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. REC SPORTS INTRAMURALS The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHAT'S HAPPENING' U U 747-9400 1220 S. University Above McDonalds '.. -IO- 1 SPRING BREAK SPECIALS iUPERHYAN Intramural Basketball Of ficials Needed!! 'xperience * Get a Free arv T-Shirt .No L Necess / " y Tan All Semester $49.95 + $1 per session (first 200 Onlyu) c x One Month Unlimited $39.95 No service fees. xpires 1115100 {'7 r t' . .._ REMOC SPORTS are INTRAMURALS 1 I The Princeton Review MCAT students have an average score increase of 8 points. Classes begin * Officials Paid for Al Games Worked Flexible lours I Training Clinics Begin I