100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

March 06, 2000 - Image 9

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 2000-03-06

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Cze £irbiguu &zilg
P R

Sports desk: 647-3336
sportsdesk@umich.edu

SECTION B

I

. . ,..: :,~x .*:.! 1

I

oilers
alt Blue
inBTT
By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - It pleaded
for the attention for months. But
when the fans cheered, the televi-
sion cameras rolled, and the NCAA
Tournament committee paid atten-
tion, the No. 22 Michigan women's
basketball team cracked.
After
receiving PURDUE 74
eir first C
at i o n a l MICHIGAN 59
ranking in
school history, the second-seeded
Wolverines went to the Big Ten
Tournament talking about a revenge
game with fifth-ranked and top-
seeded Penn State in the finals. But
Michigan seemingly forgot about its
semifinal game with No. 18 Purdue,
last year's national champion,
falling 74-59 on Saturday.
The loss exposed the Wolverines
s an inexperienced team that lacks
tournament stamina while snapping
their nine-game winning streak.
"We were a little excited to be
there," junior point guard Anne
Thorius said.
Thorius was one of two Michigan
starters to finish with double-digits
scoring. Senior forward Stacey
Thomas was the other, but Thomas
*nished the game just 3-12 from
the field and 3-7 from the free-
throw line for her 10 points.
Thomas' offensive failures
caused Michigan coach Sue Gue-
vara to play backup forward
Heather Oesterle for 14 second-half
minutes - the sophomore averages
only 12 minutes per game. Thomas
played a mere eight minutes in the
second half.
Thomas's second-half absence
1lowed Purdue's Katie Douglas, the
co-Big Ten Player of the Year, to
See DISAPPOINT, Page 5B

KIM ITSU YOGACHI/Daily
Celebrating in Bowling Green wouldn't have been much fun for the Michigan hockey team, so the Wolverines saved the party for Yost ice Arena.

In

the

bag

With mixed
results,'M
wrestlers 5th
By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE - When Ferris Bueller was
taking his day off, he coined the phrase, 'Life moves
pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a
while, you could miss it."
Apparently, the same is true for the Michigan
wrestling team.
At the Big Ten Champi-
onships held this past weekend,
the Wolverines saw their emo- CHAMPIONSH IPS
tions reaching new heights of
instability.
But, for the most part, their score remained steady
throughout the event, which Iowa won with 139.5
points, beating Minnesota by only seven.
Michigan drove home with a fifth place, 73-point
finish heading into the NCAA Championships to be
held in two weeks in Saint Louis.
But it was the way that the Wolverines earned fifth
that made the tournament so interesting. After the sec-
ond session on Saturday night, half of the Michigan
competitors were devastated by their performances.
The others were ecstatic with their surprising suc-
cesses.
By the end of the evening, Michigan was entering the
second day of competition without a single wrestler in
the finals.
Senior 133-pounder Joe Warren was one person
crushed with his inability to advance. Facing Michigan
State's Pat McNamara - the same McNamara who had
beaten Warren in the finals last year at Crisler Arena -
Warren lost a 10-8 semifinal decision in a match that
could have gone anyway at any point.
The loss was tough for Warren - who eventually
finished third in a class won by Iowa's Eric Juergens -
particularly because of the now familiar opponent.
"I hate that kid," Warren said of McNamara, who has
beaten him in their last six meetings. "To lose to him
was even worse for me."
Damion Logan, Mike Kulczycki and Andy Hrovat,
at 141, 149 and 184 pounds respectively, suffered the
same fate as Warren.
See FIFTH PLACE, Page 7B
No. 1 gymnasts
set season high
By Dan Dingerson
Daily Sports Writer
In the midst of spring break and spring training, the No. I
Michigan men's gymnastics team took to the road for spring
competition. On tap for the Wolverines were a pair of sixth-
ranked foes, and the best-nicknamed team they would face
all year.
On Saturday night, the Wolverines' week in southern
California culminated in a tri-meet with No. 6 Oklahoma
and No. 18 California-Santa Barbara. The Oklahoma Soon-

Despite loss, icers secure league title and NCAA berth

By Geoff Gagnon
Daily Sports Writer
The announcement came with just under
two minutes to play in Friday's game at
Bowling Green.
The hardware came a day later.
Friday, as Michigan huddled near its
bench during a Bowling Green timeout at
18:49 of the third period, news that Michi-
gan had clinched its sixth CCHA crown in
nine years gave the Wolverines faithful in
attendance cause to celebrate. And for good
measure, Michigan solidified its title claim
by staving off the upset minded Falcons 3-1
in a game that proved to matter very little in
the calculation of the CCHA race.
Saturday's rematch with the Falcons there-
fore, mattered even less - and unfortunate-
ly Michigan knew it.
"It's tough to get excited for a game that
doesn't mean so much," Michigan forward
Mike Comrie said. "We should have had a
better game, but those things happen"
In dropping its first game to Bowling
Green in Ann Arbor since 1992, forward
Mike Cammalleri said the 6-3 loss saw the

Wolverines fall victim to a temporary lack of
focus - a problem that, according to Cam-
malleri, won't happen again.
"It's just a real letdown after we clinched
first place the night before," Cammalleri
said. "We're a team that plays better when
we have something to prove and that's going
to be the case next week."
That will be when CCHA Tournament
action begins with Michigan hosting West-
ern Michigan on Friday. Meanwhile, Bowl-
ing Green used its win Saturday to avoid a
return to Ann Arbor next week by fighting
its way to eighth place in the conference and
a meeting with Lake Superior State by hand-
ing Michigan one of its worst conference
losses of the year.
In a game defined from the outset as phys-
ical, Michigan and Bowling Green com-
bined in the first period to tally 17 penalties
- good for nine power plays on 34 minutes
spent in the box.
Fittingly, Bowling Green struck first on a
power play at 14:34 of the first period as
Ryan Fultz capped off a wild frenzy in front
of the Michigan net by knocking the puck
past Michigan's Josh Blackburn. Moments

later, on a rebound from behind the net, the
Falcons took a 2-0 lead as Austin de Luis
followed the errant shot of Michael Jones for
a score at 15:14.
Outshooting Bowling Green 12-8 in the
first period, the Falcons extended their lead
as Marc Barlow beat Blackburn to his left
from the right circle at 6:39 of the second
period. Later in that frame, Scott Matzka did
his best to ignite a Michigan comeback as he
tallied his second goal of the weekend with a
breakaway score.
Michigan continued to flirt with chances
to claw its way back into the contest after,
Bowling Green's Greg Day scored to start
the third period. On a strike nearly identical
to Barlow's, Michigan's John Shouneyia
notched his fourth score of the year with a
goal at 4:31 from the right circle.
By the time Michigan scored again at
19:08 on a shorthanded goal from Matzka,
Bowling Green had put the Wolverines away
with goals by Scott Hewson and Craig Des-
jarlais. But Matzka's goal helped the junior
complete a successful four-point weekend
campaign with a goal and an assist in Fri-
See FALCONS, Page 4B

Michigan sufflers
worst loss evers
State humiliates 'M' to win Big Ten
By David Den Herder
Daily Sports Editor

A P PHOTO
Purdue smothered the Wolverines to
send them home early.
ftfter title,
tankers prep
for NCAAs
By Benjamin Singer
Daily Sports Writer
The most storied Big Ten team
reclaimed its title as conference cham-
pions after being separated from the
trophy for two years as No. 7 Michigan,
in its home pool, "brought it back" just
over a week ago - something the
Wolverines had talked about all year
long.
That was fun, but now Michigan sets
its sights on the NCAAs, three weeks
ay in Minneapolis.
Only 235 swimmers and divers in the
nation are invited to the NCAA cham-
pionships and Michigan is likely to
send at least six.
"We are in the eleventh hour here
trying to figure out who gets to go,"
said assistant coach Eric Namesnik

ers are currently the top-rated
team not in the Big Ten; the
Santa Barbara Gauchos are win-
less - perhaps due to their loca-
tion near the beach which
renders college a permanent
spring break site.
The Michigan gymnasts
responded to their week of train-
ing in the sun by posting their
best score of the year, 231.975.
The effort was led by Scott Vet-
ere, who easily took the all-
around with his score of 58.55
- outperforming teammate

Aim high
The top-ranked mensym-
nasts set both team and
individual records over
spring break.
Team:
Rings -39.625
Hligl Bar-38.625
Scott Vetere:
All-Around-58.55
Rings -9.95-
Vault - 9.95
Foor Exercise 9.9

EAST LANSING - The 2000 Big Ten Championship banner
now hangs from the rafters'of Michigan State's Breslin Center. It
could have been lowered at halftime. Or
perhaps sooner.M
Michigan's 114-63 humiliation at the 1 MICHOAN 63
hands of the Spartans was its worst loss MICHIGAN ST. 114
in school history.
The band belched the "M.S.U. Fight ,
Song" over and over as the raucous i0 . .
faithful watched the points keep rising. i
But the Spartan Brass refrained from Worstloinhistory
playing the most appropriate song for
this afternoon: "Sweet Georgia Brown" Michigan State records:
- the famous anthem of the Harlem *Most points by one team
Globetrotters. ever in a Big Ten game
Led by the newly crowned Big Ten ets-iagame
assists leader, Mateen Cleaves, the Glo- Most career assists in Big
betrotters made a mockery of these Ten (Cleaves--769)
Generals until the final buzzer - and
even a bit after.
By the time Cleaves was kissing the block "S" on his way out
of the game, he had 20 assists on the day (a Big Ten record) and
769 for his career (a Big Ten record).
The Globetrotters sank 16 3-pointers (a Big Ten record),
including four from high-point man Charlie Bell, who finished
with 31. Four of Bell's teammates finished with him in double
digits, while Josh Asselin was the only General to reach the same
mark, scoring 13.
"For MSU, this may be a day that never gets passed by," Michi-
gan State coach Tom Izzo said after wiping his suit clean of the
confetti from the postgame celebration. "It is an incredible

A P PHOTO
Mateen Cleaves only shot the basketball on Saturday to set up the
pass. The senior had 20 assists to become the Big Ten record-holder.
late in the second half. Then, one by one, they were subbed out
- taking sweet time to give and receive love from their team-
mates and even the hardwood.
As Cleaves rose from his knees at center court (the kiss, he
later admitted, was inspired by Shawn Respert), he patted Kevin
Gaines on the butt.
"We're pot going out there and trying to embarrass them,"
Cleaves said.
While the Generals scored 63 points in the game, the Globe-
trotters scored 63 in the second half alone.
"There was no trying to run up anything," Izzo said.

Kevin Roulston, who scored 56.475 to take second-place.
Vetere won three events, and scored above a 9.9 in three
events, all team records. On both still rings and vault, Vet-
ere recorded a 9.95 en route to the event title. Despite his
9.9 on the floor exercise, Vetere finished third, but managed
to take first on the pommel horse with a 9.85. It was only a
poor performance on the parallel bars that kept him from
breaking 59.0.
The meet may have been the most dominant individual
performance ever by a Michigan male gymnast and set a
new school record in the all-around - only missing the
NCAA record by .05.
"He has been nursing a sore lower back for a couple of
weeks," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "We brought
him back slowly, and everything came together for him at
once."
The Wolverines also received strong performances from
freshman Kris Zimmerman, senior Lalo Haro and junior
Kenny Keener. Zimmerman won the event title on the paral-
lel bars with a 9.85 and tied Keener for second on the still
rings with a 9.90. Haro tied for second on the vault with
Roulston and took third on the parallelbars and high bar.
The performance by the Wolverines was timely because
Oklahoma recorded its best meet of the season, scoring
231.25 to finish a close second. The Sooners led the meet
by two points through four events, but could not hold off

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan