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 m , 6- I IIk "1- V