The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 3, 1997 - 3B glue wrestlers clock Buckeyes 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." 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