MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL (2) DUKE 95, (6) Maryland 77 (3) CINCINNATI 82, Tulane 63 (4) Stanford 57, -CALIFORNIA 55 (7) Auburn 76, SOUTH CAROLINA 48 Miami (Fla.) 73, (10) ST. JOHN'S 70 (19) INDIANA 71, (12) Wisconsin 60 (20) MINNESOTA 75, Illinois 63 NHL HOCKEY Colorado 5, BUFFALO 3 New Jersey 4, CAROLINA 1 MONTREAL 2, Vancouver 1 WASHINGTON 10, Tampa Bay 1 DETROIT 5, NY Islanders 1 FLORIDA 5, Toronto 2 cTfemSiuiiun Zil SI'OR.w Tracking 'M' teams Have an itch to go to Indiana and don't know why? Well, maybe its because both track teams will be in the Hoosier State this weekend. Check out the women's track team in Indianapolis and the men's track team in Notre Dame. Thursday February 4, 1999 8 A , 1999 Michigan football recruits Carr, Wolverines ink 24 recruits for 1999 Name Askew, B. I. Beard, Ryan Bellamy, Ronald Boebert, Norman Bowman, Grant Brackins, Phillip Brooks, Greg Brown, Andy Butler, Tyrece Cummings, Brent Diggs, Carl .Drake, Charles t.eSuer, Jeremy °Mignery, Andy Morgan, Courtney "Navarre, John Orr, Shantee Pape, Tony Pearson, Dave Russell, Fred Shaw, Jon Solomon, D. Spytek, John 'Williams, Brandon Position RB RB WR DL DL 08 DB OL WR RB LB RB DB QB OL QB LB OL DL RB RB OL LB DB Height 6.3 5-10 6-1 6-5 6-3 6.3 5-11 6.3 65 5-11. 62 614 61 6.4 6-2 6-6 61 6-7 63 5-9 6-0 6-7 64 5-11 Wt. 210 203 175 251 258 190 175 285 200 180 220 185 177 225 318 220 220 290 240 182 190 260 Hometown (High School) Cincinnati, Ohio (Colerain) Houston (Cypress-Fairbanks) New Orleans (Archbishop Shaw) Peoria, Ariz. (Cactus) Blacklick, Ohio (St. Francis De Sales) Pigeon Forge, Tenn. (Gatlinburg-Pittman) Gretna, La. (Archbishop Shaw) Grand Ledge (Grand Ledge) Indianapolis (Decatur Central) Greenville (Belding) Warren, Ohio (Hamilton) Los Angeles (Westchester) Holly Springs, Miss. (Holly Springs) Hamilton, Ohio (Hamilton) Los Angeles (Westchester) Cudahy, Wis. (Cudahy) Detroit (Denby) Clarendon Hills, Ill. (Hinsdale South) Brighton (Brighton) Romulus (Romulus) Coral Springs, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Flint (Northern) Following on heels of By T.J. Berka and Rick Freeman Daily Sports Editors After signing the top-rated fresh- man class in the country last season, one couldn't fault Lloyd Carr if this year's class didn't match up.. Although Michigan's 1999 fresh- man class isn't regarded as the best in the nation - National Recruiting Advisor ranked Michigan No. 10- the 24 recruits still made for an effec- tive encore. And they're fast, too. And as strange as it may seem for speed to show up in the Big Ten, Michigan's coach had an explanation. "Big Ten teams look slow in the late season," Carr said, explaining the popular myth of three yards and a cloud of dust away as a function of the often soggy conditions of Big Ten playing fields as the Midwest climate deteriorates. impressive '98 class, Carr signs another top 10 class "I'm extremely pleased with the speed of this class," Carr said. Also pleasing Carr was the way in which this season's recruits did not let the impressive credentials of last sea- son's class - lured by Michigan's national championship, scare them off This season's class is the largest Carr has ever recruited at Michigan. In each of his last three seasons, Carr has used just 19 of the 25 scholar- ships allotted by the NCAA. He would not say if he plans to use the 25th and final scholarship. The Michigan class of 1999 even includes a Nebraskan, Brandon Williams, of Omaha. Four Ohioans signed on, although Ohio State received a commitment from Farmington Hills Harrison's Ricky Bryant, the little brother of senior wide receiver Kevin Bryant. The class also includes six running backs, led by top 100 prospect Charles Drake. Most likely, some will switch positions, Carr said. Carr was particularly satisfied with the way in which he filled Michigan's needs at tackle. With 868 pounds of offensive lineman spread among three recruits at the position, Carr feels he has the situation covered. The offensive line drew two of the four National Recruiting Advisor's Top 100 prospects. Demetrius Solomon, a Flint native, and Tony Pape of Clarendon Hills, Ill. lead the big guys up front. But Michigan didn't fill its defen- sive line, one of its biggest needs, as effectively as they needed to. The Wolverines nabbed three defensive linemen - Norman Boebert, Grant Bowman and Dave Pearson - but didn't get the top blue-chip recruit that they desired. According to Bobby Burton, head of National Recruiting Advisor,. Michigan's lack of big time defensive line help was a factor in Michigan's class falling to 10th. As a whole Michigan's recruiting class was not filled with blue chipper as only defensive back Jeremi LaSueur, a Mississippi native, gar- nered a top 15 rating at his position according to the National Recruiting Advisor. SPRING UPDATE: Freshman speed- ster Justin Fargas will miss spring football season, while offensive line- man Chris Ziemann will be back, but only to practice. "I think, I hope" he can practice* Carr said. Fargas is scheduled to get off his crutches this week, Carr said. Wide receiver Kevin Bryant and fullback Aaron Shea are questionable, with shoulder injuries. Bryant has undergone surgery. 217 Pewaukee, Wis. (Catholic Memorial) 180 Omaha, Neb. (Central) 'M' wrestling looks to join nation's elite this weekend Eschmeyer not worthy of closer calls By Chris Grandstaff Daily Sports Writer The Michigan wrestling team will compete for intrastate bragging rights and national respect this weekend when they travel to No. 15 Michigan State tomorrow night and No. 3 Iowa on Sunday. The Spartans look to exact revenge for their 21-9 loss to Michigan in December at Crisler Arena. The ninth-ranked Wolverines hope for a repeat of that performance on Friday. "We're going up there to put anoth- cr knock on them," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "But we can't think it's in the bag." The key matchup of the evening will pit Michigan's sixth-ranked Joe Warren against Michigan State's third-ranked Pat McNamara in the 133-pound class. Warren's loss to McNamara, 8-6 in their first meeting was the only blemish on his dual- meet record this year. Other matches to watch include 1Michigan's sixth-ranked wrestler Otto Olson's with Michigan State's No. 12 f Will Hill, and 20th-ranked Frank SLodeserto battles sixth-ranked Nick Muzashvili. Olson has yet to lose in dual com- petition and will try to climb over Hill for the third straight time. Still trying to recover from an ankle sprain which has hampered him for the last couple of matches, Lodeserto will wrestle at less than his normal level. "Frank hasn't been wrestling at full strength lately," Bahr said. "He's probably only at about 70 percent." As with all Michigan-Michigan State matchups, there is a little more at stake this Friday than at the average Big Ten meet. "It's always exciting to go up against Michigan State," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "No matter what the sport, when you're going up against Spartans it's all about brag- ging rights." Things get a little more difficult for the Wolverines on Sunday when they travel to Iowa City for their first meet against the Hawkeyes since 1992. Iowa has eight wrestlers in the top 25, a stat which is even more impres- sive when you consider that seven of them are in the top ten, including No. I T. J. Williams at 149 pounds. Despite all this, Iowa, the proud owner of the last 25 Big Ten confer- ence titles, may have their hands full with this group of Wolverines. "We're going to ding them as much as we can," Bahr said. "We can defi- nitely get half the matches, and if we can get some extra points in a couple of matches anything can happen. "If you had told me at the begin- ning of the season that we could go into Carver-Hawkeye and win I would have called you crazy. But the thing is now we can." Bahr, who was born in Iowa Falls, Iowa, will have a chance to experi- ence a homecoming of sorts. Bahr earned a NCAA wrestling Championship for state-rival Iowa State in 1968. "Iowa is a fun place to wrestle," Bahr said. "Wrestling is a major sport there. The fans really appreciate good wrestling, they may even give some of our guys an ovation for a good match." N orthwestern's Evan Eschmeyer has been the cen- ter of a lot of attention in the Big Ten as of late. The 6-foot-I1l center has already made a name for himself as one of the most dominant post players in college basketball - and most definitely the best in the Big Ten. Averaging 19.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, few can argue his talent. Eschmeyer changes game plans for his Big Ten opposition,. resulting in elab- orate schemes to limit his produc- tive. In fact, it is PRANAY the response of REDDY other teams to Reddy or Eschmeyer's tal- Not ent that has raised the com- motion lately. In short, teams have been fouling him - a lot. And when the Michigan men's basketball team takes the court tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena to face Northwestern at 8 p.m., you might see the same thing. Now Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe might just call it good, hard basketball - and he should. Northwestern coach Kevin O'Neill has been lobbying the referees after late because of the abuse his star center has been receiving. Following Northwestern's loss to Michigan State on Saturday, O'Neill had a few choice words for the rest of the Big Ten, likening the blows Eschmeyer has been taking to pro- fessional wrestling. But then again, what else do you expect when your roster boasts a player of Eschmeyer's caliber? The last time there has been this much complaining about the lack of foulsw called was when Dale Brown was coaching Shaquille O'Neal down at@ Louisiana State. I'm just going to say this once: Evan Eschmeyer is not Shaquille O'Neal. Eschmeyer is a great player, but that's it. He doesn't command the respect O'Neill demands for him - nor does any player in college bas- ketball. O'Neill's comments have been laced with more anger as of late, in direct relation to Eschmeyer's increased frustration during Big Ten play. Wait a minute - isn't that the job of a basketball coach? Isn't a coach supposed to take advantage of the opposition's best weapon, frustrating him by any means within the rule- book? Oh yeah. It seems like that fact has been lost upon Northwestern's coach. Th, is Big Ten basketball, not the NBA. The country's best players aren't unfairly protected by the referees in the manner that professional super- stars are. And that's what makes the college game a great one. There is no pref- erential treatment. When you take the court, your actions determine your success, not the backhanded lobbying of referees by coaches. So listen up Josh Asselin and Pete Vignier. When you get out there tonight, don't be afraid to body up Eschmeyer. And when you have to foul him, go ahead - despite what Kevin O'Neill says. - Pranay Reddy can be reached via e-mail at pkr@umich.edu. gw i DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Peter Vignier and Chris Young have a goal - to stop Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer by any means necessary. SJNl ET AA STOP GAIBUNG AND STARTIlNVSING @ALL FOR FREE TRIAL OFFER WEl HlWl W IN'DOlA DAILY SPORTS: TWE GOT GAME* Men's track hits road for invite 888-(688-8257) __ Y By Ron Garber For the Daily This weekend the Michigan men's track and field team leaves the friendly confines of Ann Arbor for the first time all year as they head to Notre Dame to compete in the Meyo Invitational. With all four meets this season pitting Michigan against mostly in-state com- petition, the Meyo offers the Wolverines their first look at national competition. Alabama, Illinois State, and host Notre Dame will be competing. It also offers the team its only chance to run on an oversized track, which should drop times significantly. Field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with running events slated to begin three hours later. Michigan enters the weekend with a good deal of momentum coming from its last two performances. They won the Red Simmons Invitational two weeks ago and finished second to a strong Eastern Michigan team last weekend in the Michigan Intercollegiate. A distinct pattern emerged from those meets - a heavy reliance on the spectacular performances of freshmen. Is it reasonable to expect a drop-off in performance since this is the freshman class' first meet on the road? "I don't foresee any problems;" said head coach Jack Harvey said. "We have a great freshman class. They've all been really good leaders and I'm very pleased with them." Freshman sprinter Ike Okenwa feels the same way. I'm not nervous to go on the road. Most of us are really excited to go and see some competition from around the nation." Okenwa's confidence certainly is backed up by his recent performances. Last Saturday, he won his second con- secutive 60-meter. This weekend, Ike will face Notre Dame's Chris Cochran and Alabama's. Jeremy Taylor in the 200. Cochran ar* Taylor are coming off victories them- selves and should offer Okenwa a tough race. Okenwa is not the only freshman who won his event Saturday and expects to face much stiffer competition this weekend. Jeremy Schneider and Oded Padan have a pair of Fighting Irish hoping to crash their coming-out parties. Schneider, who won the 600, gets his first real taste of national competi- tion as he goes up against senior all- See TRACK, Page 10A PURSUING A CAR ER I ATHLETIC ADMINISTR Amok ir Special Egg Donor Needed I' E KZTaNEc.u.Nla AM