SportsWednesday, January 5, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 3B
Gm _nasts take to defending title
Over winter break, the Michigan
wrestlers finished 8th at the Midlands.
Wrestlers
struggle in
1MidlandS
tourney
By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Writer
For the Michigan wrestling team, the
holiday break was anything but a vaca-
tion. Facing their toughest competition
to date, the wrestlers passed up swim-
suits and suntan lotion for uniforms,
winter coats and a date at the Midlands
Championships in Evanston.
The site was not ideal for many of the
Wolverines, and they didn't consider the
team's overall performance to be much
better either.
In a meet against both former colle-
giate stars and current college teams,
some called Michigan's eighth place fin-
ish respectable - especially consider-
ing the caliber of opponents such as
perennial power Iowa and an assem-
blage of their alumni, the Hawkeye
Wrestling club. But as the season gets
into full swing, Michigan isn't ready to
accept respectability.
"Eighth at Midlands is okay for an
average team, but we're not looking to
be an average team," senior 133-
Spounder Joe Warren said. "I definitely
think that we could have done better.
One of Michigan's 184-pound com-
petitors, Joe DeGain, agreed.
"If we're going to be in it, we're going
to be in it to win it."
Despite a disappointing finish, there
were a few bright spots for the
Wolverines.
Though Otto Olson lost in the finals
of the 174-pound weight class, he still
ccomplished what he hoped before
eing defeated by Joe Williams, a mem-
ber of the Hawkeve Wrestling Club who
won three national championships and
was a four-time All-American at Iowa.
"Williams was pretty much unbeat-
able" Olson said. "He's a legend in the
sport. My goal was to beat all of the col-
lege guys. Second place will work for
me."
Warren was less willing to accept
*efeat despite losing to Amateur
Wrestling News' No. I wrestler, Eric
Juergens, in the semifinals of the 133-
pound class, fourth place was not
enough for the confident Wolverine.
"My performance was not anything
like I wanted," Warren said. "I (took)
fourth when I expected to take first."
Warren said he was happy with his
first day of competition, but the second
day was extremely disappointing, culmi-
nating with a leg injury in the consola-
*on match which forced him to with-
draw and accept fourth place. The injuy
will keep him out of this weekend's
Virginia Duals meet.
But perhaps the best thing to come out
of the meet was the breakout perfor-
mance of Joe DeGain. Finishing seventh
in his class, the junior finally lived up to
expectations before losing to one of his
coaches, Kevin Vogel, in the quarterfi-
Olson said the peformance, includ-
ing a shut-out over seventh-ranked Rost
Aizenberg of Cornell in the second
round, was a "big win for him."
For DeGain and the rest of his team,
the real answers come this weekend at
the more temperate Virginia Duals,
where the Wolverines will once again
gauge their efforts against the top teams
in the country.
.r
Champs preparing for
season opener in Chicago;
Golder emphasizes training
for higher difficulty levels
Daih1'v Sport., Writer
The Michigan men's gymnastics team
is training to defend last year's national
title with an opening date Windy City
Invitational on Jan. 15. Following their
Dec. 3 Intrasquad scrimmage, the
Wolverines had a good indication of
their present condition.
"Although we showed several rough
spots in events like the rings, horse and
the vault, I was pleased at the difficulty
level that we could execute at this time of
the year," Michigan assistant coach Mike
Burns said.
Burns noted that the NCAA is now
allowing a higher difficulty level on all
events. Michigan coach Kurt Golder's
program has emphasized training for
increased difficulty on events.
At the heart of Michigan's ability to
execute the most difficult routines is its
renowned strength program. Instead of
using the traditional weight resistance,
the Wolverines use the gymnast's own
body weight for strength, imitating
movements actually used in the gym.
"We have been asked to teach our
methods to other programs and clubs
throughout the nation ... it's really been
beneficial for us," Burns said.
Golder's squad vaults into the 2000
season armed with the skills of U.S.
National team members Justin Toman,
1998 All-American Lalo Haro and 1999
Big Ten Freshman of the Year Scott
Vetere.
In addition, Michigan returns sopho-
more Daniel Diaz-Luong, whom Burns
labeled as "one of the most talented peo-
ple on the team."
The returnees will be joined by skilled
freshmen Jamie Hertza and Conan
Parzuchowski.
One gymnast looking to come back
from injury is 1998 Freshman of the Year
T. J.
BERKA
I
Teeing Off A '..,
Berka bakes ihz sun, ignores
JOANNA PIUNE/Daily
This season the Michigan men's gymnastics team will be training for the upcoming
Olympic Trials. Fans will see routines that are more difficult than in the past.
Kevin Roulston.
"I expect Kevin to really show his
form this year, coming back from injury
last season," Burns said. "He won the
intrasquad scrimmage."
Seven Michigan gymnasts will be
involved with the 2000 Olympic Trials,
headed by Toman who missed the
Intrasquad scrimmage because he was
training with the U.S. National Team in
Colorado.
Toman values the experience with the
National Team, pointing to the positive
effects of the competition.
"We pushed each other to perform at
our best, maintaining an intense level of
focus," said Toman.
Although he has competed with the
nation's best, Toman still maintains that
the collegiate level offers the tightest
team atmosphere he has competed in.
Toman sees his Olympic experience
as a benefit to the Michigan team as a
whole.
"Being in an Olympic year, we will
I
be pushing for harder routines, and as a
result, our practices are going to be that
much more focused," Toman said.
As a captain, he sees his responsibili-
ty to push his teammates and to ensure
they complete the extra repetition, the
extra set.
"As a team, we need to avoid injuries,
and cockiness stemming from last year's
title," Toman said.
As a whole, the 2000 team should be
dominant, with superb talent returning to
the hands of Golder, Burns, and new
assistant coach Mike Rashanelli.
In Golder's three seasons at Michigan,
he has turned the program from an 0-16
record in 1997 to last year's national
championship.
Much of the turnaround can be traced
to the 1998 recruiting class, and highly
skilled coaching.
"They can teach every skill in the
sport, no matter the complexity, and find
the best way to communicate an idea to
us," says Toman.
real world fa4
M IAMI BEACH - Having been
laying out in the sun, tanning
my beached whale-like skin for
10 days now, I can't say I've really paid
attention to what has been going on in
the world around me. Yes, I know that
Y2K occurred and that it was the
biggest ripoff since Backroom reduced
the size of its pizza slices.
I also know that Michigan won some
football game down here in paradise.
But I can't say that I know much else
about the world around me at this point
in time.
Disturbed by my lack of knowledge
about world events, I decided to sneak a
peek at a newspaper. And what I saw
shocked me. I couldn't believe all the
garbage that has taken place since I have
been here in Florida.
First of all, the Detroit Lions made
the playoffs, although they haven't won
a game since Halloween. Being a Lions
fan, I'm overjoyed that my boys in blue
are ready to roar into the playoffs for the
sixth time this decade.
But the rest of the nation has to be
livid about this. Honestly, aren't the
Detroit Lions the worst team to ever
make the playoffs in NFL history?
And when the Lions do make the
playoffs, they get smooshed by
whichever team is lucky enough to play
them. This year, that team is the
Washington Redskins. Though the
Redskins can't stop anything out of high
school, they should be more than capa-
ble of stuffing the Lions. Besides, the
Lions have never won in Washington.
Can you imagine a team led by Gus
Frerotte - a man who rammed his head
against a brick wall after scoring a
touchdown - reversing a 65-year old
trend?
I think not.
But on a happier note, the Michigan
basketball team beat Colorado State to
increase its record to 9-2. Having been
forced to watch the Wolverines lose to
the likes of Florida International and
Ball State last season, I'm overjoyed to
see that Michigan is on its way to a dou-
ble-digit win total.
Yes, most of Michigan's wins have
come against ingrates. Teams like
Duquesne and Towson don't drive fear
into the hearts of men. I think that the
Michigan basketball players could have
shotgunned a six-pack of Tallboys and
still have their way with teams like
11~s irn pool
Duquesne.
But this Michigan team is fun to
watch. Unlike last year's group of
clowns who had a hard time scoring 10
points a half against Northwestern, the
Wolverines play an entertaining game,-,
and they just might be doing something
other than playing Playstation in March.
I also noticed that the NBA and the
NHL played a few hundred games dur-
ing the past couple of weeks. But I'd be ;
lying if I said that I could name the win-
ners of any of those contests.
Does anyone care about professional
basketball and hockey during the regular
season? It's really stupid, in my opinion.
Both play 82 games to decide which
five teams don't get to the playoffs.
Everyone gets into the playoffs in the
NBA. I'm sure if the Lions became an
NBA team, they'd somehow eke into the
playoffs and beat the Cleveland
Cavaliers in a five game showdown.
Another thing that sucks about the
NBA is the immaturity of the players in
the league. I honestly think that half the
guys in the NBA act like they are four.
But as much as it blows, it's easy to
see how it happens. For the most part,
most of the new crop of professional
basketball players can't drink alcohol
legally. Being someone who drinks alco-
hol legally but is quite immature at
times, it's easy to see how the young
crop of NBA players can act like kids.
Because Y2K was a flop, a good sign'
that the apocalypse is near is when a
player skips his senior year of high
school for the draft. I wouldn't be sur-
prised if that happens soon.
As for the NHL, I just think that any
sport played on ice in the summer is
kind of dimwitted. Hockey is a winter
sport, and unless the league's next
expansion franchise is located in
Santiago, Chile, the Stanley Cup Finals
will not be played in any sort of winter
weather. But as soon as the word winter
enters my head, I cringe. Laying out by
the pool in 80-degree weather, I can't
say that I am very excited about going
back to the January shiver of Ann Arbor.
But since the Michigan basketball team
is actually competent this year, I can
deal with the departure from the land of
palm trees and thong bikinis.
- In Miami, TJ Berka falls in a pool
after claiming he was conversing with a
woman. Is his story credible? He can be
reached at berkat@umich.edu.
Bench leads ' into Big Ten season
By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Writer
While most students were vacationing
and watching bowl games, the Michigan
women's basketball team was stuck in
Ann Arbor with three crucial games that
were as close to must-wins as the
December and January schedule could
provide.
Three wins later the Wolverines find
themselves tied for first place in the Big
Ten and a three-game losing streak - a
series in which their interior presence
was exposed - has been replaced with a
three game winning streak.
The best part of Michigan's winning
streak was its bench's dominance.
Outscoring their opponents' benches 73-
12 in the three games, the reserves
showed why they and the rest of the team
could contend for a Big Ten title.
Michigan (10-3 overall) is now 2-0 in
the Big Ten heading into Thursday
night's game at Indiana. The Wolverines'
three-game losing streak came after their
most successful start in school history at
7-0. But their problems were nothing
that a game against Central Michigan
couldn't fix.
The Wolverines beat the host
Chippewas 73-61. More importantly the
Wolverines' lowpost scored 47 points,
including 19 from freshman LeeAnn
Bies who also chipped in 1 I rebounds.
"I had a lot of fans there," Bies, a
Lakeview native said. "I just wanted to
go out there and play well for them."
Michigan's bench outscored the
Chippewas' 22-6. The reserves kept
scoring in both Michigan's 67-64, win
over Michigan State and its 77-53 win
over Minnesota. They whitewashed the
Spartans' bench 19-0 and outscored
Minnesota's 32-6, gettingl4 from sopho-
more Heather Oesterle and 12 from
junior Alison Miller.
"Everyone has really accepted their
roles on the team" junior Anne Thorius
said. "Everyone understands that you
can come off the bench and contribute
and we understand that if we are going to
win the Big Ten title, we need the bench
to play well."
Interestingly, Thorius, normally a
starter, came off the bench against
Central Michigan. The point guard has
not played up to pre-season expectations,
and Michigan coach Sue Guevara start-
ed freshman Infini Robinson in her
place. The change did little to spark
Thorius, who finished with six points in
27 minutes. Robinson finished with two
points in 12 minutes.
"I talked to coach about that and I felt
that I was not contributing as much as I
should," Thorius said. "We agreed that
Infini has played well in practice and that
it might be something that could help
light a spark for me and the team."
Michigan briefly celebrated the win
and got ready for their Big Ten opener
with Michigan State, the team that most
expect the Wolverines to battle with for a
top-half of the conference finish and a
NCAA Tournament bid. Thorius was
back in the starting lineup, but Thomas
carried the Wolverines. Thomas scored
21 points, recorded eight steals, and held
Michigan State's all-Big Ten small for-
ward Maxann Reese to 10 points.
"Everyone against State was excited
and ready to play them," Thorius said.
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