The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 5,_1996 - 13k
Grapplers head to
Vegas
By Evan Braunstein
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan wrestling team will
travel to Las Vegas this weeked, but
the wrestlers won't have much time
to bet at the craps tables. The Las
Vegas Classic is the Wolverines' first
team tournament of the season, and
they will spend most of the trip on
the wrestling mats.
The tournament includes almost
40 steams from around the country,
and the Wolverines will have a
chance to see how they stack up
against the top teams in the NCAA.
. "A lot of the best teams will be
there, like Oklahoma and Oklahoma
State," Michigan coach Dale Bahr
said. "But some conference teams,
such as Ohio State and Wisconsin
will also be there. We'll have an
opportunity to wrestle most of the
top western schools."
Michigan is ranked ninth in the
nation by Amateur Wrestling News,
and Bahr said the team will treat The
Classic as an early-season NCAA
tournament.
"It's a lot like an NCAA tourna-
ment because there are so many
teams, and they will be running 10 to
12 mats," Bahr said. "(The wrestlers)
can get a feel for what the tourna-
ments will be like at the end of the
season."
Since this meet is a team scoring
event, the Wolverines can only enter
one wrestler per weight class. Bahr is
sending a young lineup led by 167-
pound junior Jeff Catrabone.
Catrabone is ranked third in the
nation at his weight class and will
use the tournament as a preview of
his competition for the NCAA cham-
pionship.
"Jeff hasn't had a close, competi-
tive match yet this season," Bahr
said. "I look for him to contend for
the national title."
Michigan's freshman clsas is
ranked No. 4 in the nation, and Bahr
has not wasted any time in getting
his inexperienced wrestlers out on
the mat. Seven underclassmen will
wrestle in Vegas, four of them fresh-
men.
Damion Logan heads the class,
wrestling at 126 pounds. Logan has
lost only one match all season while
capturing two tournament titles. The
Classic will be Logan's first test
against top western opponents.
"I just want to shock somebody,"
he said. "I want to get my name men-
tioned."
Other freshmen attending the
meet are Luiey Haddad, Otto Olson
and Joe DeGain. Olson has also
raised some eyebrows by puting
together an 8-3 start this season, with
one tournament title.
"Otto has been impressive in the
early tournaments," Bahr said. "The
Las Vegas Classic will be a great
opportunity for him to evaluate him-
self."
In addition to Catrabone, juniors
Bill Lacure and Airron Richardson
will provide some experience to get
the Wolverines going. Both wrestlers
are nationally ranked and will be
vying for the national championship
in their weight class at the end of the
season.
While this tournament does pro-
vide the Wolverines with a chance to
see some of their future competition,
it does not have any major implica-
tions.
"You want to win," Lacure said.
"But it is important not to let this
tournament effect the end of your
season."
KRISTIN SCHAEFER/Daily
Bill Lacure and the Michigan wrestling team travel to Nevada this weekend to compete in the Las Vegas Classic, which will
be their first team tournament of the season. The ninth-ranked Wolverines have seven freshman wrestling in the classic.
TUMBLERS
Contfnued from Page 12A
Langford and Kate Nellans, bring
new vigor to an already young
1quad. Plocki said she is very excit-
ed about this bunch.
"I feel we have an excellent group
r of freshmen that will push our
upperclassmen for spots in the rota-
tion," Plocki said. "They will
improve the depth on our team and
contribute heavily to our success."
The women's gymnastics squad
will compete in an intrasquad meet
Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cliff Keen
rena.
"Intrasquad opposition allows
them to get a taste of what inter-col-
legiate competition is like," Plocki
said. "There is a lot of opposition
after intrasquad, but we have one
month to get prepared."
Although winning an unprece-
dented sixth consecutive Big Ten
championship crown would be nice,
Plocki doesn't let the pressure of
vinning get to her team.
"We try to make our meets fun and
not too overwhelming," she said.
"Staying focused on our goals and
not worry about those things that we
cannot control is important."
Blue tankers look to dominate at Miami Invitational
By Josh Kieinbaum
Daily Sports Writer
They have a 4-0 record. They've beaten three
Big Ten foes. But as far as the members of the
Michigan women's swim team are concerned,
none of that is as important as the three-day
Miami Invitation which begins tonight in
Oxford, Ohio.
The second-ranked Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten,
4-0 overall) have to be the favorites to win this
nine-team invitational, the first such meet of
the season for them.
The meet will also feature host Miami
(Ohio), Illinois, Kenyon, Wright State, Toledo,
Ball State, Western Kentucky, Drury and
Cincinnati.
This meet is significant because its format is
the same as that of the NCAA Championship
meet: qualifying heats are held each norning,
and finals are held in the evening.
"I want to see how we handle a trials and
finals format with multiple teams in a pool
away from home," Michigan coach Jim
Richardson said. "This will be the first time
we've had to do that, so it's going to be inter-
esting to see how the veterans lead and how the
young swimmers respond."
This meet is also different from a dual meet
chance at qualifying at this meet and added
that several others might do the same.
"We might have
in that it is held over a three-
day period.
"In an invitational, you've
got to swim multiple events
over the course of two or
three days, so you're probably
going to need to have a little
more rest," Richardson said.
"In a dual meet, you've got
hard swimming in only two or
three events in just two
hours."
This tournament will be a
good opportunity for
Michigan's swimmers to
focus on qualifying for the
NCAA Championship. To
qualify, the swimmers have to
beat a qualifying time, which
varies from event to event.
"It's going to be
interesting to see
how the veterans
lead and how the
young swimmers
respond."
- Jim Richardson
Michigan swimming coach,
on this weekend's meet
a couple more who might
come out of the wood-
work, depending on
how much rest they got
over Thanksgiving,"
Richardson said. "It's
kind of like a bonus if
they can (qualify), but
if they don't, it's not
one of those last-chance
situations. If you can do
it, fine, if you can't,, it's
not going to be a detri-
ment to being able to
well in the NCAAs
come March."
The timing of the
meet will also factor
into the outcome. It
comes right after
, so the swimmers have all
little more of a rest than we have before any of.
our other meets this semester to see what we've'
got, and use it as a benchmark to see where we
stand," Richardson said.
The Wolverines should excel in the freestyle
events in the meet. They are led by junior
Bendel, who was an All-American in five
events last year, and Shakespeare, who repre-
sented Canada in the Olympics this past sum-
mer.
"We're really strong in the 200 (meter)
freestyle down to the 50 free," Richardson said.
"That's our strength in terms of quality and
quantity both. I think we're very good in the
individual medleys, the 400 IM and the 200
IM. We have individuals in the breast stroke,
back stroke, and butterfly who can swim at
NCAA scoring level, but if you look at the
number of people who can swim at the NCAA
scoring level, the 200 free, the 100 free, and
the 50 free are definite power events for us."
The mile swim, which is not an event held at
the NCAA Championship, is the only event
scheduled for tonight. The NCAA-qualifying
races will all be held tomorrow and Saturday.
Thanksgiving break
Richardson said that Shannon Shakespeare, had an opportunity to rest.
Jodi Navta and Talor Bendel have a good "It was situated for us where we can take a
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