The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 9, 2003 - 9A YESTERDAY'S GAME Wisconsin (65) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Penney 39 6-10 3-4 0-9 4 216 Tucker 37 5-11 5-6 3-3 1 0 15 Wilkinson 33 3-10 2-2 2-9 3 3 8 Owens 33 4-6 0-0 2-3 1 2 9 Harris 25 3-9 2-4 00 1 4 9 Mader 9 2-3 0-1 0-3 0 3 4 Wade 23 1-1 2-4 1-2 2 1 4 Nixon 1 0)0 0.0 0.0 0 1 0 Totals 200 24-50 14-21 30 12 16 65 FG%:.480. FT%: .667. 3-point FG: 3-8 375 (Pen- ney 1-2, Harris 1-2, Owens 1-1, Wilkinson 0-2, Tuck- er 0-1). Blocks: (Wilkinson). Steals: 6 (Harris 2, Wade 2, Penney, Tucker). Turnovers: 17 (Owens 5, Penney 3, Harris 3, Tucker 2, Wilkinson 2, Wade, Nixon). Technical fouls: none. MICHIGAN (66) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS Robinson 38 4-14 3-3 1-7 1 1 11 Blanchard 32 6-18 1-2 4-11 1 2 17 Brown 16 33 2-2 2-4 0 3 8 Horton 38 8-13 4-4 1-1 7 4 25 Abram 28 1-2 1-1 1-5 3 2 3 Hunter 23 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 3 2 Groninger 15 0-3 0-0 0-1 1 2 0 Baily 9 0-1 0-0 3-3 0 1 0 Harrell 1 00 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 23.55 9-1911i-35 13 18 66 FG%: .418. FT%: .917 3-point FG: 9-19, .474 (Hor- ton 5-7, Blanchard 4-9, Groninger 0-3). Blocks: 1 (Horton). Steals: 5 (Robinson 2, Horton 2, Blan- chard). Turnovers: 19 (Abram5, Robinson 4, Horton 4, Blanchard 2, Hunter 2, Baily). Technical fouls: none. Wisconsin .............34 31 - 65 Michigan...........gy .k.p.31 35 - 66 At: Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor Attendance: 8,809 some of the 8,809 fans at Crisler Arena heading - prematurely - for the exits. "We didn't do a great job against them defensively in the first half or the start of the second half," Amaker said. "But our energy picked up because of LaVell - he really gave us a chance to win. "An incredible effort against the defending Big Ten champions." Dowd moving his way up the ran kings for Michigan RYAN WEINER/Daily LaVell Blanchard drives during Michigan's comeback win over Wisconsin last night. Blanchard hit four 3-pointers in the second half. By Eric Chan Daily Sports Writer One could only describe Michi- gan wrestler Foley Dowd's perform- ance last season as inconsistent. One could go on to describe Dowd's performance this season as simply amazing. "Maturity and development is the difference. Foley really figured out how to win the close matches," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. "He prepares himself well for all his competition. I think experience is really the big thing here." Dowd is off to a red-hot start this year, climbing from ninth in the rankings at 133-pounds to No. 5, according to Wrestling Internation- al Newsmagazine's latest poll. The lightweight duo of Dowd and 125-pounder A.J. Grant makes up one of the most formidable combos in the country. Dowd, a redshirt junior from Howell, N.J., has a 15-1 record this season, with his only loss coming against Cal-State Bakersfield's Matt Sanchez at the Cliff Keen Invitational. "Foley is very aggressive. He has some great leg attacks," McFarland said. "He's just an outstanding wrestler." After beating No. 8 Cory Coop- erman at the Lehigh dual meet and then topping No. 13 Phil Mansueto at the Cleveland State dual, Dowd put on his best performance to date at the Midlands Championship. Dowd shocked the wrestling world by entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed and walking out as the champion of one of the toughest tournaments in the country. En route to the Midland finals, Dowd beat No. 9 Mike Simpson from Ari- zona State and No. 10 Josh Moore from Penn State. In the finals, Dowd squared off against No. 7 Zach Roberson - the All-American from Iowa State who had beaten him 8-3 in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Champi- onships, knocking him into the con- solation bracket. Dowd scored the first takedown in the opening period to gain a 2-0 lead, but Roberson fought back to regain a 3-2 lead in the second peri- od. With a late second-period escape, Dowd tied the score enter- ing the third period. Scoring on an escape and a takedown in the final period, Dowd completed the upset over Roberson and had the last laugh. "He wrestled fantastic at Mid- lands. He won some real tough matches," McFarland said. Dowd will have to carry his momentum into March for the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. Last season, Dowd finished a dis- appointing seventh at the Big Ten Tournament after entering the tour- nament ranked sixth in the entire country. Dowd was then eliminated on the second day of last season's NCAA Championships by Edin- boro's Cory Ace - a wrestler he had beaten earlier in the 2001-02 season. The 133-pounder will be tested again in two weeks at the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals in Columbus. The four wrestlers ahead of Dowd in the rankings - Oklahoma's Johnny Thompson, Oklahoma State's Witt Durden, Minnesota's Ryan Lewis and Wis- consin's Kevin Black - will all compete. BADG ERS Continued from Page 8A his game-high 25-point evening and giving Michigan (1-0, 8-6) its first lead since a 13-12 lead early in the first half. As if Horton's offensive heroics weren't enough, the point guard blocked Devin Harris' layup attempt on Wiscon- sin's last possession, sealing Michigan's spectacular victory and sending the Maize Rage storming onto the court. "I was trying to contest the shot without fouling, and that is what I was able to do," said Horton of his final block. "We are a totally different team from years past and right now we are showing it" Until Blanchard and Horton began connecting from long range late, Michi- gan's chance at an eighth-consecutive victory appeared to be dead and buried. The Wolverines weathered the storm in the first half as Wisconsin shot 52 percent from the field, time and time again working into the lane for easy baskets. Then Michigan almost went under during a nine-minute field goal drought in the second half, opening up the Badgers' 15-point lead and sending Stanford ready for an 'ambush' of tankers SErdman, fan club off to fast start P-ALO ALTO, CUALIF. Who: No.1 Michigan at No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 California. When:1 p.m. Latest: The Wolverines head out West to take on two national powerhouses. By Jim Weber For the Daily day, so that was kind of weird." Now that both are freshmen at Michigan, they occasionally run into each other on campus. Touran said Erd- By Megan Kolodgy Daily Sports Writer Three days after returning home from an intense winter training trip to Hawaii, the Michigan's men's swimming team is headed to the West Coast to take on two of the top teams in the nation. "I just hope that after all this travel their biological clocks know what the hell is going on," coach Jon Urbanchek said. The Wolverines will need to be back on track if they want to defeat No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 California this weekend and maintain their position as the No. 1 team in the country. After suf- fering a close 134-109 loss to Stanford last year at Canham Natatorium, the Wolverines are anxious to beat the Car- dinal in its own pool Friday. But Stan- ford is equally ready for a victory. "Stanford hasn't had any competition yet this year," Urbanchek said. "That's why they're not in the No. 1 spot. They want that spot back, and they're ready for an ambush." Fending off the Cardinals will be no easy task as both teams are "very close on paper," according to Urbanchek. Friday's dual meet will be decided by what should be several close races. Two of these include the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, in which Michigan's Gar- rett Mangieri and Stanford's Randall Bal are separated by just hundredths of a second. The 100-yard breast- stroke and the 200-yard medley relay are other events that are likely to be critical to the outcome of the meet. "Stanford definitely has the person- nel to knock Michigan out of the top spot," Urbanchek said. "Berkley does too. It's easy getting to the top, but it's hard to stay there" Although the majority of the Wolver- ines are in their best condition so far this season, freshman Chris DeJong - who was crucial in the win over then- No. 1 Texas in November, injured his knee on the training trip while playing beach volleyball. DeJong will still com- pete in Palo Alto. Apart from DeJong's unfortunate injury, Urbanchek views the training trip as a success. "The team stayed in a dorm and ate meals together," he said. "I think the swimmers definitely bonded, which I think is just as important an accom- plishment as the training." If Michigan's newfound unity is not enough to carry it to victory, then per- haps a strong fan base in the Bay Area will help. "Despite the fact that Michigan is so far away, we usually have just as many supporters as Stanford," Urbanchek said. After about six weeks without any significant competition, the Wolverines hope that their many hours logged train- ing will pay off. "I expect them to step up," Urbanchek said. Katie Erdman didn't just bring two state track titles to Michi- gan - she even broughtB her own fan club. TRACK B Erdman is a freshman from Cadillac who won Wo: Michigan the Division 2 state title in When: 9:30 a. the mile and 800 meters Latest:Women last spring. She impressed begins the que Nick Touran of nearby Triple Crown. Petoskey so much during high school that he created a fan club last May. Touran said that his friends first pointed Erdman out to him because she resembled his girlfriend. After Erdman caught Touran's eye, he and his buddies became her personal fans when she beat the best runner from their school. This victory jump-started the fan club, which can be found at katie.pwfl.com/. Touran "was on another team that was in my conference, so it started last springf and they put posters up at a meetErd- man explained. "I met them later that UILDING iat the Jack onal m. - noon n's track st for the man is friendly toward him, and he is glad she does not feel awkward about the fan club. "She is really nice about it," Touran said. "She will say, 'Hey, how are classes?' It is not too weird, but I am embarrassed about it" As for his old girlfriend who resembles Erdman, Touran said that he is still seeing her. But, because she is still in high school, there is some jealousy now that her look-a-like and Touran go to school together. "Over Christmas break we actually had the 'Katie Erdman talk,"' Touran said. "She isn't too thrilled. But we talked about it, and I reassured her that (Erdman) is just a celebrity. I actually compared it to her making a fan club for Brad Pitt"' The web site claims that even some of her teammates are part of the fan club. It is little wonder why; at the intrasquad meet a month ago, Erdman set meet records in the 800 and 1,200 meters. Making the 800-meter record even more impressive was the fact that Erdman outran record holder Rachel Sturtz, who is a three-time Big Ten Conference champion in the event. This Saturday at The Jack Harvey Invitational, Michigan will begin its run toward the Big Ten Triple Crown, which consists of the cross-country conference title, the indoor track title and the out- door track title in the same school year. The Michigan women currently possess all three titles, but they need to repeat the indoor and outdoor titles this year to complete the Triple Crown because the three titles came in the same calendar year, not the same school year. Erdman will have to start her Michi- gan career without her biggest fan in attendance, as Touran said that he has already made plans for Saturday. "I am not going to be able to make it to that one, sadly;"Touran said, adding that he would "take some friends down (to a future meet)." A II 40 A A 4wU 11 A 4-4 A* A :4 &0 4 Don't Miss Your Opportunity .. . Interested in adding more fun and meaning to your college experience? Would you like to help build a prestigious and successful organization? If so, then Delta Chi is for you! Fraternity representatives are now on campus recruiting Founding Fathers for Michigan's newest fraternity. For more information on this exciting opportunity, please attend one of the following informational sessions: Tuesday, Jan. 14th @ 6:30 p.m. - Crofoot Room, Michigan Union Wednesday, Jan. 15th @ 6:30 p.m. - Sophia B. Jones Room, Michigan Union I I