MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL (1) Connecticut 78, GEORGETOWN 71 (21) Texas Christ. 72, TULSA 62 WOMEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL (13) Duke 92, FLORIDA STATE 75 PRE-SEASON NBA BASKETBALL Indiana 79, CHICAGO 71 ax mwuym SI'O rIFS Tracking 'M' teams Check out the women's swim team tomorrow as they host Michigan State at 6 pm. The event marks the first meet in a week for the No. 9 Wolverines and the first to be held in the renovated Canham Natatorium. Tuesday January 26, 1999 10 'Young 'M' Despite loss of three By Chris Grandstaff Daily Sports Writer The Michigan wrestling team entered a lot of questions. Could they recover from the loss of Americans? Were they too young? Would it even matter, given the strengt As the season reaches the midwayl mined group is racking up more praise a questions. Michigan has replaced all-American Airron Richardson and Bill Lacure w ranked in the top 20 in their respective and as No. 9 nationally as a team. The Wolverines have been led all yea lower weight trio of senior Chris Vio junior Joe Warren (133) and sophomor wrestlers surpass season expectations all-Americans, Wolverines still manage to (141). They are ranked sixth, sixth, and seventh in the country respectively in their classes. J the season with "Those are the guys that jump-start the team," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "They've been great all three senior all- year." The upper half of this year's squad has also been solid. Sophomore Otto Olson is ranked seventh at 174, fresh- h of the Big Ten? man Andy Hrovat is ranked 15th at 184, and junior Frank point, this deter- Lodeserto is ranked 18th at 197. nd victories than The accolades earned by this year's team are even more impressive when you consider the level of competition s Jeff Catrabone, that they are going up against. ith six grapplers This week's Amateur Wrestling News magazine has e weight classes, seven Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25, with Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan all cracking the r by the fantastic top 10. la (125 pounds), "We are in the best wrestling conference in the coun- e Damion Logan try, bar none," Bahr said. rank among top 10 in nation So how is this young team holding its own? The answer may lie in the team's chemistry. "The guys this year really work as a team," Bahr said. "The tricky part about wrestling is that it's an individual sport within a team competition. These guys really care about each other and that's not always the case in wrestling." Whatever the case, this year's team is proving to be a lot of fun for Bahr, who is in his last season as the Wolverines' head coach. "These kids are young and wanting to prove them- selves," Bahr said. "I've really enjoyed this group of kids. It's just a lot of fun coaching because we are young, had no expectations, and have kind of a carefree attitude." They've also proven themselves to be national con- tenders, and the only question college wrestling fans are asking at this point in the season is 'just how far can this Wolverine team go'? DAVID ROCHKIND/Dai The Michigan wrestling team was able to rebound by defeating W Wisconsin on Sunday, after being tangled up by Minnesota on Friday. Brooks looks to wake up docile Crisler crowd By Josh Kleinbaum Daily Sports Editor Tom Brooks glances out his window, with Crisler Arena, his pet project, looming large on the horizon. You can almost see Michigan's directory of mar- keting and communications looking through the roof; into the arena, where a game is going on and Michigan is winning and the Maize Rage is in full force. Students surround the court, wearing their bright yellow T-shirts, screaming at the top of their lungs, harassing the Illinois squad. The Illini are 6bviously affected by the Rage, which has turned " isler Arena into one of the most intimidating home courts in the nation. They miss free throws, take ill- advised shots, commit turnovers. Michigan is just starting to put the game away when Brooks snap back to reality. When Michigan actually does face Illinois on Thursday at 8 p.m., Crisler Arena is more likely to resemble the morgue it's known as then the lions den that Brooks envisions. But he's working hard to change that. In comes the Rage. The Rage began earlier this month, when 500 stu- dents were given bright yellow T-shirts to wear to all of Michigan's games, transforming them into Ragers. "We're trying to give the fans an identity," Brooks said. "The main thing to impress is that it's not a one- shot deal." At the Ohio State home game a week later, more shirts were given out to students who weren't wear- ing them. But Brooks' program encompasses much more than T-shirts. A preliminary glance around his office shows that much. Below the window sits a maize and blue sign declaring, "Brian Ellerbe Autograph Session, 1-3 p.m." Scattered throughout the desk are brochures for Michigan basketball tickets - season tickets, the Big Ten Mini-Ticket Pack and more. Behind the desk sits a mock Lansing State Journal, with "Beat Michigan" filling two pages in a bright green, lifted from Michigan State's Breslin Center during the Michigan-Michigan State game a few weeks ago. Women's gymnastics vaults to No. 12 with victory over UMass By Vaughn R. Kug Daily Sports Writer Earning the best score of the sea- son and the eighth-highest in school history, the No. 12 Michigan gym- nastics team toppled unranked Massachusetts 194.675-190.875 on Sunday. The win at Boyden Gymnasium in Amherst moved the Wolverines to 3-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the victory gave Michigan its second road win of the season. Misfortune struck the Wolverines during warmups, however, when junior Kate Nellan suffered a sea- son-ending injury to her Achilles tendon. Nellan, who also struggled with injury during the '98 season, will require surgery in order to recuper- ate in time for next season. "We were all shocked," tri-cap- tain Sarah Cain said. "It was hard to concentrate dur- ing your event after your teammate goes down." While understandably troubled by Nellan injury, it in no way ham- pered the Wolverine performance. In fact, the injury, and adversity that it created, actually served to moti- vate the team, Cain said. Michigan set the tone for the meet on the vault by securing all six top-places and recording a team score of 48.900. Leading the way was Cain who placed first on the vault with a 9.850. While Cain also finished first on the balance beam and tied for first- place in the floor exercise, Bridget Knaeble was the all-around winner with a score of 39.225. Knaeble outdid teammates Cain and Lisa Simes scores of 38.875 and 38.425, respectively. "Bridget had a great meet from every angle," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "She hit all four of her events and in doing so she seemed to stabilize the team's performance. Knaeble finished second on the balance beam helping her team achieve the highest beam score of the season. Finishing third on the beam was freshman standout Mellisa Peterson. "I was very happy with Mellisa's performance," Plocki said. "Hopefully this will build confl dence in her that will carry on throughout the season." As opposed to weeks past where Michigan experienced difficulty on the beam, Plocki was pleased with her teams turnaround. "The beam is a very mentally demanding event," Plocki said. "In light of problems earlier in the season, it was nice to see tl@ team hang together like they did.' Senior Nikki Peters took first place on the uneven bars, the only event the Minutewoman won, with a score of 9.875. Ultimately, coach Plocki was sat- isfied with her team's performance, yet still sees room for improvement. "While it is most satisfying to come away with out highest team score of the season," Plocki said. "We still need a meet where10 hit all four of our events." DANA iuNNANE/Daily Tom Brooks, Michigan's director of marketing, hopes to wave goodbye to low student tumout at basketball games. With Brooks' aid, the University hopes to implement a series of promotions to pack Crisier Arena. Next to that, a copy of Half-Court News, a newslet- ter distributed by State students bashing the Michigan team, also taken from Breslin. Brooks has put together a comprehensive plan of promotional giveaways and marketing to put life into Crisler Arena. Against Illnois on Thursday, Fox Sports Interactive and The Edge radio station sponsor a poster giveaway, and a Playvision, Fox Sports Inveractive's game system, will be given away. During the course of the season, Brooks has planned giveaways ranging from posters to tuition to a car. Part of the plan is to make halftime more enter- taining. Against Ohio State, the Belle Tire ineptly attempted to go one-on-one with the Detroit Lion when Detroit-area sports mascots took on corporate mascots in a game of hoops. When Brooks compares Crisler to Yost Ice Arena, where fans are considered the rowdiest in the land, and Michigan Stadium, which sells out with more than 100,000 fans every game, Brooks sees an incredible amount of untapped potential."The foot- ball and hockey teams feed off of the crowd," Brooks said. "Michigan basketball fans are intelligent fans. We can do that with Crisler." '1 o e 1"f 3, 0 Live Music ven Tuesdayhiglt with We'ore Hiring! Be a Notetaker for Versity.com! Make money while you improve your grades. SOU 11 Bio Anthro 161 Chemistry 130 Chemistry 210 Chemistry 215 Comm Studies 101 Economics 101 Economics 102 EECS 100 History 111 Linguistics 210 Physics 125 Physics 140. Poli Sci 111 Poli Sci 140 Psychology 111 Psychology 330 Chemistry, Math, Physics or Biochemistry Majors Are you considering Graduate School in the fields of Molecular Biophysics or Structural Biology? 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