6B - The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 4, 2002 No. 3 Grapplers wear down Fighting Illini By Rohit Bhave Daily Sports Writer Friday, the No. 3 Michigan wrestling team (2-1 Big Ten, 11-3 overall) used several clutch per- formances to beat No. 13 Illinois (1-1, 8-2) 25-6 at Cliff Keen Arena. Michigan wrestling coach Joe McFarland wanted his team to pressure its opponents more and wear them out with superior conditioning. It seems like the Wolverines got the message. Although nearly every match was tight, Michi- gan wrestlers were always on the offensive. "I was happy with the way we competed," McFarland said. "We've been talking about these close matches." Seventh-ranked Foley Dowd, at 133 pounds, has had trouble recently in tight matches. This time against Illinois' Chad Hay, Dowd broke open a tight match in the third period with a spectacular take-down, then held off Hay in the final moments for a hard-fought 6- 5 win. At 149 pounds, No. 7 Mike Kulczycki jumped on No. 19 Ryan Berger from the start, but the match remained close at 1-0. A strong double-leg takedown of Berger made it 3-0 for Kulcycki in the second period. s Leading 5-3 with under a minute left, Kulczyc- ki held off Berger's late charge, including a take- down attempt by Berger that occurred just a second after the final buzzer. Second-ranked Andy Hrovat continued his three-match dual meet winning streak with a 8-5 win over No. 20 Jason Potter. Following last Monday's upset win over Indiana's No. 1 Viktor Sveda at the National Wrestling Coaches Associ- ation All-Star Classic in New York, Hrovat was able to maintain a workman-like attitude against Potter. "I didn't think I let up (against Potter)," Hrovat said. "I wrestled seven hard minutes." Perhaps the best example of mentally tough wrestling came when No. 5 Ryan Bertin wrestled Illinois' No. 18 Griff Powell at 157 pounds. Aware of Bertin's obvious strength advantage, Powell wrestled the entire match simply trying to block Bertin's shots. With his defensive style, Powell was successful at taking the match into the third period tied at one. But in the final period, Bertin's pressure began to pay off. A critical stalling call on Powell with a minute left gave Bertin a 2-1 advantage. With Powell forced to score late, Bertin exploited his opponent's vulnerable position by scoring a take- down with 30 seconds left, finishing the match at 4-1. "Ryan did a great job of keeping the pressure on the entire match," McFarland said. "He wore (Powell) down and took advantage of it." Michigan's sole major decision came when No.1 Otto Olson defeated Illinois' Brian Glynn in the 174 pound match. With seven takedowns, the senior defeated the overmatched Glynn 17-6. This season, Olson leads the team with 12 major decisions, showing his propensity for win- ning matches in dominating fashion. Olson also won at the NWCA All-Star classic, beating No. 3 Rick Springman from Pennsylva- nia,13-8. The Wolverines' only losses came at the hands of Illinois' best wrestlers. Michigan heavyweight Matt Brink fell to No. 4 John Lockhart 3-2 because he was unable to recover from Lock- hart's first-period takedown. At 165 pounds, Michigan's No. 9 Charles Martelli was overpowered by No. 2 Matt Lackey, 10-3. Having just one meet this weekend was benefi- cial both for the Wolverines' training schedule and for their win total. "Coach (McFarland) had us really geared up to come in and wrestle Illinois," said team captain Hrovat. DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Michigan battled with Illinois all night at Cliff Keen Arena Saturday night. The third- ranked Wolverines won their second meet in a row with a 25-6 win over the Illini. Michigan uses floor Ryals perfect again as team soars a a to exercise victory By Josh Holman Daily Sports Writer YPSILANTI - After sophomore Christine Mantillia and junior Cami Singer both fell in their floor routines at the State of Michigan Classic yesterday, it was clear that Michigan would not be posting a floor exercise score near the 49.325 it earned against Florida on Fri- day. But that did not deter the Wolverines from putting together their second dom- inating performance in three days with a score of 196.3, nearly three points bet- ter than the 193.65 their closest com- petitor, Michigan State, could muster. Senior co-captain Jodie Rosenberg was the third Wolverine in the floor exercise and ended up tying a career high in the event with a 9.875, prevent- ing any type of disastrous chain reac- tion. "I knew that we needed a little bit more energy out there," Rosenberg said, "so I just went out there and tried to have fun. It kind of got things rolling again." After career-best scores from fresh-- man Kallie Steffes (9.90) and junior co- captain Janessa Grieco (9.95), sophomore Callie Ryals put the icing on the cake, earning her second perfect 10 in as many weeks in the event. Ryals became just the seventh Michi- gan gymnast to score two 10's in the same season. "I think I'm a lot more aggressive now," Ryals said. "We had an awesome weekend, and that gets us fired up to get back in the gym and work for that extra improvement we need to show up next weekend." The 10 was just part of another out- standing all-around day for Ryals. She set a career high with a 9.95 on the uneven bars along with solid scores of 9.80 and 9.875 on the vault and bdlance beam. Her total score of 39.625, a sea- son best, earned Ryals her fifth straight all-around title. The floor was actually causing Michigan problems before the meet even began. The gymnasts were com- plaining about the hard surface of the floor equipment, a condition they had not yet seen this year. It was for this reason that senior Melissa Peterson was pulled from the floor exercise, with her already injured shin in mind. "My concern was that she was just giving us everything she had," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said "and it was just too early in the season for her to be doing that." Peterson's work ethic applies to the rest of the team's seniors as well. Along with the spark she provided in the floor routine, Rosenberg also set a career-best in the vault yesterday. "I can't say enough about my whole senior class,' Plocki said. "I've had sen- iors step up in events they never expect- ed to do at the beginning of the season. They've just been kicking some serious By Matt Kramer Daily Sports Writer YPSILANTI - This was exactly the weekend Michigan women's gymnastics coach Bev Plocki was looking for. A GYMNASTICS season-best 197.0 Notebook in Friday's rout of No. 13 Florida - including team bests in three of the four events - was followed in yesterday's State of Michigan Classic by a 196.3 that was nearly three full points ahead of sec- ond-place Michigan State. Amazingly enough, No. 9 Michigan (3-0 Big Ten, 9-2 overall) has been able to post its best scores without sophomore Elise Ray competing in the all-around competition. Ray, who captained the U.S. Olympic team in 2000, returned to the vault after three weeks off on Friday and took first place with a 9.875 before fin- ishing second yesterday with a 9.8. Yet Ray's all-around scores aren't crucial for Michigan because of the pleasant surprise that fellow sophomore Calli Ryals has been. . Ryals, who yesterday scored her sec- ond perfect 10.0 on the floor routine in her last three meets, was able to score a career best all-around score of 39.625 not once, but twice this weekend. The 39.625's were good enough to win her fourth and fifth consecutive all around titles of the year., "It's self-gratifying to know that I can add something to my team," Ryals said. "I want to put high scores on the board especially with these injuries and I just think it's great that we are doing so well without Elise Ray." The only conflict for the Wolverines may have been how Plocki and Ryals viewed Ryals' floor exercise yesterday. "If there was any difference in the. two 10's I'd say that this routine was superior to the routine that she had at Ohio State, A 10 is a 10 but this one was better," Plocki said. Ryals didn't concur. "The first 10 is always the best 10," she said. BETTER AND BETTER: The Wolverines have improved their all-around score every single week since opening the season in Maui a month ago. At this time last year the Wolverines had yet to score over a 196.3 and were sitting at 7-4. But thanks to career high scores from gymnasts this weekend, the 9-2 Wolverines see the sky as their limit. "This is where we want to be," Plocki said yesterday. "We are sitting in a real- ly good position now even though we've had some injuries and especially with (No. 1) Utah, (No. 2) Georgia and (No. 8) UCLA coming up we want to get healthier." Junior co-captain Janessa Grieco, winner on the beam yesterday, has noticed a different attitude among team members as the year has unfolded. "This team started slow and in some respects I think that might be good because we are getting better every meet.". 0 DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Michigan dominated Sunday's meet, winning by three points. butt all the way around this season." Sophomore Elise Ray continued to show positive signs that her heel injury is improving, although it is still keeping her out of all-around competition. She scored no lower than a 9.8 in her three events on the day, including a 9.925 on the uneven bars that was good enough for second place in the event behind Ryals. The Wolverines now have a week to nurse and train before they welcome No. 2 Georgia to Crisler Arena on Sun- day. *1 Calli Ryals earned a perfect 10 for the second time in three meets yesterday. _________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Hey, and Freshmen Sophomores... Are You Feeling Sad or Blue? Medication free women suffering from depression between the ages of 18-48 are needed for a 6-10 week treatment study for depression. Participants will receive free medication and clinic visits during the study. For more information call 936-8726. JOIN DAILY SPORTS. AFTER ALL, WHAT'S BETTER THAN GETTING PAID TO WATCH SPORTS? *1 _____________________ _-- ___________I Nationwide Long Distance Included. Every Minute. 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