JAEN'S NCAA SKETBALL (2) Duke 82, WAKE FOREST 72 (5) Maryland at (7) N. CAROLINA, inc. (9) Auburn 74, MISSISSIPPI 59 (10) MICHIGAN ST. 71, (17) Minnesota 55 (11) PURDUE 63, Illinois 54 (15) N. Mexico State at SAN JOSE STATE, inc (19) Wisconsin 61, PENN STATE 58 (20) INDIANA 81, Northwestern 78 (22) Arkansas 61, MISSISSIPPI ST. 59 NHL Philadelphia 3, WASHINGTON 0 N.Y. RANGERS 4, N.Y. Islanders 3 (OT) FLORIDA 3, Toronto 3 (OT) St. Louis 4, BUFFALO 2 £ -it IuwI-~ t Miss out on your 'Maize Rage' T-shirt last week? If you're a student season ticket holder, you can pick one up for five dollars tomorrow at the Athletic Department Ticket Office. Thursday January 14, 1999 5 Illue to Go-pher reveng~e *Vaughn R. Klug y Sports Writer Atop a wave of confidence following convincing victories over a pair of top- 25 programs in Florida last weekend, the No. 7 Michigan women's gymnastics team is eager to measure up against con- ference foe Minnesota. Ranked 18th and defending a Big Ten championship, the Golden Gophers trav- , to Ann Arbor tomorrow having defeat- the Wolverines in their past two meet- ings. As for the impact the losses to Minnesota have had on Michigan's morale, senior Sarah Cain is not dwelling on the past. "As a team, we are just concentrating on ourselves," Cain said. "We obviously cannot control how Minnesota performs, so we are just going to do the best that we can." Michigan coach Bev Plocki echoed e sentiments of Cain by noting that her squad has "put last season away and closed the door on its disappointments. "We are going to build on motivation we gained in Florida and take this season one week at a time," Plocki said. The Wolverines credit weeks of inten- sive preparations and a positive attitude for their victories over No. 2 Florida and Wolverines return to high school to face Boilermakers By Jon Zemke Daily Sports Writer In its first home meet away from home, the Michigan men's swimming and diving team will 'host' Penn State and Purdue this weekend. Tomorrow and Saturday, the Wolverines will travel to Huron High School to host the Boilermakers and Nittany Lions, respectively, because renovations of Canham Natatorium remain incomplete. "Not being home is not going to be an advantage to us," Michigan men's swimming coach Jon Urbanchek said. But that is the least of Urbanchek's worries. "We have a few holes where our competition is strong," Urbanchek said. "Both Purdue and especially Penn State are very strong in the sprint events." Penn State has Dan Okoniewski, who is the best the Big Ten has to offer in the 50- and the 100-meter freestyle. He has consistently been one of the Big Ten's top swimmers. "He is going to do a lot of damage both in the relay and freestyle events," Urbanchek said. Willy Kovacs looks to do a lot of point scoring for Purdue. The three- time returning breast stroke champion has not lost to any Big Ten swimmer in the event in three years. He's the finest swimmer Purdue has to offer, and poses a big threat to the Wolverines. "He's their big gun," Urbanchek said. "He's quite versatile. He's a breast stroke specialist, but they can use him just about anywhere." The Boilermakers also have a few threats in the distance events, including Matt Morton, who could take some points away from Michigan in the dis- tance events - where the Wolverines are the strongest. Penn State also has a backstroke spe- cialist named Josh Weaver, who could sweep all the first place points from Michigan in the back events. "He leads the Big Ten in backstroke events," Urbanchek said. Brett Wilmont, Michigan's top diver, also seems destined to sweep the 1- and 3-meter diving events. Purdue doesn't have much of a force in the diving com- petition, so the Wolverines will look to Josh Trexler to shore up some points. The meet looks to be slightly in Michigan's favor with the relay races evenly matched and the diving compe- tition seemingly in the Wolverines' favor. "Michigan needs to swim all-out," Urbanchek said. "There is no room for any mistakes." This weekend's meet also marks the beginning of senior weekend, which will honor the outgoing seniors - who will not get the chance to swim their last home meet at home. "We have a whole bunch of parents coming in, but unfortunately we'll have to look at the pool from outside the window,' Urbanchek said. FILE PHOTO The No.7 Michigan women's gymnastics team is looking to turn in another strong showing when it hosts Big Ten foe Minnesota tomorrow. No. 25 Illinois in the season opener. "It was very rewarding for the team td receive their payoff for their preseason efforts," Plocki said. "It has motivated the team and helped better an already healthy attitude." An additional factor that has pro- pelled Michigan thus far is Cain's per- formance. The tri-captain finished sec- ond in the all-around last week by earn- ing a 38.500, after a first-place tie on the floor exercise and second places on both the vault and the balance beam. "Sarah is an exceptional emotional leader to this team,' Plocki said. "Her work ethic and performance challenges her teammates to excel." As was the case last season, the Wolverines are again proving to be espe- cially skillful on the vault. Against Florida and Illinois, Michigan gymnasts placed in four of the top five slots en route to a meet-high 48.775. Nikki Peters joined Cain at the number two spot, while Bridget Knaeble and Chrissy Michaud also earned top scores. Ultimately, the Wolverines feel well prepared to face the Gophers and wel- come the challenge they will bring to Cliff Keen Arena. "We have been working really hard and we are quite excited to face Minnesota," Cain said. Brink could return to face Lehigh By Chris Grandstaff Daily Sportswriter The Michigan wrestling team looks to continue its ascension into college wrestling's elite when it hosts Lehigh this weekend at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverine grapplers have made d1 reat strides thus far this season. During past month the Wolverines cracked the top 25, dominated a solid Michigan State team, won the Sunshine Invitational and last weekend finished second to Big Ten rival Illinois at the Virginia Duals. Their reward is an 1lth-ranked team with a lot of confidence and a good head of steam going into the Big Ten season. The Wolverines' success is even more tpressive when you take into account that they have been without freshman heavyweight Matt Brink since Dec. 22, when he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Brink's absence ended up being the key factor at the Virginia Duals. Freshman Art Romence was forced to take his place in the final match of the championship against Illinois and was overpowered by an opponent who outweighed him by 50 pounds. Brink is still questionable for this weekend's match. "I don't know if he'll be ready," Michigan wrestling coach Dale Bahr said. "We're just going to play it by ear. It's been about a month and he's going to have to either go this weekend or next." The Wolverines are hoping to jump on Lehigh early so that they won't need to rely on the heavyweight position. "We need to get off to one of our typ- ical fast starts," Bahr said. "We're solid all-around, but we need the guys in the lower weight classes to do the job they've been doing all year" The "guys" Bahr is referring to are senior Chris Viola, junior Joe Warren, and sophomore Damion Logan. The three wrestlers are a combined 58-9 this season in the 125-pound, 133-pound, and 141-pound weight classes respec- tively. The strength of the Lehigh wrestling team lies in the heavier weight classes, but the Wolverines are no slouch in that department either.' Sophomore Otto Olsen is an impressive 22-2 this season and true freshman Andy Hrovat is 21-5. "They're really tough in the 157-, 165-, 184-, and 197-pound weight classes;' Bahr said. "It'd be great if we could get a tech pin from one of the lower weight divisions to give us a big early lead. We've got enough fire power in our heavier weight classes to take care of business if we've got that early lead." Andy Potts and the rest of the Michigan men's swimming and diving team will battle Purdue and Penn State this weekend. The meets will take place at Huron High School, as Canham Natatorium is still undergoing reno- vations. FILE PHOTO r U Get your FREE Lecture notes on Versity.com Six NBA titles and five MVPs later... . ..: 7- N',ii