8B -The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday -- March 24, 1997
WRESTLING
Despite one All-American, 'M' wrestlers struggle at NCAAs
By Tracy Sandler
Daily Sports Writer
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - All in all, it
was a pretty tough weekend for the
Michigan wrestling team.
At NCAA championships at the
Northern Iowa, the Wolverines were rep-
resented by unseeded Chris Viola (118
pounds), No. 3 seed Bill Lacure (150
pounds), No. 3 seed Jeff Catrabone (167
pounds) and No. 6 seed Airron
Richardson (heavyweight).
Catrabone came in third place, earn-
ing All-America honors for the second
straight year, while Viola, Lacure and
Richardson were each eliminated from
competition with a third-round loss in
the consolation matches of their respec-
tive weight classes.
Catrabone (167 pounds), the Big Ten
runner-up, lost in the quarterfinals in
overtime, 3-1, to the tournament's run-
ner-up, Pennsylvania's Brandon Slay.
The loss sent Catrabone to the consola-
tion round.
"I felt that I had my things going dur-
ing that match," Catrabone said. "I just
couldn't get in. I couldn't get in for a fin-
ish. Every time I usually get in on my
shot, I finish. I had trouble even getting
inon my shot on him."
After cruising through his first conso-
lation match with a 6-2 win over Central
Michigan's Mike Greenfield, Catrabone
pinned Iowa State's Bart Horton to face
the same opponent he lost to at Big Tens,
Wisconsin's Kevin Wilmot, in the third-
place match. Catrabone won the match,
3-0.
"We were tying up and moving, and
we both took a few good shots,"
Catrabone said. "He took two good shots
in the third period and came close to
scoring. I fought him off. With 15 sec-
onds left, I just dropped down to a single
leg and scored on him to clinch the
match:'
After a disappointing seventh-place
finish at Big Tens two weeks ago, Viola
bounced back. In his first match of the
tournament, Viola took Oklahoma State's
Teague Moore, the No.2 seed, to sudden-
death overtime, before losing, 9-7.
"I thought Chris Viola had a great
tournament;" Michigan coach Dale Bahr
said. "He had a great match (against
Moore). Then, Chris came back and won
three matches, really wrestled great in
the tournament. He was being aggres-
sive. He was getting after (his oppo-
nents)."
In the consolation round, Viola beat
Penn State's Jeremy Hunter, 7-4, and Cal
State-San Luis Obispo's Tyson Rondeau,
12-5. In his next match, he lost to
Michigan State's number three-seeded
and Big Ten Champion David Morgan,
10-5.
"David's one tough competitor," Bahr
said. "To me, David's good enough to be
in the finals. If anybody on our team
stepped it up and wrestled to the best of
his ability, it was Chris."
Two of the biggest disappointments
for the Wolverines were the perfor-
mances of Lacure and Richardson. Each
came as All-Americans, but neither left
with that honor.
Richardson began well. He wdn his
first match and was also victorious in his
following bout, with a 14-2 win over
Fresno State's Darin Priesendorf, giving
Richardson his 100th career victory.
A loss to Nebraska's No. 3 seed Tolly
Thompson in the quarterfinals sent
Richardson to the consolation round,
where he lost to Minnesota's Shelton
Benjamin, whom he defeated at Big Tens.
"The kid's a great athlete," Bahr said.
"He's won the 100-meter and the 200-
meter dash in junior college, besides
being a national champion in wrestling.
He's quick as can be, and if Airron has
any problems, it's (with) the little quick-
er guys."
Richardson did not wrestle as well, or
better, than in his regular-season perfor-
mances.
"Last year, I wrestled above what peo-
ple expected me to," Richardson said. "I
think that's important for a national tour-
nament, to wrestle harder and better than
you have been during the season, and I
didn't.
"When I dropped in the loser's brack-
et, I had a guy I had beaten at Big Tens,
and I still didn't push him hard enough."
For Lacure, the NCAAs got off to a
dubious start. He was ill throughout the
tournament.
"Bill's been sick as a dog," Bahr said.
"He took a couple of different medicines
for his congestion, and he just has not
looked like the Bill Lacure that we know.
He lost his first match to a kid (VMI's
unseeded Jason Foresman) that he
should never have lost to."
Lacure bounced back well with an 8-5
win over Purdue's Mickey Griffin. In the
waning seconds of the bout's final peri-
od, Lacure, trailing, 5-4, scored a two-
point reversal and got two back points to
win the match. One match later he met
Illinois's Eric Siebert. Entering competi-
tion, Lacure had a 2-2 record against
Siebert - including a semifinal victory
at Big Tens - but he was unable to pull
out the win, losing, 3-2.
"I could make up every excuse in the
book for it," Lacure said. "I didn't feel
well, whatever, but I just didn't have a
good weekend. It happened to be the
biggest tournament of the year, and I
happened to be in the worst shape of the
year, probably.
"Mentally, I was fine, until the day
before we left, and I started feeling
sick:"
In the end, the long season may have
just caught up with the Wolverines.
"All year's been a struggle to keep our
head above water," Bahr said. "Most of
the year, they did. The kids hung in there
and hung in there, but I think it takes i
toll. I think mentally it wears on you.
"Finally, at the end, when it's the big
time, you should be fresh and ready to
go. You should be thinking real positive,
and when you've been struggling all
year, it's hard to get up."
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AP PHOTO
Michigan wrestler Jeff Catrabone (167 pounds) was the only Wolverine at the NCAA tournament to place (third) and receive
All-America honors. Chris Viola (118 pounds), Bill Lacure (150 pounds) and Airron Richardson (heavyweight) each lost in the
third round of their respective consolation matches.
Payback for All-American Catrabone
By Evan Braunstein
and Tracy Sandler
Daily Sports Writers
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Sweet
revenge.
Two weeks ago at the Big Ten cham-
pionships in Minneapolis, 167-pound
Michigan wrestler Jeff Catrabone
reached the finals. He was facing
Wisconsin's Kevin Wilmot, a wrestler
whom he had beaten three previous
times. No problem, right? Wrong.
Catrabone lost the match, 4-3.
At this weekend's NCAAs, Catrabone
got a chance to even the score. He lost a
sudden-death overtime bout in the quar-
terfinals to Pennsylvania's Brandon Slay,
the 167-pound runner-up. The loss put
Catrabone in the consolation round,
where he pinned Iowa State's Bart
Horton and beat Arizona State's Casey
Strand, 6-1.
Next up was the second-seeded
Wilmot, this time for third-place at
nationals. The two wrestlers locked-up,
neither one wanting to give an inch.
After a scoreless first period, Catrabone
began the second with an escape to go
up, 1-0. The final period began with
Wilmot choosing to start neutral, mean-
ing he would have to take Catrabone
down in order to win the match.
"The three previous times that I'd
beaten him, he chose down," Catrabone
said. "I rode him out every time. He usu-
ally takes neutral. He took me down
twice in the Big Tens. He probably
thought he could do it again."
Catrabone pulled out a 3-0 win, earn-
ing All-America honors.
"Before I walked onto the mat, I
looked at (Michigan assistant coach Joe)
McFarland," Catrabone said. "I said to
him, 'This is a personal match. This is a
personal match between me and Kevin
Wilmot.' I came out on top, and I knew I
could do it going in. I'm just happy to be
on the third-place podium."
As big tournaments have approached
in the past, Catrabone has had a tenden-
cy to tense up.
"I think this is the first year I've seen
him really relax and start to perform to
his level," Michigan coach Dale Bahr
said. "Rather than sit back, kind of go
into a shell and get real cautious"
The loss to Slay came in a match that
could have gone either way.
"I think that Jeff's the best guy in the
nation, by far, at his weight class," 150-
pound wrestler Bill Lacure said. "He
just, for whatever reason, couldn't pull
out (his quarterfinal) match, but I think
he's better than (Slay)."
Throughout the tournament,
Catrabone's confidence escalated. He
won his second match, 16-5, over
Oklahoma State's Mike Roller, whom he
beat by one point during the season.
Slay produced the only tournament
takedown against Catrabone.
'"'I like the way he came back." Bahr
said. "He came back hard. He came back
with a pin (against Iowa State's Bart
Horton), putting people on their backs,
beating them by four or five points,
rather than, 3-1 or 3-2."
As much as he wanted to place first
this year, Catrabone didn't let his disap-
pointment ruin his accomplishments.
"I knew that the second-best thing to
being in the finals was taking third
place" Catrabone said. "I wanted to be a
national champ this year, but sometimes
things don't go your way. Obstacles
come in your way, like Brandon Slay
was in mine. I bounced back, and I
bounced back harder than ever."
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