"Scoreboard.. EN'S NCAA 1S KETBALL BASKETBALL (2) MARYLAND 92, (3) TENNESSEE 89, Wake Forest 69 DePaul 47 (21) PITTSBURGH 78, (8) N. CAROLINA 85 Prarie View 64 Georgia Tech (24) CLEMSON 82, (15) Colorado State 70, East Tennessee St. 54 UTAH 69 (20) Florida 98. STETSON 76 Marquette 81, (21) WISCONSIN 73 (23) Nebraska 75, DRAKE 72 NFL FOOTBALL PHILADELPHIA 17 St. Louis 14 U~figaftymafg "Tracking 'M' teams Check out the Michigan men's gymnastics team tonight as it competes in the Maize and Blue intrasquad at Cliff Keen Arena. The meet begins at 7 p.m., so come early and get a Lalo Haro autograph before the rush starts. Friday December 4, 1998 11 Wrestling gambles on top rapplers Dy Tracy Sandler Daily Sports Writer The Michigan wrestling team will roll the dice with four top 10 wrestlers at this weekend's Cliff Keen Las Vegas ollegiate Wrestling Invitational. Intermat Wrestling Magazine ranked the Wolverines 25th nationally, placing Chris Viola 10th (125 pounds), Joe Warren third (133 pounds), Damion Logan sixth (141 pounds) and Otto Olson eighth (174 pounds). Therefore, today and tomorrow has the potential to be very telling for the young Michigan team. "It's a huge tournament," Warren said. "Scouts from three different rank- jg magazines are going to be there. It's mays a tough tournament, but our team's in such great condition. It's time for us to show what's up" Despite the team's overall inexperi- ence, Michigan coach Dale Bahr agrees with Warren that the tournament holds potential for a strong showing. "Even though we're starting a lot of young people - six or seven freshmen and sophomores - I still would like to t me home with a top five finish," ahr said. "It's just a matter of 10 guys going for us. Our four wrestlers ranked in the top 10 have to make it to the finals or place high in the tournament." The youth makes for a more interest- ing season, Bahr said. "The kids are working real hard, because they're young, and they have a lot to prove," Bahr said. "We've upped the work ethic, I'd say, 25 percent. e're coming in four mornings a week .d working out and working out hard .in the afternoon. In terms of leadership, Bahr is look- ing for more than one Michigan wrestler to replace Jeff Catrabone, Bill lacuire and Airron Richardson, all of whulom graduated last year. "J oe Warren is a very emotional leader, Bahr said. "He loves to win. He hates to lose. Otto Olson's the same ay. I look for him to really be a bright star that a lot of people outside of our group here didn't really anticipate. "Damion Logan could be an out- standing wrestler for us. The key on that is for him to stay healthy. It seems like he gets hurt here and there. Really, Chris Viola has looked really good in workouts for us. Really those four guys and Corey Grant. I can't forget Corey." For Logan, health is a priority. The past two years, he has left Nevada with juries. Two years ago, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, and last year he suffered a concussion. "I wanted to go into this tournament feeling confident," said Logan. "I've been working my butt off. My shots are working well, I'm confident on my feet and I'm feeling strong. I want to finish free of injury." Confidence, conditioning and vali- ation will be the keys to success today d tomorrow for the Wolverines. "My one loss this year was to Michigan State's Pat McNamara," Warren said. "He was really good on top, and I was having trouble getting out of the bottom. "Right now, I'm in peak condition and ready for this tournament. I want to win this thing.' Fnends, family could relax Jones By Josh Kleinbaum Daily Sports Editor Leon Jones isn't going to be ner- vous this Sunday when the Michigan men's basketball team takes on Western Michigan in Grand Rapids at 2 p.m. Forget the fact that probably half the population of Battle Creek, Jones' home town, is going to be there. Forget the fact that his entire family will be there, too. Forget the fact that half the crowd will probably be in the Leon Jones Cheering Section. Heck, Jones' college career isn't even a month old and he's got two starts under his belt, so what's the big deal about a few friends and family members? "I think I'll actually relax more," Jones said on Wednesday after Michigan's 74-44 trouncing of Bradley. Jones started that game, his second start in three days. "It'll prob- ably be a lot of fun. I'm exciting about it." But if the Jones clan is expecting Leon to start on Sunday at Van Andel Arena, they'll be disappointed. Brandon Smith, back from Texas and well-rested, will almost surely get the nod. Keeping up with the Jones' isn't too difficult a task. The family often makes the two-hour drive from the Land of Milk and Cereal to the Land of Coffeehouses and Crisler for Michigan's home games on weekends - when they don't have to worry about work - so making the one hour, 45-minute drive to Grand Rapids shouldn't be too bad. What makes the game exciting for Leon will be his friends. Battle Creek is just a 45-minute drive from Kalamazoo, so plenty of Jones' high school buddies found themselves going to Western. "It's going to be kind of weird," Jones said. "They'll be cheering for Western, but they'll be cheering for me, too." If things go the Wolverines way, Western's fans won't have too much to cheer about besides Jones. But for that to happen, the Wolverines (4-4 overall) will have to worry about Bullock. No, we're not talking about Louis Bullock, Michigan's shooting guard and leading scorer, but Isaac Bullock, the Bronco's (3-2) beast of a forward. Isaac Bullock, no relation to the Wolverine, isn't a big, tall force in the paint - and that's just the problem. He stands at just 6-foot-4, weighs a massive 250 pounds and could wreak havoc on the Michigan post defense. "That's going to be difficult to defend," Ellerbe said. "You don't see that very often." And he's hot, too. In the Bronco's 63-51 victory over Detroit, Bullock scored a season-high 15 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds. But the strength of this Bronco team lies in its guards. Using a three- guard lineup, the Broncos through Kylo Jones, Tony Barksdale and Rod Brown at Michigan. The threesome averages 34.6 points per game and is the heart of Western Michigan's team. Jones, much like Michigan's Bullock, has the ability to burn up the nets from long range. In the Bronco's 90-66 loss to Michigan State, the sophomore tied the Breslin Center record with eight 3-pointers en route to a 28-point game. The Broncos use the three-guard lineup because Shaun Jackson, a 6-7 forward and the only returning starter from last year's NCAA tournament team, is sidelined with a stress frac- ture in his right foot. Jackson aver- aged 12.5 points and six rebounds before injuring the foot in the second game of the season. / [" o w- 00 MARGARET MYERS/Daily Leon Jones takes the Wolverines Into Grand Rapids for a showdown with Western Michigan. Michigan tries to avenge a 1997 season-opening loss to the Broncos. Western Michigan looks to repeat last year's NCAA tournament magic. Wolverines swoop into Ohio to face Miami, BG By Chris Duprey Daily Sports Writer The Michigan hockey team (7-1-1 CCHA, 9-2-2 over- all) will look to continue its six-game unbeaten streak - in which the Wolverines won four games and tied two - when it travels to the Buckeye State to take on Miami and Bowling Green tonight and tomorrow. Despite trailing first place surprise Ferris State by one point in the conference standings, Michigan has three games in hand against the Bulldogs, and can reclaim the lead outright with two wins this weekend.,. Last season, the short neutral zone of Goggin Ice Arena wasn't so kind to the Wolverines, as a veteran- loaded Miami team rudely swept two games from them Jan. 23 and 24. "It's not fresh in our minds, but I think all of our play- ers know that Miami's been a tough place to play for our team," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "They don't have any bad games against us. You know you're going to have a good game." After a solid fifth-place finish last season, Dan Boyle, Trevor Prior and many of the other key cogs on last year's team have departed Oxford, and Miami coach Mark Mazzoleni has been forced to pick up the pieces en route to a slow 2-9-3 conference start. Even with the many injuries Mazzoleni's club has suf- fered - including defenseman Dustin Whitecotton's sea- son-ending arm fracture - the RedHawks have started to make strides. Miami played against Ohio State tough in a two-game series last weekend, salvaging the second game after the first contest was tied by the Buckeyes with five seconds remaining in regulation, then stolen from the RedHawks in overtime. "With those guys out, I think we played very well. We played intensely and with emotion," Mazzoleni said. "I can see already how much they're coming." Miami and Bowling Green will both have one advan- tage over the Wolverines - their game against Michigan See ICERS, Page 13 Wei rA.y. J Josh Langfeld leads the Wolverines to Ohio for a pair of CCHA matchups with Miami and Bowling Green this weekend. MARGARET MYERS/Oaily 1 ill l I "Friedy&Helpful - Available Anime x (at fur campusbooksore) www.wizpowerc Why Stake Your Career on Just Any Company? Your accomplishments in school have from the start, you'll have the some of America's "best places everything to do with talent and opportunity to make key contributions to work" surveys. determination. At CIGNA, we invite right away. We also understand that learn more about what makes you to apply those same qualities at you want to keep growing in your , one of the top brands in the financial career. Our professional development .u p By sar ing services industryr and rotaion programs let you brand. Stop by at our upcoming W'wnninfrrihmn~r explore various job options and information session. i