6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - Feburary 3, 2002 Grapplers demolish Wildcats in blowout 'M' earns country's second highest score 0 By Eric Chan Daily Sports Writer Michigan's wrestling match against Northwestern had a little bit of every- thing - a moment of silence for the fallen astronauts of the Columbia shut- tie, a ceremony for Michigan wrestling alumni and a blood-curdling scream at the end of the meet. One thing the Michigan fans did not witness at Cliff Keen Arena on Saturday was a good wrestling match. The No. 8 Wolverines routed the hapless Wildcats 35-12. "I think we wrestled well. I really do. We stayed aggressive, and that's what I like to see," Michigan coach Joe McFar- land said. "From 125 (pounds), all the way through, we did a good job." Michigan All-American 125-pounder A.J Grant, currently ranked fifth in the country at 125 pounds, started the meet off by manhandling Northwestern's John Velez during a 15-3 major decision. At 133-pounds, Michigan starter Foley Dowd was unable to compete, as backup 125-pounder Shaun Newton stepped in for him. "Over the years, Foley's knees get sore from time to time, and we're just trying to be careful with him and give him a little extra rest," McFarland said. Newton was impressive against Northwestern's Jon Ott, sprawling out and defending against many of Ott's attacks. In the end, though, a riding time advantage would give Ott the one point he needed to score a 6-5 decision over Newton. With the score at 4-3, Michigan 141-pounder Clark Forward would face Northwestern's top wrestler in NCAA qualifier John Giacche. Forward led 3-2 going into the third period and then scored two takedowns to seal the victory over the veteran Giacche. "Clark wrestled fantastic - that's the way Clark is capable of wrestling," McFarland said. "He stayed aggressive regardless of how much time was left. He iced that match with those late takedowns. That's what I like to see Clark do." The Wolverines' freshman phenom, Ryan Churella, dominated the Wildcats' Paul Oggle at 149 pounds. Churella scored five takedowns over the course of three periods before finally pinning Oggle with 22 seconds remaining in the match. All-American Ryan Bertin ws not to be outdone by Churella, as he pinned his opponent, Northwestern's Mike Kimber- lin, early in the second period. Fellow All-American Mike Kulczycki didn't have the same kind of luck that Churella and Bertin enjoyed. After being taken down by the Wildcats' Jason Erwinski, Kulczycki, in noticeable pain, signaled to the referee for an injury timeout. After a few minutes with the trainer, Kulczycki forfeited the match, giving six points to Northwestern and bringing the score to 19-9 in favor of Michigan. "We just didn't want to risk it with Mike at 165," McFarland said. "We're just getting him back from injury. He sprained his other ankle tonight. We had the match in hand, and there was no point in risking it." At 197 pounds, Michigan All-Amer- ican Kyle Smith topped freshman Matt NICOLE TERWILLIGER/Daily Junior Clark Forward used a late surge to win his match at 141 pounds against Northwestern's John Giacche. Delguyd in a match that was closer than it should have been. Smith con- trolled the match early on, but two third-period takedowns by Delguyd cut Smith's lead to three. The All-Ameri- can prevailed in the end, countering with two takedowns of his own to seal a 16-8 decision. "Kyle needs to keep his intensity level up," McFarland said. "He got embarrassed when he got taken down a couple times. He got a little ticked off and went after the kid and got two takedowns at will. He loses his intensity from time to time. He needs to work on that. When Kyle is on the go, he's hard to stop. I think he's the strongest 197-pounder in the country." The final match of the evening was a gruesome one. With Michigan heavy- weight Greg Wagner, ranked eighth in the country, squaring off against three- time high school Oklahoma state cham- pion Mike Little, the match was sup- posed to be a close one. After falling awkwardly a minute and a half into the match, Little let out a scream that proba- bly could have been heard in Evanston. Few fans could even look, as Little laid in writhing agony on the mat with his arm twisted in such a manner that even a contortionist would be shocked. The Northwestern heavyweight had dislocat- ed his elbow, and after having it popped back in, was helped off the mat. Michi- gan received the injury default to close the match at 35-12. Michigan's win over Northwestern capped a 2-0 Big Ten weekend in which it also beat Indiana at Cliff Keen Arena, 25-13. Next weekend, the Wolverines will square off against defending nation- al champion Minnesota and in-state rival Michigan State. By Nazeema AiI Daily Sports Writer Sunday was a pretty good day for the No. 7 Michigan men's gymnastics team, considering it finished with its highest score of the season - the sec- ond highest of all team scores record- ed in the nation this year, behind only No. 1 Penn State. The Wolverines (4-4) beat No. 9 Illinois-Chicago 215.050 to 203.300 at Cliff Keen Arena in front of an ani- mated audience. This convincing per- formance is proof that Michigan is slowly but surely reaching its poten- tial. "We're finally approaching the level we're supposed to be at," senior Scott Vetere said. Vetere contributed with the team's second-highest score on the floor exer- cise and the pommel horse. "We're on our way to a national title, I'm sure of that right now." The Wolverines' quest for challeng- ing the top-ranked teams has been a seemingly intangible goal throughout the season. Injuries that have kept many upperclassmen out of competi- tion have hampered the amount of leadership and experience currently available. But as Michigan coach Kurt Golder has been predicting all year, patience will allow the team to recover and fortify the lineup. This process could eventually result in a national championship caliber team. Thus far, it appears that progress is unfolding accordingly. "As we get guys in, we get more and more confidence," Golder said. "Now we have to add difficulty as the guys get more comfortable with their routines g The growing confidence is evident among all the gymnasts. "I think we're right where we want to be," sophomore Geoff Corrigan said. "I'm impressed with the fresh- men, they did really well." Of the freshmen, Justin Laury's per- formance was the most impressive. Laury finished ahead of all competi- tors on the pommel horse and the hori- zontal bar, as he successfully executed routines with relatively high start val- ues in all events. The Wolverines dominated Illinois- Chicago (0-6) in five of the six events. Each event was anchored by consistent opening routines. Illinois' helplessness was evident, as the team appeared to lose concentration in the last rotation in which it fell countless times. Mean- while, Michigan entertained the home crowd by delivering a dramatic display of well-executed release moves on the high bar. The success of the meet was partial- ly smothered when sophomore Eddie Umphrey hurt his hand in the middle of his parallel bars routine. He left the meet for x-rays and there was no word of his status. Umphrey is one of six Wolverines slated to attend the 2003 Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas next weekend, along with Jamie Hertza, Conan Parzuchowski, Justin Laury, Jerry Sig- norelli and Geoff Corrigan. Umphrey's presence on the team is significant, but his teammates remain optimistic. "We have to be confident and have as much fun as possible," Parzu- chowski said. "That's how you win. We still have some guys out, and we need to add some more difficulty. But, when the end of the season rolls around, the rest of the nation won't even see us coming." 0 0 Blue wins during a night in the Roxbury By Ellen McGarrdty Daily Sports Writer Not only did four members of the Michigan men's track team qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track Cham- pionships this weekend, they had the chance to run in the presence of Olympic veterans like Regina Jacobs, Maurice Greene and pole-vaulter Stacey Dragila. "It was really cool," sophomore Seth Waits said. "From the moment we got there, we were riding on the bus with Olympians. I even got the chance to talk to Stacey Dragila. Really, it was the highlight of my track career." Saturday, coach Ron Warhurst, along with four of his best runners flew to Roxbury, Mass. for the Boston Indoor Games. Sophomores Nate Brannen and Seth Waits and freshmen Nick Willis and Andrew Ellerton proved they could hang with the best when they com- bined to form a medley relay team. In a distance med- ley relay, each member runs a different distance for their leg of the race ranging from 400 to 1,600 meters. Competing against No. 1 Arkansas, No. 5 Villanova, Kentucky, Arizona, Providence College and Darmouth, Michigan placed second with a time of 9:35.80. To get an automatic qualification for the NCAA Champi- onships set for March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark., the team needed 9:38.25, but the Wolverines beat that by 25 hundredths of a second. In the first leg, Brannen ran 1,200 meters in 2:57. "Nate ran kind of conservative," Warhurst said. "He's been battling a case of achilles tendon, and I know he could have run faster." "We pretty much went (to Boston) not knowing if I was going to run or not," Brannen said about his injury. "Literally, the morning of we decided whether or not we were going to race. I was definitely the weak link, but the rest of the guys made up for it." Brannen now has qualified for nationals in two events. Along with the relay team, the sophomore will be traveling to Fayetteville for his 1:48.80 time in the 800-meter run, accomplished just a few weeks ago in the Michigan Quadrangular. After Brannen's slow start, Waits had to make up time with his quick 400 meters. And he did, passing the baton to teammate Ellerton after 48.1 seconds. "The (baton) handoff was where we really lost the time," Waits said. "(Despite his injury), Nate had a great leg. One of the runners from Kentucky got in the way which lost us about 10 meters." Ellerton finished his 800 meters of the race in 1:50.6. In Ellerton's first season with Michigan, he has already torn up the track several times, taking first in the 800 at the Michigan Intrasquad meet and first in the 600 at the Michigan Quadrangular. "I just tried to stay with the other guys and do what I had to do,"Ellerton said. Then it all fell on the shoulders of Willis, who ran 1,600. Willis is hoping to qualify for nationals in two other events, the mile and the 3,000-meter. His time of 7:59.19 at the Michigan Quadrangular and his mile run in 4:04.59 at the Red Simmons Invitational are both provisional qualifying times for Nationals. The relay catapulted both Ellerton and Waits into NCAAs, but even with this qualifying relay time under their belts, it won't crush their incentive to keep run- ning hard for the remainder of the season. "It won't take the work ethic out of us," Waits said, agreeing with Ellerton. "I think we'll all work even harder now." Racing in Massachusetis was a great experience for the four. "There were 4,000 screaming people," Warhurst said about the sold-out Reggie Lewis Center. "The guys now have an advantage because they will see these same teams again at Nationals." 4 Freshman Justin Laury won the pummel horse yesterday with a score of 9.000, and also finished first with an overall score of 53.175. Tumblers' conference win streak broken HAIREAFPIFUW~ -A FUN working environment, J0 ME with FUN activities! S i -Swimming, lake sports, arts $ crafts, dram , computers, athletics and nature programs -Located on over 20 acres in Novi -Staff of 70 College Students and Graduates -Over 33 years of camping $ summer fun -Must reside in Bloomfield, Farmington, Troy, Novi, Northville or adjacent sites WE'LL BE ON CAMPUS FEBRUARY 4TH,12:30-3:30PM AT THE MICHIGAN UNION By Albert Kim Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - If adversity makes a team closer, then the Wolverines must be one tight-knit group. After posting a season-high score in Alabama on Friday night, but still losing, the Michigan women's gym- nastics team went into yesterday's State of Michigan Classic at Jenison Field House looking to assert itself as the best program in the state. Instead, the Wolverines walked away wondering what happened. "I'm disappointed, there's no way to soft sell what happened," Michi- gan coach Bev Plocki said. "I really anticipated us coming here and hav- ing a great meet tonight. "The mistakes made tonight were much more mental than physical." Eleventh-ranked Michigan (4-4) finished an unglamorous third over- all, significantly behind winner Michigan State and second-place Central Michigan. The loss to the Spartans snapped the Wolverines' string of 40 straight wins over Big Ten opponents. Michigan's last loss came on Jan. 15, 1999, against Min- nesota. With just five gymnasts active on two events, Michigan had little mar- gin for error. But the long weekend, combined with major falls, proved too much to overcome, even though the Wolverines almost swept the all- around individual titles. "Hopefully, we'll just throw this one out and forget about it," junior Calli Ryals said. The Wolverines had an inauspi- cious start to the meet, as they opened on the vault with a fall by sophomore Lauren Mirkovich. The team recovered to post a 49.050, and Becca Clauson earned the title with a 9.900. All-around champion Janessa Grieco, who posted a career-high 39.350, led-off the second rotation on the bars and posted a solid 9.825, showing no ill effects from falling in Alabama on Friday night. But injury-plagued Chelsea Kroll posted an 8.4 - the equivalent of three falls - and Michigan had to count her score because only five gymnasts competed in the rotation. Although Mirkovich won the title on the bars, the team score was just a 47.850. The Wolverines were still in the running after the bars, but their beam routines dashed any hopes of a win. Three different gymnasts fell, and Michigan had to count two falls. The event buried the Wolverines, who posted a 48.000. Plocki was disap- pointed with the team's response. "Instead of us getting ourselves together and regrouping, we just con- tinued to let it bother us," Plocki said. "We're not going to go very far this season if we don't change that very quickly and get a little bit men- tally tougher." After the beam collapse, the Wolverines had to collect themselves going into their last rotation. Although they tied for the best team floor score of the night, highlighted by Ryals' winning score of 9.950, it was not enough. . Freshman Jenny Deiley finished second in the all-around, while Ryals tied for third. The all-around domi- nance of Michigan looks good on paper, but showed yesterday that the Wolverines have major depth prob- lems. Elise Ray, Erica Rubin, Chris- tine Mantilia and Kallie Steffes are all injured, leaving just seven gym- nasts who can even compete. But the Wolverines felt they had no excuses. "I don't think we want to make excuses for what happened," Grieco said. "We'll learn from our mistakes today." Adversity has made this team clos- er, and they've shown a propensity for coming back. "We're fighting," Ryals said. "Especially in Alabama, it. showed how we really pulled together as a team." g 4 The University of Michigan Department of Dermatology is currently offering research study for facial acne. If you are over the age of 12 and are in good general health, you may be eligible to participate in a research program for facial acne. Office visits and study agent are provided free of charge to eligible 4 liA 5 c Ulcw VVAIE" NI