(Tbe 1Irijt nDailt Sports desk: 763-2459 sportsdesk@umich.edu SECTION B Grapplers upset Hawkeyes on the road By Eric Chan Daily Sports Writer This past weekend on the road was emotional for the No. 3 Michigan wrestling team, as it had one of its own wrestlers hospitalized before one of the biggest matches of the season. Michigan 141-pounder Clark Forward was taken to the hospital in Iowa City on Friday with an ankle infection before Michigan was to square off against No. 2 Iowa. Despite the absence of Forward, the Wolverines were still able to upset the Hawkeyes, 20-15. Yesterday afternoon, Michigan traveled to Madison and trounced No. 13 Wiscon- sin, 32-7. Michigan won seven of the nine matches wrestled and took a forfeit at 149 pounds in a rout of the Badgers. The match of the day came at 133 pounds when Michigan's No. 7 Foley Dowd took on No. 4 Kevin Black of Wisconsin. Dowd was winning the match with just seconds left on the clock when Black hit a lateral drop to take the match as the buzzer sounded. "I was concerned that the guys would be a little tired today because we had a really emotional weekend with Clark and Iowa," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. "I think we wrestled great though. The guys looked real sharp and focused on the mat." Against the Hawkeyes, the Wolverines not only faced the second-best team in the nation, but also had to deal with a hostile crowd of 7,456 packed into Iowa's Carv- er-Hawkeye Arena. "I was worried that the guys may have been intimidated going into Iowa, but they weren't at all," McFarland said. "They went in there, and wrestled great." The match started with the heavy- weight class, in which Iowa had its best wrestler (No. 1 Steve Mocco) facing No. 12 Matt Brink. Michigan's Brink - with his left knee still bandaged from an injury earlier in the season - was unable to handle the surprising quickness of Iowa's heavyweight. Mocco scored a takedown early in the first period and never looked back, winning the match 6-3. Of Michigan's first five wrestlers, only 133-pounder No. 7 Foley Dowd could score for the Wolverines. Dowd upset No. 5 Cliff Moore 12-4 to score a four-point major decision victory for the Wolver- ines. Michigan backup 125-pounder Shaun Newton weighed in at 133 pounds, and bumped up to wrestle at 141 pounds to fill in for the hospitalized Forward. The undersized Newton did all he could against Iowa's Luke Moffitt, but was pinned early in the second period. At 149 pounds, Michigan's Mike Kul- czycki was hoping to upset Mike Zadick, See HAWKEYES, Page 7B I Big red machine DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Tabitha Pool was contested all game by No. 8 Purdue last night as only six players scored points. Boile-rs effor just right against Blue ByJimWeber Dafiy Sports Writer Yesterday's Purdue-Michigan game decided the Big Ten champion, but not in the way many expected it to at the begin- nin gof the year. The seventh-ranked Boilermakers - PURDUE 84 claimed at least a share of the confer- ence title after an 84-73 victory at MICHIGAN 73 Crisler Arena yesterday. Each team as a preseason favorite to win the conference crown, but the Wolverines have not lived up to the expectations, currently in ninth-place with just two games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament. Shereka Wright set a Purdue record with 40 points and shot 71 percent from the field. Just five of her points came from outside the paint. Kelly Komara added 11 for Purdue (12-3 Big Ten, 21-4 overall). Alayne Ingram's 24 points led Michigan (5-9 Big Ten, 15-10 overall). The Wolverines led by four at the break and had just seven turnovers in the first half. But they turned the ball over nine times in the first nine minutes of the second half. After the Wolverines extended their lead to eight at the beginning of the second half, the Boilermakers went on a 20-6 run. Guard Kelly Komara led the charge with five steals and six points during the run. During the game, she set a Purdue record + for steals in a season (102). Ingram, who turned the ball over four times in the second half, was victimized by Komara. "I let (Komara) take the ball from me," Ingram said. "I say 'I let her' because I dribbled the ball very lackadaisically, and that is just something I can't do." Michigan finally ended its 6:30 scoring drought when Ingram hit a 3-pointer to pull the Wolverines within five with 10 minutes remaining. LeeAnn Bies had to leave the game because of a dislocated left pinky finger with eight minutes left and Michigan trailing by seven. The Wolverines found themselves down by five when Wright hit a 3-pointer right in front of her team's bench to give the Boilermakers a 75-67 advantage with 3:22 remaining. She scored seven more points to finish the game and the Wolver- ines. Both teams were on fire in the first half. Michigan shot 52 percent from the field en route to a 42-38 lead at the break, while Purdue shot 47 percent. Ingram and Bies led the Wolver- ines with 12 points apiece, while Tabitha Pool added nine. See BOILERS, Page 3B Amakerneeds to get his team to practice and play fter that horrible excuse for a basketball game last Wednesday in West Lafayette (Purdue 79, Michigan 43), the Wolverines returned to Crisler Arena with a renewed determination. "We were angry at the way we had played," senior tri-cap- tain Chris Young said. "We came back and had two very good days of practice." But that intensity and attitude didn't carry over into yester- day's game, and there is no excuse for that. I didn't expect Michigan to pull the upset against the Hoosiers, who might be the best team in the Big Ten. But I was counting on hearing Tommy Amaker say that he "was proud of the kids' effort" as he often does after a quality loss. Instead, he acknowledged that his team "certainly had a lot of break- downs" and "was not as tough at cru- cial moments as it needed to be." After the game, Michigan forward Bernard Robinson lamented the Wolverines' failures. "We've got a losing record ... We're almost playing for nothing," he said. What happened to pride? Doesn't STEVE wearing that uniform mean anything? JACKSON That was the only comment I didn't want to hear from this team. This year Time for is not over. The fans are still coming Action "to the games, and eve ,rWolVefifie needs to give 100 percent every time he steps on the court. Young was right to be angry after losses to Purdue and Colorado State, and the fans should be angry with their team if it gives up and accepts losing just because it's 10- 14. Robinson went on to discuss how he still gets up for practices "to make himself better." This team may not be headed for postseason play, but there are still plenty of reasons to dig down and play hard besides individual improvement. With games coming up at Iowa, at Wisconsin and at home against Ohio State, the Wolverines could still finish in last place in the conference. If that isn't a reason to show up on game day, I don't what is. Working hard in practice is a worthwhile goal, and Amaker's emphasis on that will make the Wolverines bet- ter in the long run. But he must find a way to get his guys to play when the cameras and fans show up - or this sea- son will be come another ugly 10-18 failure. "I think what we have tried to do is just expect some of the little things along the way," Amaker said. "We recog- nize that this is a process." The Wolverines appear to be doing a great job with those "little things" as long as no one is watching, and completing that "process" doesn't appear to be a short- term goal. Losing these games is "frustrating, but I think we are realistic also. It wouldn't be wise for us not to have a sem- blance of balance and perspective in knowing who we are," Amaker said. "For us to expect to be a certain team or at a certain level, is probably unfair to our kids." Wow, that is what I call confidence in your team. Amaker shouldn't expect a Final Four run anytime soon, but I never have gotten the impression that this team was See JACKSON, Page 5A DANYMOLOHO/D aily Forward Jared Odle and his Indiana teammates dominated Michigan inside and out in a 75-55 victory yesterday. Odle was one of three members of the Hoosiers' frontcourt with 17 points. Cagers stuffed b Hoosiers By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor After an embarrassing road swing, the struggling Wolverines expected to redeem themselves at home yesterday against first-place Indiana (9-3 Big Ten, 17-8 INDIANA 75 overall) and pull off a win that could have kept their U MICHIGAN 55 postseason hopes alive. Instead, what Michigan (5-8, 10-14) received was a basketball clinic given by the efficient Hoosiers, who breezed to a 75-55 victory. Indiana's win assured the Hoosiers of a first-place showdown with Ohio State at Assembly Hall on Wednesday. But for Michigan, its third-straight loss and fourth in its last five games puts the Wolverines' NIT aspirations in jeopardy. The Wolverines now must win their final three games (at Iowa and Wis- consin, and at home against Ohio State) and advance past the second round in the Big Ten Tournament in order to qualify. For a team that hasn't won three straight Big Ten See HOOSIERS, Page SA if --7 - r I Icers fall to Spartans at the Joe - again By Naweed Sikora Daily Sports Writer DETROIT - Sometimes in hockey, the pucks just don't bounce your way. In the final regular season meeting of the year between the Wolverines and the Spartans, the puck bounced Michi- gan State's way. About five minutes into the game, with the score tied at one, Michigan State forward Joe Goodenow dumped the puck into the Wolverines' zone. The puck took an awkward bounce as Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn tried to snag it with his glove, and it trickled into the net. The Spartans later added a goal in the third period to finish off the Wolverines, 3-1. With the loss, Michi- gan is winless against Michigan State Michigan in the CCHA standings, Michigan coach Red Berenson was not pleased with how his team fell behind. "This game was not a show;" Beren- son said. "No matter what the implica- tions, we didn't come out on top and that's the bottom line. Whether it's CCHA points or NCAA rankings, we cannot feel good about this game." "We weren't ready in the first five minutes, and it killed us," Michigan freshman Charlie Henderson said. The game, which was preceded by a special ceremony honoring Michigan State coach Ron Mason, who will retire at the end of this season, was character- ized by defensive breakdowns and fluke goals early on. At 1:26, Michigan's failure to clear the puck from its zone allowed Michi- gan State's John-Michael Liles to Strike up the band ... With the 3-1 loss at Joe Louis Arena Saturday, Michigan has not beaten Michigan State in any revenue sport since Jan. 27, 2001. That has left the Michigan State marching band with several oppor- tunities to play its fight song for its 'victors valient.' -Courtesy "They're fighting with a vim." Michigan Feb. 17,2001- Hockey - Michigan State 4, Michigan 2 state Athletic "RAHI RAHI RAHI" Mar. 3, 2001- Basketball - Michigan State 78, Michigan 57 "See their team is weakening" Mar. 17,2001- Hockey - Michigan State 2, Michigan 0 (CCHA Championship) "We're going to win this game" Nov. 3, 2001 - Football - Michigan State 26, Michigan 24 "Fight! FIght! Rahl Team, Fight!" Jan. 30, 2002 - Basketball - Michigan State 71, Michigan 44 "Victory for MSU." TOM FELDKAMP/Daily I I I