to a typical Thanksgiving.
Yeah, right.
Well, for the Michigan women's basketball team
it is.
For their Thanksgiving, the Wolverines will head
west to Honolulu to compete in the 18th Annual
Rainbow Wahine Classic. The Wolverines will be
part of a field including powerhouses Stanford and
Stephen F. Austin.
Hawaii will host this weekend's tournament and
will be participating as well.
Michigan comes into the tournament riding high
with its 3-0 start. The Wolverines crushed visiting
Rice on Monday night, 81-55, in their first home
game of the season. The victory against the Owls
was sandwiched between this weekend's tourna-
ment and the Western Michigan tournament played
two weeks ago.
At the invitational in Kalamazoo, Michigan was
able to win its first tournament since hosting the
Dominos Pizza Wolverine Classic in 1983. The
Western Michigan trophy was brought home to Ann
Arbor on the backs of Michigan's Pollyanna Johns
and Stacey Thomas.
Johns was named tournament MVP The junior
center averaged 15 points, seven rebounds and two
assists in two victories over Kentucky and
Northeastern Illinois. Freshman Thomas provided
stellar play as Michigan's off-guard, averaging 14.5
points in the tournament.
But after facing mediocre talent, the Wolverines
may face their first real non-conference test. against
the likes of Stanford and Stephen F. Austin. But
first, Michigan will have to overcome Virginia Tech
(I 1-17) in its opening-round matchup.
Following their disappointing season, the Hokies
planned to have four starters back from last year's
squad. But the number is only three due to the
departure of forward Michelle Hollister.
Hollister, who led the Hokies in scoring and
rebounding last season, withdrew from the univer-
sity earlier this season due to personal reasons.
The Hokies will now look to guard Sherry Banks
for leadership. The senior started off strong i
Virginia Tech's season opener, scoring 16 points in
its 89-86 victory over North Carolina-Greensboro.
If the Wolverines get past a depleted Virginia
Tech, they will head to the winner's bracket of the
Classic to face the winner of Friday's Hawaii-
Pittsburgh contest. However, should Michigan drop
its first game, the Wolverines will play in the loser's
bracket, facing the Hawaii-Pittsburgh loser.
The marquee matchup in the tournament could
be in the second round. A second-round contesl
between Stanford and Stephen F. Austin is possible.
The game would pit perennial Final Four member
Stanford against the 14th-ranked Ladyjacks.
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
Amy Johnson and the Wolverines will take their 3-0 start to the beaches and sun-
shine of Hawaii this weekend at the 18th Annual Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.
Spikers finish up with Iowa, Illini K'9'
By Sharat Raju
Daily Sports Writer
Sixth place doesn't sound too exciting. People
don't often remember who winds up in sixth at sea-
son's end.
But for the Michigan women's volleyball team,
sixth place doesn't look too bad.
As recently as a month ago, the Wolverines were
in ninth place in the Big Ten. But recently, Michigan
has been on a tear, winning its last two matches con-
vincingly and playing sound volleyball.
On Friday, the Wolverines (7-11 Big Ten, 12-17
overall) will host Illinois (7-11, 12-14) and on
Saturday, they will host Iowa (5-13, 10-19) for the
final two matches of the season.
"I think it's kind of neat that we end up the last
weekend, playing the two teams that we're in con-
tention for sixth with," Giovanazzi said. "Other than
pride, that's a good reason to go out and show we
play our best ball in November like we seem to
every year."
Michigan is 4-4 in November. A .500 record may
not seem impressive until you consider that the four
losses were handed to the Wolverines by top-ranked
opponents - No. 4 Penn State, No. 9 Michigan
State, No. 10 Ohio State and No. 15 Wisconsin.
The Wolverines are coming off a weekend in
which they defeated both Purdue and Indiana. It was
their first weekend sweep of the Big Ten season.
"I think we generated a tremendous amount of
momentum from last weekend," Giovanazzi said.
The resurgent Wolverines have been playing
some of their best volleyball of the season. Last
weekend, with the help of career-performances
from Karen Chase, Sarah Jackson and Shareen
Luze, Michigan broke team season-highs in kills,
attempts, assists and blocks.
If they play as well as they have been, the
Wolverines have a good chance of defeating both
Illinois and Iowa, which would mean sole posses-
sion of sixth place.
The Illini dropped both matches last weekend to
Penn State and Ohio State. This season marks the
first time that Illinois has ever finished lower than
fourth place.
The Hawkeyes have lost eight of their past 10
matches, most recently to Penn State and Ohio
State. They are led by Jennifer Webb - Iowa's all-
time kill leader.
The Wolverines are hoping that their recent suc-
cess will translate into a weekend sweep.
"We're kind of fired up," Giovanazzi said. "We
really have ... only one or two seniors contributing
now. Everyone else is coming back, so we have a
pretty good feeling about using this as momentum
for years to come, too."
After you enjoy
your turkey, enjoy
Daily Sports.
We'll be back Monday.
We promise.
Ii
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
The Michigan volleyball team has been spiking its competition lately.
iwi ®.irs .r-.wiwew. =
ROUNDUP
Continued from Page 9
Field Hockey
Michigan attacker Michelle Smulders
was chosen Monday to the National
Field Hockey Coaches Association All-
America second team.
The senior scored a team-high 17
goals and 36 points on her way t*
becoming one of the most dangerous
offensive threats to ever wear the Maize
and Blue.
Her career total of 33 goals places her
third on Michigan's career goals list
behind leader Kay McCarthy and Marty
Mugh.
I
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