2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 9, 2006 CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY Boxing gives student chance to compete By Eileen Hengel Daily Sports Writer First, left foot forward and left punch across body to contact right side of opponent. Then, transfer weight to front leg and wait for opponent to answer. All of these thoughts race through sophomore Lauren Lobert's mind when she enters the ring. She tries to keep her mind clear and retrace the drills she practices day-in and day-out as a member and president of the women's club boxing team. Still, the fact remains that she is trapped in a 16x16-foot boxing ring with an opponent whose sole purpose is to beat her up. Lobert often runs into inquiries - most significantly, why? Similar to many club sports members, Lobert played varsity sports throughout high school, and the thought of no competition or physical activity in college seemed almost frightening. So much so that immediately following her graduation from high school, Lobert enrolled in a kickboxing club down the road from her home in Walled Lake. "I loved the classes from the beginning," Lobert said. "And after a while, I was asked to go into the (boxing ring) and fight. From then on, I've just loved it." Lobert cites her history in the hockey rink for igniting her interest in boxing. As a forward for the women's club hockey team, she often finds the rink lacking physical contact. Unlike the men's game, fighting in women's hockey is strictly forbidden. "I used to watch hockey with my dad, especially the fights," Lobert said. "And I was always very intrigued by the idea." To Lobert, fighting offered the opportunity to compete alone - no team member to pass to and no relying on a goalie to stop a shot. "Boxing has a mental aspect to it that I haven't found in other sports," Lobert said. "I always have to be reading my opponent and looking for openings. It is just me and one other person in the ring. I have to react to her moves and her punches." Still, during the first semester of her freshman year, the women's club boxing team did not exist. Organized by a pair of Law students who have since graduated, the team faced stiff resistance in becoming a club sport. At the beginning, they had no equipment, and the men's team did not allow the women to practice with them. Through persistence, the group became a club sport during the 2005 winter semester. Since then, the team has grown from two quick-fisted Law students to more than 25 women, ranging from freshmen to the GSIs that teach them. With the help of the men's team, the women now have equipment and coaches. Still, even with the newfound professionalism, the team maintains a level of familiarity and ease during practices. "Most girls come to the practices in order to stay in shape," junior Krys- tal Kuczmera said. "Some want to compete outside of the club eventually, but most of us just spar against each other during practice." Lobert, in fact, confessed to looking for opponents outside of the club but recognized that she would need to devote more time to training if she were to enter amateur tournaments. For now, though, she will just stay on her toes, with her fists up. Tilt firtrbg Bad,, Athlete of the Week Name:Matt Gutierrez Team:Football Hometown: Concord, Calif. Class: Senior Why: He may not have gotten a chance to start in front of a packed Michigan Stadium, but Gutierrez's hard work and patience off the field was commendable. He was the epitome of taking life's hardships in stride. We wish him the best of luck in Idaho State. Go Bengals! 'M' SCHEDULE l Date Event Location 1/13 W Track/Field Lexington, Kent. at Kentucky Invitational 1/13 M Swimming/Diving at Purdue West Lafayette 1/13-14 W Swimming/Diving Ann Arbor at Michigan Invitational 1/13 W Gymnastics at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. 1/13 Ice Hockey vs. NTDP Under-18 Team Ann Arbor 1/13 W Tennis Ann Arbor at Michigan Invitational 1/14 M Swimming/Diving at Indiana Bloomington 1/14 M Basketball at Illinois Champaign 1/14 M Gymnastics Chicago at Windy City Invitational 1/14 Wrestling Cedar Falls, Iowa at Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duels 1/14 M Track/Field at Eastern Michigan Ypsilanti 1/14 M Tennis Coral Gables, Fla. at Miami Invitational 1/15 W Basketball at Ohio State Columbus Time 9:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m 6:00 p.m 8:00 p.m 7:35 p.m. TBA 1:00 P.M. 1:00 P.M. 8:00 p.m. TBA TBA 2:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. NFL PLAYOFFS Home isn't sweet for Giants EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The Carolina Panthers beat the New York Giants at their own game, in their own place. Steve Smith A A scored a pair of touchdowns, and Carolina rattled Eli Manning into four turnovers to lead the Panthers to a 23- 0 win over New York in the first round of the NFC playoffs yesterday. The Panthers did it with a stout defense and a strong running game - the same principles the Giants used this season to win their first divisional title in five years. Playing nearly as well as they did in their Super Bowl season two years ago, the Panthers (12-5) hand- ed New York its first playoff shutout in 20 years. "Everybody may say we're a Super Bowl team - we're not," Smith cau- tioned. "All we are is a one-win play- off team." Manning threw three interceptions, then fumbled late in the game in front of a nearly empty Giants Stadium. Tiki Barber was held to a season-low 41 yards rushing, while the Giants managed just 109 yards total offense. New York became the. first home playoff team to be shut out since 1980, when the Los Angeles Rams blanked Tampa Bay. It was exactly the performance expected from a John Fox-coached team. He and the Panthers seemed to be ahead of the Giants on almost every play in his return to the Mead- owlands, where Fox spent five years as defensive coordinator before taking over Carolina in 2002. "It was strange," Barber said. "They were in our huddle a little bit. They kind of had us dissected and figured Palmer injury sinks Bengals CINCINNATI (AP) - A low hit on Carson Palmer changed everything. Steelers nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen dived into Cincinnati's TTRGH 31 Pro Bowl quarter-17 back at the knee on his first pass yesterday, knock- ing him out of the game with a torn ligament, and Pittsburgh rolled to a 31-17 victory that set up a rematch with the AFC's top team. Pittsburgh (12-5) will play in Indianapolis next Sunday, a chance to show how far it has come in the past month. Defending Super Bowl champion New England will play in Denver on Saturday night. The Bengals (11-6) had boasted after winning in Pittsburgh that they were now the team to beat in the divi- sion. Given a chance to prove it with their first playoff appearance in 15 years, they lapsed into some old-style bungling with their leader gone. In his second playoff go-round, Steelers quarterback Ben Roeth- lisberger was coolly efficient - AP PHOTO 14-of-19 for 208 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. The crowd of 65,870 erupted, then rolina's. went sickeningly silent on the Ben- arlier in gals' first pass play - one that went enyiora down as the longest in Cincinnati nd-best playoff history, and the costliest. he shot Palmer held onto the ball a second Rucker longer than usual, allowing rookie onded. Chris Henry to get open down the Michael right sideline for a 66-yard recep- acks of tion. As the ball left Palmer's hand, ker are von Oelhoffen drove his shoulder into the quarterback's left knee. he thing Jon Kitna replaced Palmer and rs said. kept the Bengals in it until their him, we inexperience and lack of a Pro Bowl I think quarterback started to show in the third quarter. AARON SWICK/Daily Senior captain Greg Wagner is one of three undefeated Wolverines this season. Trailing big, grapler look to captain for spark By Amber Colvin Daily Sports Writer Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey hangs his head as New York falls to Carolina. out, and we couldn't get anything going consistently." DeShaun Foster ran for 151 yards by going straight at the Giants' depleted linebacker corps, kick-start- ing a running game that has been spotty all year. "We wanted to get out there and establish the run early," Foster said. "That's how you keep their players off the field. We were just able to do that and it worked out for us." Smith had 10 catches for 84 yards. He scored once on a 22-yard catch from Jake Delhomme, then ran a reverse in 12 yards for a second score. But the game belonged to Ca defense, which was insulted ez the week when Giant Osi Um said the Panthers had the seco defensive ends in the NFL. T at Julius Peppers and Mike stung, and the entire unit resp Although Umenyiora and T Strahan combined for three s Delhomme, Peppers and Ruc the ones still playing. "Taking away Tiki - he's tl that makes them go," Peppe "We had to get a handle on h got a couple hits on Eli early. that kind of rattled him." M COLLEGE FOOTBALL Young bolts for NFL As the No. 5 Michigan wrestling team headed into intermission trailing 12-3, the struggling Wolverines were waiting for something big. The 11th-ranked Lehigh Mountain Hawks (5-4-1) had taken down four of the Wolverines' first five wrestlers in close matches. The roaring home crowd at Cliff Keen Arena didn't seem to help. It was the perfect time for a team leader to step in and drum up some energy. Sparking a comeback for the 20-15 win over Lehigh, senior captain Ryan Churella delivered what Michigan was begging for. Notching his 100th career victory, Churella pinned Lehigh's Dave Naka- sone and gave the Wolverines the crucial momentum needed to carry out the win. Michigan (5-1) won three of the final four bouts that followed Churella's, including an overtime victory by 174- pound wrestler Nick Roy. "I just went out there and did what I usually try to do, get as many points as I can, and, fortunately, I was able to get a fall," Churella said. "Everyone that fol- lowed me wrestled really well, so I give them a lot of credit. They were in a hard position with the scoring coming down to 12-12, and they really had to come through with wins." Roy was forced into overtime after Mountain Hawk wrestler Travis Frick squeezed out an escape to tie the match at 4-4. A takedown in the sudden vic- tory overtime round gave Roy the win and evened the team score at 12-12. "In overtime, when he got the leg, I just thought to myself, 'Don't give this up, the team needs it,' " Roy said. "And I needed it, because it was a big win for me. So I defended it, slipped out of it and got the takedown." Resounding wins from 184-pound Tyrel Todd and heavyweight Greg Wagner sealed the victory for the Wol- verines. Both wrestlers, along with Churella, are undefeated this season. Churella joined his fellow captain Wagner on the list of 27 Wolverines past and present who have hit the cen- tury mark in victories. But to Churel- la, the milestone was insignificant. "It's not really something I look at right now," Churella said. "It's some- thing I'll look back on and appreciate a little more then. Right now, I'm just try- ing to get these wins in, stay healthy and be ready for Big Tens and Nationals." Michigan and Lehigh each won five of the bouts, but it was bonus points that put the Wolverines five points ahead of the Mountain Hawks in the end. Michigan's slow start made the vic- tory seem unlikely at first. Three of Michigan's first four losses were decid- ed by a single point. "We lost some tough matches," Roy said. "(Weight classes) 141 through 157 all lost, and those are guys we usually count on. We had to rely on the upper weights." Michigan coach Joe McFarland was frustrated with his team's start - espe- cially because it wasn't the first time this happened in the past week.'Tuesday, the Wolverines had to overcome an early deficit in their victory over Cornell. "These guys need to understand that they're going to have to wrestle harder," McFarland said. "We need to put some things together and stay on these guys. We had a few of these guys on the ropes, and we didn't take advantage of that. We let them get back into certain positions and let time slip away on us." One Mountain Hawk who proved to be a problem for 141-pound Wolverine wrestler Josh Churella may have looked familiar to fans. Cory Cooperman, who defeated the younger Churella 5-3, was featured in an episode of the MTV real- ity show "True Life: I'm on a Diet." The show documented Cooperman's trials in making weight for competition. But even with a TV star on their team and a nine-point lead, the Moun- tain Hawks could not compete with the comeback efforts of the Wolverines - who continue to dominate the series between the two teams, 21-11. AUSTIN (AP) - Vince Young is headed to the NFL. The Texas quarterback, who led the Longhorns to their first national cham- pionship in 36 years, announced Sunday he would make himself eligible for the April draft. Young maintained during the season that he would to return for his senior year, but said his Rose Bowl perfor- mance put him "over the top." "Hard work has paid off a whole lot," he said. Young was spectacular in Texas' 41-38 Rose Bowl win over top-ranked South- ern California on Jan. 4, and he would have been a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy had he decided to return. The versatile quarterback accounted for 467 yards against Southern Cal - 200 running and 267 passing - and ran eight yards for the winning touchdown with 19 seconds left. Young thanked many people, includ- ing his family and coach Mack Brown, who was at the American Football Coaches Association Convention and could not attend Sunday's news confer- ence. He specifically thanked Brown for "helping me become a better man:' In a statement, Brown said he met with Young and his family Sunday morning and fully supports Young's decision. "We love Vince and appreciate all the great things he's done for the Uni- versity of Texas on and off the field," Brown said. "We'll miss him, but want him to do as well in the NFL as he did in college." In his eight seasons at Texas, Brown never before has had a player leave early for the NFL. Registration now open! Beginning & Advanced Taekwondo show your fwvoritqs ome love. Taught by Grand Master Hwa Chong - j~ ~ -~.