4 " $ oss 'x$4u~g a COLLEGE BASKETBALL (2) Duke 64, N.C. STATE 50 (4) Kansas 111, COLORADO 62 (9) Purdue 77, PENN STATE 55 MARYLAND 81, (13) Florida State 74 (14) Mississippi 90, FLORIDA 79 (16) S. CAROLINA 71, Vanderbilt 70 (18) Syracuse 77, PROVIDENCE 59 (19) XAVIER 104, LaSalle 67 Ala:Birmingham 65, (20) MARQUETTE 52 (22) Arkansas 83, MISS. STATE 70 PRO BASKETBALL Orlando 83. TORONTO 81 WASHINGTON 110. Boston 108 NEW YORK 89, New Jersey 88 Phoenix 92, Minnesota 77 PRO HOCKEY Boston 2, MONTREAL 1 NEW JERSEY 3, Pittsburgh 1 Toronto 5, TAMPA BAY 2 6 Thursday January 8, 1998 8 After tragedy, wrestlers grapple' with task of getting back to mat By Jordan Field Daily Sports Writer Amidst the chaos and disparity of the death of one of their teammates, and after missing nearly a month of practice, one would under- stand if the Michigan wrestling team had decid- ed not to travel out West to wrestle as planned. But rather than take the vacation time to rest and mourn their loss at home, the team traveled as scheduled to Oregon and Las Vegas to compete and honor their fallen teammate. But the Wolverines didn't just compete - they dominated. And they will look to do the same as they travel to Penn State and Lehigh tomorrow and Saturday for dual meets with those two teams as well as with Hofstra on Saturday. The Michigan team hasn't won a dual meet in Happy Valley since the 1964-65 season, but look for their success over the vacation to con- tinue. Ranked fifth in the nation before heading out West, the Wolverines traveled first to Corvallis, Ore., to compete in the Oregon Classic. With Jeff Reese's initials on their singlets, Michigan won the tournament, reaching the finals in nine of the 13 weight classes. "We went out there pretty rusty," coach Dale Bahr said. "Considering the circumstances, we went out there not knowing what to expect. But this tournament didn't field competition that was too stiff except for the Oregon State team, so fortunately without wrestling at our best we were still able to get back into the swing of things." The day after the tournament, the Wolverines faced their first dual meet of the season, meet- ing the tournament host and 25th-ranked Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers, who finished second in their tournament, couldn't match Michigan and lost in a 23-18 thriller. The Wolverines fell behind, 9-5, after the first three matches, but rallied behind Teya Hill's pin of Luke Duffy at 150 pounds to capture four of the final five matches to win the meet. The only loss came in a forfeit at 190. "Teya went out there and battled with that guy," Bahr said. "Just right at the end, with probably 15 seconds left he pinned him. And that turned the whole match around." Hill had faced Duffy the day before in the consolation finals of the tournament and lost, 14-12. But Hill wasn't about to lose to the same guy twice in a row. The pin came at 2:45 of the third period. "It was all about revenge,' Hill said. "It was close in the first match, and this time it was close again. But I got him in a head lock and just held it as hard as I could. There was no way I was going to let go of that guy until the ref called the fall." Riding high, Michigan traveled to Reno, Nev., three days later to compete in the all-day Reno Tournament of Champions. There the Wolverines placed second, behind the nation's No. I team, Oklahoma State. After a bye in the first round, Michigan slipped past Arizona State, 19-18, in the second round. The Wolverines lost the lead by dropping matches at 177 and 191, and looked to heavy- weight Airron Richardson to win the meet. Richardson, who Bahr has before labeled, "money in the bank," came through again %lhip- ping Joe Micela, 20-6, to seal the win. "We needed a major (decision) from Airros to win the meet, and I went over to talk with hi during the 191 match," Bahr said. "He looked at me and said 'Yeah, I know coach.' In all of my years here I've never had a closer like Airron. Not even Kirk Trost, who was a national cham- pion. It's great to feel such security when you are in a situation like that:' The victory over the Sun Devils earned Michigan a spot in the finals opposite the top- ranked Cowboys. The Wolverines were over- matched by the powerhouse, falling 30-3. But the Wolverines weren't discouraged by the lI sided loss because the match was much closer than the score indicated. Although only Richardson won his match, five of the other nine matches were decided by two points or fewer - three in overtime. "Oklahoma State has a very good team, but we stuck with them," Richardson said. "As good as we were all vacation, we were still rusty and that showed against OSU. Had we faced them later in the season, some of those points could have gone the other way, and with a win here there, you never know what would happen." Now back in Ann Arbor, the team is back to the regular practice schedule, and can begin to focus on the rest of the season despite a contin- ued media frenzy. "We always think about Jeff, and we are wrestling for him," All-American captain, Jeff Catrabone said. "He loved this team and would want us to continue the season and win. So that's what we will do." FiLE PHOTO Michigan senior Bill Lacure and his teammates resumed competition after a three-week hiatus following the death of Jeff Reese. The team will continue this season with Reese's initials on their singlets. RELIVE MICHIGAN'S ROSE BOWL WIN AND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Van Ryn happy to be home after absence Savor the Wolverines' first national championship since 1948 for years to come with a glossy, full-color poster of The Michigan Daily's front page. The poster sells for $5 and will be available next week at The Michigan Daily's offices in the Student Publications Building at 420 Maynard St. z and at select retail outlets in the Ann Arbor area. Add a poster of Michigan's Rose Bowl-clinching win over Ohio State for an additional $2.50. Read the Daily to find out when the posters , will be available for purchase.' Awl-mrI By Chris Farah Daily Sports Writer Slowly but surely, all the pieces have been falling into place for the Michigan hockey team. In fact. with the Wolverines alone at the top of the CCHA standings for the first time this season, the Michigan jigsaw puzzle is starting to look picture perfect. What's even more amazing is that the Wolverines' puzzle has been coming together without one of its primary pieces. Freshman defenseman Mike Van Ryn spent the past few weeks trying to fit into another team's plans - the Canadian world junior hockey team, which played in the 1998 World Junior Hockey Championship in Finland from Dec. 25 to Jan. 3. But Van Ryn's Canadian team didn't have nearly as much success as his American team. The Canadian's had their worst showing ever in the tournament, finishing eighth after losing to Kazakstan, 6-3, in the final consolation round on Saturday. Think eighth isn't all that bad? Consider that Canada won the past five world junior championships before this year. Overall, the Canadians won only two games out of seven during the entire tournament, which featured 10 interna- tional teams. The native of London, Ontario, tried to remain optimistic about Canada's disap- pointing showing. "It was a good experience," Van Ryn said. "But like I told the guys, I'm sick of losing. It was something new for me; I wasn't accustomed to losing all those games. But that happens. We had a young team - only two guys back from last year. "We weren't focused the whole time, and we weren't disciplined, either." Van Ryn is one of the top defensemen on another young, inexperienced team - the Wolverines. There was a chance the Wolverines would falter without his help behind the blue line. Instead, however, during his absence, the Wolverines only lost one game - the championship match of the Great Lakes Invitational to Michigan State. Van Ryn said he's happy his team improved so much during his trip abroad ... just as long as the Wolverines still want him back, of course. "It's great when you go away and you see your team still winning;" Van Ryn said. "Every day, I woke up and called my home, and asked my mom how the guys did. They just kept winning. "Kind of made me feel bad - I don't really make that much of a difference, I guess - but it's good to know your team can still play without you." All kidding aside, though, Michigan coach Red Berenson said the team was grateful to have Van Ryn back in the maize and blue. "We're glad to have him back, because we don't have a farm team," Berenson said. "He's going to upgrade our team just by his presence." Berenson said he was pleased with Michigan's performance without the aid of Van Ryn - but that the time has come for the freshman's return. "The good thing about having guys out or missing is that it gives other guys the opportunity to step up," Berenson said. "Players like Bubba Berenzweig, Sean Peach, Chris Fox and Dave Huntzicker really stepped up. "But are we a better team with Mike Van Ryn in the lineup? Absolutely." But Berenson and the rest of the Wolverines may have to wait a little while for Van Ryn to get back in sync. Van Ryn said the international competition wasn't up to par with what he faces in American .umich~edu/dcf'ailyI MALLORY S.E. FLOYD/Daily Freshman Mike Van Ryn has been seeing red - instead of maize and blue - fore the past few weeks. The defenseman played for the Canadian junior hockey team. U U 747-9400 1220 S. University Above McDonalds SPRING BREAK SPECIALS O O ._.-- SUPER HYANS Tannng all semester 1 One month unlmited I $49.95 11tanning $39.951 Lfrst 2001 only!! + $1-er session cJ LNo service fees Expires 1/15/98 cl college hockey. "To tell you the truth, I think the col- lege game is faster than international play," Van Ryn said. "The coaches asked me what I thought, and I told them the same thing. I thought it was faster here, the players are older, bigger and stronger. "So, maybe mentally I'm a stronger player, but physically it didn't do any- thing." He may have felt a little rusty at first, but Van Ryn said he was anxious to get back into the action. "It was weird," he said. "When I came down Tuesday, we were all gathered around the room - all the frosh - we were sitting down. I said, 'Geeze, this feels like my first day back at school.' It was so long. "It was just good to see the guys again, get back on the ice and get into the swing of things." Not only did the world championship tournament take him out of action for the Wolverines, it also changed Van Ryn's academic schedule a little bit. He was forced to take his final exams for the f semester a week early so he could leav for tryouts for the team. "It was a rush," Van Ryn said. "It kind of hurt me, too. I only found out two days before, so I had to get my exams ready and write them the next day, and also I didn't get to really study for any of them." But the most important thing: Did he pass? "Yeah," he said with a laugh. "I passed by a lot." p m