The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 23, 1999 - 11
Wrestling raises Bahr of expectation
Big Ten Championships slated for this weekend at Crisler Arena
By Chris Grandstaff
Daily Sports Writer
We live in a society filled with
expectations that cannot always be
met, and potential that often remains
unfulfilled.
This is especially true in the world
of sports, where all too often we
hear stories of tal-
ented athletes and
teams that fall
short of team
goals and media
predictions.
These teams fail
sons- injuries,
WRESTLING
Commentary
------------
for different rea-
overconfidence,
Teams that began their seasons
with little or no expectation for suc-
cess - and then go above and
beyond those expectations - those
are the ones we remember.
This season's Michigan wrestling
team is one of those teams.
On Sunday, the Wolverines com-
pleted the dual-meet season 11-4,
with a 6-2 record in the Big Ten.
Not too bad for a team in which
six out of ten starters are freshmen
and sophomores. Not too bad for a
team that went 7-9 last year (4-4 in
the Big Ten), and who lost three All-
Americans captains Jeff Catrabone,
Airron Richardson and Bill Lacure,
Not too bad for a team which
started the season unranked and now
stands as the No. 9 team in the coun-
try.
This season's success has been
especially sweet for coach Dale
Bahr, who is in his final season of a
successful 21-year campaign.
"This year is one of the highlights
of my coaching and wrestling
career," Bahr said. "It's been a real
pleasure coaching these kids this
year."
The ability of this season's squad
to exceed expectations and to beat
all of the teams they were supposed
to beat could be the reason.
"If you told me last year that we
would beat Penn State and Illinois,
push Minnesota to the last match,
and hammer Michigan State twice
I'd laugh at you," Bahr said.
And so would the experts of col-
lege wrestle, but it's the Wolverines
who are laughing now.
The Wolverines boast an impres-
sive four players ranked among the
nation's top eight in their respective
weight classes in Chris Viola, Joe
Warren, Damion Logan and Otto
Olson.
They also have three other grap-
plers ranked in the top 20 in Corey
Grant, Andy Hrovat and Matt Brink.
Captain Frank Lodeserto, who has
been hampered by a sprained ankle
for the past few weeks, also has the
."potential to make it to the NCAA
Tournament," Bahr said.
Michigan's only four losses on the
season have come to the No". 2
Minnesota, No. 4 Iowa, No. 6
Illinois and No. 8 Central Michigan.
With the exception to Iowa, which
Bahr calls "the lowlight of the sea-
son," the Wolverines have been in
every meet.
With an impressive showingsat the
Big Ten Tournament, which will be
held at Crisler Arena, the Wolverines
have a chance to defy the experts
once again with an impressive show-
ing.
"Minnesota and Iowa wil be
favored to win the tournament this
year," Bahr said.
"We've reached out this far, now
let's go a little farther."
lack of a work ethic are just a few.
But the teams that surpass expec-
tations, dig deep and overcome
adversity are the teams that captivate
sports fans.
Team's like the Valparaisos and
Princetons of college basketball -
or the Michigan football team of
1997.
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
The Michigan wrestling team has given fans something to believe In-this season,
surpassing expectations to compile an 11-4 dual meet record. The season will
come to a peak this weekend as the Wolverines host the Big Tens.
Women's tennis preps for unbeaten Spartans
'M' gymnasts still No. 2
3y Dan Williams
nor The Daily
While tough losses to Southeastern Conference
)pponents Kentucky and Tennessee a week and a
calf ago may have injured the Michigan women's
e team's confidence, it's tendinitis that's caus-
ng the most immediate concerns heading into
omorrow's match against Michigan State,
Three Michigan veterans have been hampered by
endinitis recently, giving the 6-0 Spartans reason
or optimism despite recent woes against Michigan.
Juniors Danielle Lund, Brook Hart and Erin
Weggenman have all suffered from tendinitisthis
(ear. Weggenman had a bad case in the fall, and she
>nly recently has returned to light practice.
,rt and Lund have both recently experienced
et itis and although they've taken rest from
3ractice, they're questionable for Wednesday's
natch.
To compound matters, senior Jen Boylan has a
,houlder injury and hasn't practiced for three days.
Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt has never seen a team
with so much injury trouble.
"It's unbelievable," said Ritt. "We haven't been
ible to play a match at full strength yet."
While the Wolverines (1-2) struggle, the unde-
'eated Spartans are playing with more confidence
hghey have in years, and they hope to avenge the
-ecent domination by Michigan in the head-to-head
eries.
The Wolverines have won 20 of 23 points in their
victories over the Spartans the last three years.
"Michigan State has improved significantly from
last year and they will have more confidence," Ritt
said. "They have struggled lately but the program is
rebounding."
The Spartans feature an experienced team,
including the singles play of seniors Isabelle Oelze,
Jaime Tannenbaum and Brook West. Their wins
have come against Depaul and five Mid American
Conference opponents, the most recent of which
were Ball State and Miami (Ohio).
If Michigan State has a vulnerable spot, it is at
doubles, where they've yet to start the same lineup
twice this year. Michigan hopes to exploit this
weakness.
"Its' really important that we're competitive in
the doubles matches because they come first" Ritt
said.
One of the keys to this match - with the linger-
ing injuries to Lund and Hart - is the play of
sophomore Szandra Fuzesi. Fuzesi, a transfer from
American University, has compiled a 2-2 record at
No. 3 singles, and also contributes at No. 2 doubles.
"She's been outstanding," said Ritt. "She's a very
smart player."
Despite the injuries, the Wolverines remain opti-
mistic about the Big Ten season. But Ritt feels the
Michigan State match is an important one to set the
tone.
"We're faced with many challenges right now,"
Ritt said. "This match is important because we need
to know we can be faced with obstacles and still
perform well and win."
From Staff Reports
The Michigan men's gymnastics
team is still second-best in the land,
according to the new NCAA
Division I poll released last night.
Despite an impressive weekend
performance, the Wolverines are
still playing second fiddle to No. I
Penn State.
On Saturday night at Cliff Keen
Arena, Michigan handily disposed
of No. 10 Massachusetts, 229.275-
220.15, on the way to a team high
score under third-year coa9h Kurt
Golder.
Penn State also won on Saturday,
defeating Illinois 224.2-222.9 in
State College.
Although the Nittany Lions had a
lower score lastaweekend, the poll is
based on the average of the two
highest scores by each team, only
one of which can be taken from a
home meet.
Penn State leads Michigan in the
polls by 1.275 points.
Ohio State is a close No. 3, while
Big Ten rivals Iowa, Illinois and
Michigan State round out the top
six.
The highest-ranked team from the
West region is Oklahoma, at No. 7.
The Wolverines will have a
chance to bolster their road high
score this Saturday when they take-
on No. 4 Iowa in Iowa City.
ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily
The Michigan women's tennis team Is looking to fight
through Injuries and smash unbeaten Michigan State.
Women's hoops hard to gauge in postseason
By Joshua Isaac Borldn
Daily Sports Writer
It is still a mystery as to which
Michigan women's basketball team will
show up for the Big Ten Tournament.
To say the least, Michigan has been on
a roller coaster ride all season.
They started off the season trying to
figure out ways to replace All-Big Ten
center Pollyanna John.
The team was very young, featuring
4 senior in Ann Lemire and four fresh-
man who would all
face important
decisions. Stacey
Thomas was
expected to be the
answer for the
Wolverines, and for
BASKETBALL
Commentary
theos.---..--t s
the most part, she
both the freshmen post players and ath-
letes such as Alison Miller and Kenisha
Walker.
To fill that void and do it successfully
would bring about great admiration and
respect from both coaches and fans. But,
the older players and the freshmen expe-
rienced difficulties relating. This situa-
tion might have caused internal turmoil
before the season began. But Michigan
learned to deal. Miller and Walker found
their roles, and the freshmen, while at
times trying to do too much, learned to
work into the rotation and make it a fluid
transition.
Everyone thought that.the Wolverines
were primed for the "Big Dogs" - the
nickname Thomas called the elite teams
throughout the season.
Michigan came out fast and furious.
They won a school-record nine games in
a row, and looked poised for a run at the
Tournament.
But things quickly fell apart. Thomas's
shots were not falling, inexperience was
playing a role and Guevara was unable to
stop the bleeding. Michigan dropped six
games in a row.
They were toyed with by Louisiana
Tech and embarrassed by Minnesota.
They lost games that they had no busi-
ness losing and their emotional level was
at a "school record" low. This part of the
al phase.
Michigan learned through losing.
They learned that Thomas could not do it
alone. They learned that the freshmen
were not so fab, and they realized that
only together could they salvage a dying
season.
Since the six-game losing streak, at
times Michigan has come out and played
close to perfection. But they also have
had problems showing consistent effort
and aggressiveness.
ten in their faces, and I have supported
them throughout," Guevara said. "But
they are the only ones who can keep up
the intensity, and show that they can
compete with anyone in the Big Ten."
Learning to deal could be the state-
ment of the season. Through injury,
competition, loss and victory, the
Wolverines learned to deal with the situ-
ation they were dealt. Maybe they have
learned enough to deal with Big Ten's
best.
season could be known as the transition- "I have shown tough love, I have go
t-
_
was.
Starting lineups were an issue as well.
ch Sue Guevara seemed to be tinker-
iwith her chemistry set all season in
hopes of finding the perfect formula.
Even in the last game of the season,
Guevara inserted new lineups to spark
better play.
So Michigan stands on even ground at
8-8 in Big Ten play and 16-10 overall.
But when Guevara was asked, "what
team is going to show up for the rest of
the season?" She replied by saying, "You
should ask the players that one, but I
the one that comes out fired up and
p s with a lot of aggressiveness."
But to figure out which team is going
to show up in the postseason, one must
examine the past and evaluate what the
team has learned.
Coming into the season, the void left
by Johns was taken as a challenge by
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