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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
DAILY SPORTS BREAKS DOWN THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
2B - Monday, November 13, 2006
SAID AND HEARD
I think the biggest Michigan-
Ohio State game that I've ever
been in is the next one."
- Football coach LLOYD CARR, answer-
ing whether Nov. 18 will be the biggest
Michigan-Ohio State game ever.
POT R-1AS L
Hard to believe it
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Nicole Edwards
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Edwards won the NCAA Great Lakes Regional
by 10 seconds (20:50.91). The redshirt sopho-
more led Michigan to a third-place finish. By not
finishing as one of the top two teams, Michigan
will have to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA
Championships.
'M' posts big weekend
o.1Ohio State vs. No. 2
Michigan.
As I came closer and
closer to typingthat phrase, it became
more and more difficult to believe.
We've had all seasonto prepare for
it, but I can't say I'm actually ready.
No.1 Ohio
State vs. No. 2
Michigan.
There was
the 1950 Snow
Bowl, in which'
Michigan won
9-3 withoutI
gaining a sin-
gle first down
thanks to a ter-
rible blizzard JACK
that forced the
teams to punt HERMAN
a combined 45
times.
There was the 1969 Upset, in
which the underdog Wolverines
broke a 22-game Buckeye winning
streak with a 24-12 victory.
There was the 1973 Tie, in which
Michigan and Ohio State both
entered and left the game undefeated
after a 10-10 game.
But next Saturday, we could wit-
ness whatwill go down as The Game
in a rivalry so heated, every game is
dubbed simply The Game.
No.1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Michigan.
You can take your Woodys and
Bos, your Griffins and Harmons, your
Georges and Woodsons and all the
great games of the past.
I'll take my Tressels and Carrs, my
Smiths and Hennes and my Ginns
and Manninghams. And, oh yeah:
No.1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Michigan.
I've seen my alma mater Verona
High School capture a state football
championship over hated neighbor
Cedar Grove in a rematch one week
after losing to iton Thanksgiving. I've
seen the Stanley-Cup bound New
York Rangers topple the despised
New Jersey Devils in a seven-game
series with three double-overtime
games. I've seen my beloved Mets fall
to the Yankees in a once-in-a-lifetime
Subway (World) Series.
You can add, multiply or try what-
ever mathematical trickery you'd like
on those rivalries. What you won't
get is anythingnearthe magnitude
of what's coming, as I write this, ina
mere six days, 15 hours, 32 minutes
and 55 seconds.
No.1 Ohio Statevs. No.2 Michigan.
Two of the most storied college
football teams, involved annually
in the most storied college football
rivalry, will play in a game that some
people have already penciled in on
their Game of the Century ballots.
It's won't be the first timetheteams
meetundefeated. Or the first time a
Big Ten title and, potentially, a Nation-
al Championship have been on the
line. But it's never ever been like this.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Michigan.
Come Saturday, you'll forget about
your finance exam, your history
paper and possibly even a family
member's birthday (that is, if you
haven't already).
Class of 2006, sorry you missed it.
Classes of 2007-09, this certainly
makes up for last year.
Class of 2010, be thankful for some
great timing.
No.1Ohio State vs. No.2 Michigan.
For one week, we can come togeth-
er as one campus and set aside any
Election Day differences.
Belt out The Victors in the Diag.
Don your maize and blue. High-five
your classmates. Have fun. Get excit-
ed. Smile.
Cherish this week in Ann Arbor,
because you may never be part of
another one like it. Remember all the
details, big and small, so that you can
tell your children all about a game
summed up in a few words.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Michigan.
- Herman can be reached
at jaherman@umich.edu.
By ANDY REID getting on track.
Daily Sports Writer Against Indiana, Selsky set 43 of
-- - the Wolverines' 60 total kills. The
Sometimes the most underap- Wolverines won in three games,
preciated position of any sport is 30-20, 30-21 and 30-28 at Univer-
the most important. In football, sity Gym in Bloomington.
the running back wouldn't be a "Basically, I am the person
star if it weren't for his lineman. who controls the offense," Selsky
In volleyball, the outside hit- said. "If the setter plays well, that
ters wouldn't have their kills if usually means the team will play
it weren't for the setter, and few well."
are better setters than Michigan Michigan (7-9 Big Ten, 20-
junior Stesha Selsky. 9 overall) got off to a hot start
Selsky showcased her talents against the Hoosiers, controlling
this weekend as the Wolverines the first two games of the match.
swept No. 14 Purdue Friday and With a chance to sweep the
Indiana Saturday on the road. match, the Wolverines had trouble
It's the setter's job to provide through most of the third game.
attackers with an opportunity to "In a conference like the Big
notch a kill. Many tend to overlook Ten, it's really strong to play
the setter's duties, but without a steady for three straight games,"
good setter, the outside hitters may Selsky said. "You have to be able to
have no chance to awe the crowd pull yourself out of it and win even
with dazzling spikes over the net. if it isn't pretty."
Selsky is in control of which In its third game against Indi-
plays get called and when. If there ana, Michigan struggled. Selsky
is a particularly aggressive block- said the Wolverines must help one
er on the other side of the net, she another at those times and urge
needs to keep the ball away from each other to keep going after it
her. She also needs to know where and swinging.
attackers like her to put the ball. The strategy worked perfectly,
Since each team brings a new and the Wolverines came back to
gameplan and lineup to each close out the final game - and take
match, Selsky needs to adapt and the match - against Indiana (1-15,
get a feel for each game early, or 10-18).
the offense will have a tough time At Purdue (9-6, 19-7) the night
before, Selsky was a crucial part of
the win, tallying 44 assists in the
sweep of the Boilermakers (30-26,
30-28 30-28). The win, coupled
with last week's victory over No.
13 Minnesota, marked just the
third time in program's history
the volleyball team has beaten
back-to-back ranked opponents.
After struggling earlier in the
Big Ten season, Michigan has
gained momentum coming down
the final stretch of the regular
season, winning three games in a
row.
"We knew we would play bet-
ter at the end of the season," Sel-
sky said. "A lot of teams had it
together in the beginning, but we
needed to learn to play as a team.
We're beginning to play to our
potential."
Selsky's play-calling skills will
be needed this weekend as the
Wolverines face off against No. 23
Ohio State and No. 3 Penn State in
Cliff Keen Arena.
With the last two home games
this year against ranked teams,
Selsky is not about to let the added
pressure get to her.
"Being a setter isn't as much
pressure as you would think," Sel-
sky said. "You have to remember
that it's just volleyball and it's just
for fun."
Blue battles for positions
By DAVID MURRAY
Daily Sports Writer
Imagine if Mike Hart raced
Kevin Grady at the beginning of
the season for the starting tailback
spot. Think about if Lester Abram
played Ron Coleman in a game of
one-on-one to see who gets the nod
at forward for the next game.
Nowstop dreaming, because this
is what the wrestling team does to
determine its starting lineup - 20
wrestlers, 10 spots,winner of a two-
out-of-three series takes the spot.
The Maize and Blue Intrasquad
pits the top two wrestlers from each
weightclass against each other. The
first matches are wrestled in the
practice room, while the following
matches are wrestled at the Intra-
squad meet to crown the starters.
This year's Maize and Blue Intra-
squad included two highly com-
petitive matches, as four returning
starters wrestled for two spots. The
meet provided proper introduc-
tion for two true freshmen, who
notched the most impressive wins
of the night.
The most highly anticipated bout
of the night occurred at184 pounds.
The match pitted two previous
NCAA qualifiers, roommates fifth-
year senior Nick Roy and redshirt
sophomore Tyrel Todd.
An NCAA qualifier in 2005, Roy
lost his starting position to Todd
last year after Roy was injured.
The first period was tight and
extremely defensive, with neither
wrestler mustering a good enough
shot to score a takedown. In the
second frame, Todd chose the bot-
tom position, where he escaped
from Roy's grasp for a one-point
score. Midway through the period,
Todd scored two points on a single-
leg takedown. In the third frame
Roy chose to start down, where he
was unable to escape Todd's strong
hold. With the extra point for rid-
ing time, Todd held onto his start-
ing position ina 4-0 victory.
"It's really hard wrestling a
teammate," Todd said. "Nick stays
in really good position, he stays
really low. I knew I had to push the
pace really hard on him to wear him
down and make him tired. So that
was my plan going into the match
- wear him down and try and cre-
ate angles."
The other match between previ-
ous starters was in the 125-pound
weight class. Sophomore and
NCAA qualifier Michael Watts took
on fifth-year senior Mark Moos,
who was an NCAA qualifier at 133
pounds.
Mooswas the aggressor from the
start, notching two takedowns in
the firstperiod and jumpingoutto a
4-2 advantage. In the second frame,
Moos started at the bottom posi-
tion, where he escaped for the only
point of the period. Watts staged a
comeback in the third frame, when
he took the fifth-year senior down
with just 20 seconds remaining, to
get within one point of the lead at
7-6. But after the takedown, Moos
didn't budge from the bottom posi-
tion, and the time fell to zero. Moos
took Watts' starting position from a
year ago.
The two most convincing wins of
the night came at the hands of true
freshmen - 133-pounder Chris
Diehl and heavyweight Matt Guhn.
Diehl won a 14-4 major decision, *
by dominating fellow freshman
Mike Sears. Diehl had control of
the bout from the first frame, tak- 4
ing Sears down twice. Diehl scored
five more takedowns during the
final two periods and added a point
for 3:23 in ridingtime for the major
decision. *
"I've beenwatching(Chris)Diehl
wrestle for some time, and I know
what he's capable of doing," head
coach Joe McFarland said. "He is
everything that I like in a wrestler
because he has great intensity. He's
in great condition, he's always in
your face, and he's always looking
to score."
In the quickest match of the
night, Guhn pinned redshirt junior
Omar Maktabi just 59 seconds into
the contest. The freshman tripped
Maktabi to his back in the opening
seconds and pinned him. The quick
fall earned Guhnthe chance to start
at heavyweight.
"I've been told that I can be on
the podium as a true freshman,"
Guhn said. "There is no reason not
to be. So, I've set (my expectations)
pretty high, and we'll see what we
can do."
The Wolverines will now shift
focus to a difficult matchup with
Lehigh on Thursday.
"I think our guys are looking
forward to getting into some dual-
meet competition," McFarland said.
"Tonight was nice because we were
able to get into our home arena and
in front of a crowd, but unfortu-
nately it was still against ourselves.
I think our guys are anxious about
getting going and seeing some fresh
faces across from them on the mat."
I -.dopowwmlmwab-
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