The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 3, 1997 - 3B
glue wrestlers
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SPORS I.d
BARRY
By Tracy Sandier
Daily Sports Writer
Bucking its way to a strong finish,
the No. 11 Michigan wrestling team
at Ohio State, 31-6, last night in
Columbus.
Michigan wrestler Chris Viola, 118
pounds, set the tone for the meet with a
10-2 major decision over Ohio State's
Mike Glane.
The meet looked as if it might be
close when the Buckeyes' 126-pound
wrestler, Robbie Archer, defeated the
Wolverines' Mat Warner.
But looks can be deceiving. The
W&olverines, who were unavailable for
mment at press time, preceded to win
seven of their next eight matches.
After coming up big at the lower
weight classes and in close matches
against Michigan State on Wednesday,
the Wolverines continued the trend
against the Buckeyes.
In an overtime match, 142-pound
Teya Hill defeated Ohio State's Ryan
Scott by a score of 11-9. Otto Olson, at
158 pounds, was able to squeak by the
Buckeyes' Peter Rogers, 9-7.
Adding to the nail-biting matches for
the crowd at St. John's Arena was 190-
pound Frank Lodeserto's 6-5 win over
Anthony Gary.
The only other Ohio State wrestler to
win was Mitch Clark, who is No. 8 in
the country at 177 pounds.
Going into Friday's meet against
Indiana and Saturday's meet against
Purdue, the Wolverines find themselves
with 7-3 overall dual meet record and a
3-1 record in the Big Ten.
Tonight, All-American wrestlers
Jeff Catrabone and Bill Lacure will
be travelling with Michigan coach
Dale Bahr to the National Wrestling
Coaches Association All-Star Classic
at Clarion University.
JEANNIE SERVAAS/Daily
Michigan wrestler Teya Hill won a 9-7 overtime match in the Wolverines' 31-6 win
over Ohio State This weekend, the team will travel to Indiana and Purdue.
\M' track shines at Meyo, sends six to NCAAs
Men on the upswing after showing at Invite
Blue women's team surprises coach, itself
By Kim Hart
Daily Sports Writer
There is usually a passionate rivalry
between Michigan and Notre Dame in
any sport, especially in track and
field, but when it comes time for the
Meyo Invitational, team rivalry is put
* hold.
For every runner in the meet, the
worst rival is the clock. While the
Michigan men traveled as a team to
Notre Dame, the Wolverines compet-
ed in the Invitational as individuals.
Thirteen Wolverines finished in the
top five places of at least one event,
four Wolverines won their events, and
three Wolverines qualified for the
OC AA indoor championships.
Don McLaughlin and Scott
MacDonald took first and second
places in the Meyo Mile. McLaughlin
came in at 4:04.90 and MacDonald at
4:05.24 to qualify both of them for the
NCAA championships.
Neil Gardner finished the 60-meter
high hurdles in 7.91 seconds, also
qualifying for the championships.
"I think Saturday's meet was a tran-
sition period," Gardner said. "We were
*nning OK, then we were at a
plteau, and this past weekend was a
transition into a more competitive
mode."
Freshman Jay Cantin opened the
eyes of a couple of Fighting Irish in
the 1,000, finishing first in 2:25.58.
Dwanye Fuqua, recently overcom-
ing sickness, grabbed first place in
the 500 with a time of 1:04.46.
"The meet wasn't about winning,"
Fuqua said. "It was about me proving
to myself that the past two weeks was
because I was sick, not because I was-
n't in shape or ready to compete."
Damon DeVasher was another solid
competitor, finishing second in his
two events. He cleared the high jump
bar at 6-feet-10 1/4 and finished the
60 in 6.89 seconds.
The Wolverines are proving to be
strong contenders in the field events.
Along with Devasher's high jump
were Brian Wildfong, third in the shot
put with a throw of 51-feet-11, Martin
Bowman, sixth in the long jump at
20-feet-5 3/4, Taiwo Okusanya, sixth
in the triple jump at 43-feet-10 and
Don Stenger, ninth in the pole vault at
14-feet-5 1/4.
The 4x440 relay had a struggle in
the meet, finishing a distant second to
Ohio State. Brian Theisen suffered an
injury in that race. Earlier, however,
he grabbed third-place finishes in the
60-meter hurdles and the 200.
The Wolverines hope to build on the
performances from the meet to have
momentum going into Big Ten com-
petition. Despite the team's lack of
depth, its talent could take it to the
next level.
"Things are starting to come togeth-
er like they should be," Fuqua said.
"We have so much talent, but people
aren't showing up at the same time. If
we don't show up ... we don't win -
it's crunch time now."
By Chris Farah
Daily Sports Writeu
No one - not even Michigan coach
James Henry - knew how the
Michigan women's track team would
respond to its emotional loss at the
hands of Eastern Michigan a week ago.
Because Saturday's Meyo Invitational
in South Bend wasn't even scored as a
team meet, the Wolverines could have
had a legitimate excuse had they not
met the challenge the Eagles posed.
People would have understood if
Michigan didn't come through Saturday
with its best performance.
Apparently, the Wolverines didn't
care what other people would have
understood. They responded better than
even Henry could have hoped, improv-
ing their efforts, as well as their results.
"They passed the test;' Henry said.
"My expectations were for them to just
come out and continue trudging along,
continue chipping away towards their
etTorts. But this week, results in terms of
improvement in performances were cru-
cial, and that did happen - I was very
pleased."
Several Wolverines took advantage
of their circumstances -overall,
Michigan qualified individuals for three
NCAA coampionship events.
Leading the way was freshman Maria
Brown, who won the 60-meter dash in
7.42 and placed second in the 200 to
highly-touted Notre Dame sprinter
Dominique Calloway, with a time of
24.14. Both times are good enough for
invitations to nationals.
"(Brown) is probably the perfect pro-
totype of an athfete," Henry said. "This
is only her fourth time running in an
indoor competition, and she's improved
every single time she's run.
"She's just working hard day in and:
day out, and hasn't showed much enthu-
siasm towards her performances,
because I think even she knows deep
down inside that she can be a better ath-
lete'
Michigan's second NCAA-qualifier
was sophomore Katie McGregor, who
finished second in the mile in 4:50.00,
Freshman Lisa Ouellet came very
close to also qualifying for nationals
with a winning time of 2:10.70 in the
800 - within I/10 of a second offrnak-
ing the NCAA cut-off time. Although'
she ultimately wants to qualify, her first-
place performance Saturday was a wel-
come improvement over her disappoint-
ing finishes last week at the Michigan:
Intercollegiate.
"Things are looking up right now,
especially after last weekend," Ouellet
said. "Yesterday's race was just a chance
to go out and show them that last week
was kind of a fluke."
Considering how Michigan reacted
to last week's loss, Henry feels the?
Wolverines are well on track to con-
tending for the Big Ten championship.
"As an objective viewer, I would look
at this as a very strong, very balanced
squad," Henry said. " It isn't necessarily:
deep in its performances, but the perfor-
mances that are strong are quite out-
standing."
SOLLENBERGER
Sollenberger in Paradise
D espei/ Iowan empire,.
Bakr has found success.
ale Bahr has seen a lot as Michigan's wrestling coach.
But he doesn't think he'll see much more.
"Wrestling is basically a young person's sport in regards to coaching"
said the 51-year-old Bahr, who is in his 19th year as Michigan coach. "Most of
the coaches are between 30 and 50. I see myself as one of the elder statesmen."
Still, Bahr figures his career has a couple of years left. And what a career it
has been.
His Wolverines have finished in the top 10 at the NCAA championships
seven times. His wrestlers have been named All-American 36 times. And now,
he needs just three league victories to reach the 200-100 plateau (200 overall
victories, 100 Big Ten victories).
"We've won almost two-thirds of our matches since I've been here; "Bahr
said. "I guess I've helped carry on the legacy that Cliff Keen developed."
Keen is Michigan's winningest coach, but he never won a national title.
Neither has Bahr. In fact, Bahr hasn't won a Big Ten title, either.
Those certainly seem like a couple of major voids. But as good as the
Michigan program is, winning the Big Ten and national titles are not realistic
goals for one reason.
It's called Iowa.
You've heard of the Ottoman empire ? The Soviet empire? In wrestling, there's
the Iowan empire.
While Bahr has failed to win the Big Ten title, the Hawkeyes have won an
astounding 23 in a row, a league record for all sports. Iowa has won 14 NCAA
championships in 20 years under coach Dan Gable, including nine in a row
from 1978-86.
And it's not like Iowa wrestles a bunch of cupcakes during the regular season.
The Big Ten is consistently the top wrestling league in the nation, with teams
like Minnesota, Penn State and Michigan always ranked among the nation's
best. In the latest Amateur Wrestling News poll, eight Big Ten teams are ranked
in the top 25.
And yet, every spring at the Big Ten conference championships, Iowa
emerges victorious.
"Gable's just a legendary coach," Bahr said. "I've been around the Bo
Schembechlers and the Johnny Orrs, and there's no one record-wise who can
hold a candle to Dan. Even if you take Johnny Wooden's first 20 years and com-
pare them to Dan, he just doesn't compare."
Nobody does.
Even so, it isn't like Iowa's Big Ten streak has never been in jeopardy. The
Hawkeyes have had to sweat the conference tournament before.
It's a tribute to Bahr that Michigan came closest to breaking Gable's streak,.
back in 1988-89.'
"I guess my two fondest recollections revolve around Iowa," Bahr said.
"Because they are the measuring stick with which all wrestling has been mea-
sured."
In the 1988-89 season, at a Big Ten dual-meet tournament, the Wolverines
beat Purdue, Indiana and then Iowa in the final, 23-17, to capture the title. The
loss was Iowa's first in 98 Big Ten matches.
Later that year at the Big Ten championships, the Wolverines led Iowa by 10
points after the first day. During its current Big Ten title streak, no team before
or since has led Iowa after the first day of the championships.
The lead didn't last.
The Hawkeyes overcame Michigan the next day to keep their conference
streak alive. Bahr's Wolverines were devastated. They had missed a chance to
destroy, or at least weaken, the empire.
"It was kind of frustrating, because the kids wrestled great that first day, and
was a chance to knock Iowa off," Bahr said. "We didn't seize the moment."
See PARADISE, Page 7B
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