a
8A - Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Redshirt sophs
grow up on mat
and as students
The Michigan Daily - nlichigandaily.com
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By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
Less than two minutes into his
match on Jan. 6, Hofstra's Rich
Muzikar found himself lying flat
on the mat courtesy of a head-
scoop move by Wolverine Tyrel
Todd.
Todd was calm and collected,
as though he had been dominat-
ing college wrestlers for years,
after racking up his third fall
of the season. The fifth-ranked
Bozeman, Mont., native extend-
ed his record to 13-2 with the
win, and was the only Michigan
wrestler to contribute more than
three points to the team's tie with
the Pride.
Todd is not the only young
Wolverine enjoying significant
success this season. Fellow red-
shirt sophomore Steve Luke is
ranked No. 8 in the nation with a
17-1 record.
But the two have more in com-
mon than the dominance they
have shown on the mat this year.
Last season, both were in their
first year of wrestling competi-
tion at Michigan. As a result, both
also struggled with the transition
from high school competition.
"College is a much longer
season than high school," Luke
said. "I was coming off a redshirt
year, just kind of getting into it.
The difference between college
and high school was that in high
school, most of your matches
are against kids who aren't very
good. In college, every single
match you have is against the
top (wrestlers). ... You're not just
going to go out there and smash
every kid you wrestle."
Luke enjoyed success early
last season, earning Big Ten
wrestler of the week honors for
his first-place finish in the Cliff
Keen Invitational. But as the sea-
son wore on, poor time manage-
ment, cramming for exams and
late-night weight-loss workouts
took their toll. The Massillon,
Ohio, native finished with a 14-12
record, four falls, one major deci-
sion and just 18 dual points'(3-8
in dual meets).
But Luke has changed things
up this year.
"This year, I'm just lifting and
doing extra things after practice,
and staying on top of my school
work," Luke said. "I'm going to
bed at a decent time everyday;
I'm waking up. Classes are at 9
everyday. I just have a schedule
where, even when my classes
aren't at 9, even on the weekends,
I'll still end up waking up before
9. I'm usually the first kid up in
the house because I'm just used
to it with all of my classes and the
schedule I've been on. Time man-
agement has been key to staying
healthy."
Luke also made drastic changes
on the mat. Wrestling at the 157-
pound level his first year, Luke
moved up two weight classes so
he would no longer be wrestling
down against opponents that felt
faster. Now he is wrestling stron-
ger and quicker.
And this increased strength
isn't just physical - it's mental as
well.
"I haven't been worrying about
my opponents," Luke said. "Last
year, I would look at results and
(it would) screw with my head.
This year, I just wrestle each
match. I don't worry about the
match after."
Though he didn't make as dras-
tic a change, Todd also knew that
increasing his strength would be
a key to his success this season at
the 184-pound weight level.
Last year, Todd was competing
in a very tough weight class (184
pounds) while dealing with the
transition to college wrestling.
He turned to the gym to
improve. -
"This last off-season, I did alot
of weight training," said Todd,
who finished with a 20-12 record
last year. "I really enjoy weight
training and I saw some big gains
and some improvements, so that
was the main thing. Also, pre-
season this year, just working
on a lot of different positions in
wrestling and really just becom-
ing a student of the game. ... A
lot of guys I know work hard at
cutting weight or work hard at
getting stronger or work hard at
getting in shape, but you've actu-
ally got to get better at wrestling;
you've got to get better at tech-
niques."
In particular, Todd worked on
his single-leg move, in addition
to developing his skills when in
the top position. Todd's improve-
ment in these areas has played a
significant role in his success this
year.
With both Todd and Luke's
rapid development putting them
among the nation's top ranks,
it is difficult to see when - or if
- their progress will end.
"I think their development has
been in large part because of the
commitment to (training) and
the hard work they've put into
it," Michigan coach Joe McFar-
land said. "Last year for both
these guys was experience years
for those guys. They now realize
that they can go with and beat the
best in the country. ... Both those
guys are very capable of winning
the national championship this
year."
I
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Senior center Courtney Sims scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in Michigan's 71-65 defeat of Penn State last season. The game was played in State College
'M' o hold court t Crisle
By DANIEL BROMWICH
Daily Sports Writer
In tennis, to holding, serve is a
term that describes a player exe-
cuting what
is expected of Penn State at
him. Michigan
For the Matchup:
Michigan bas- Michigan 14-4;
ketball team, Penn State 10-6
holding serve When: Tonight
requires win- 8:05 P.M.
ning Big Ten Where: Crisler
home games. Arena
Tonight's TV/Radio:
game against ESPN Plus
Penn State
offers the Wol-
verines their second chance to hold
serve, and they understand the sig-
nificance.
"It's very important because it's
a home game," senior Courtney
Sims said. "We've got to hold serve
in the Big Ten if we want to do what
we say we want to do in terms of
mnaking the (NCAA) Tournament
and trying to win the Big Ten. We
have to hold serve and then win our
away games. But most importantly,
we have to win at home."
After the team's most recent loss
at Purdue Saturday, the weight of
the contest against the Nittany
Lions has increased dramatically.
Michigan's next four road games
are against Wisconsin, Indiana,
Ohio State and Michigan State.
The Badgers and Buckeyes are both
ranked in the top 10. The Wolver-
ines have not won in Bloomington
since 1995 and have not left East
Lansingvictorious since 1997.
Understanding the difficulty of
winning on the road in conference
play, the team recognizes a victory
tonight is mandatory.
But it certainly won't be easy.
Penn State's lineup features
pre-season All-Big Ten pick Geary
Claxton. Claxtonhas lived up to the
hype so far this season, averaging
17 points per game, good enough
for fifth in the conference. A 6-foot-
6 wing, Claxton has also averaged
almost nine rebounds per game,
ranking second in the Big Ten.
"I like Claxton. I think he's an
outstanding player," Michigan
coach Tommy Amaker said. "He
rebounds very well, and he's tough.
I think he's one of the better play-
ers in our league."
Amaker said that Claxton is a
tough matchup because he likes
to play on the baseline and post
up against smaller players. But if
teams choose to guard Claxton
with a bigger player, he'll counter
with his speed.
Picking up the assignment for
Michigan will probably be senior
Dion Harris,by farthe team's stron-
gest and most consistent defender.
"I love to get a challenge on
the defensive end," Harris said. "I
think we watched some tape in the
preseason of us playing Michigan
State, and (Amaker) was telling me
how hard I play on defense against
guys that are good like (former
Spartan and current Dallas Mav-
erick Maurice) Ager and all those
guys. He was telling me I need to
play like that against everybody."
The Nittany Lions also feature
6-foot-5 forward Jamelle Cornley,
who averages 14 points per game
along with 7.4 rebounds (third in
the Big Ten).
For a Michigan team that saw
Sims corral just one rebound
against Purdue, which also fea-
tured an undersized post player,
Cornley could present problems as
well.
"He's tough," Sims said. "He's
undersized, but he can score in
the paint, and he's aggressive and
strong."
Regardless of the challenge that
Claxton, Cornley and the rest of
the Nittany Lions offer, Michi-
gan knows it must have tonight's
game if it hopes to convince the
NCAA Selection Committee that it
deserves a spot in the Tournament.
And while being at home will help,
the Wolverines cannot rely on their
home-court advantage to guaran-
tee a win.
"We're not going to win this
game just because it's at home,"
Amaker said. "We have to battle,
we have to compete, we have to
execute ... against a team that is one
of the more underrated teams in
our league."
NOTE: The athletic department
is once again offering bus service
for fans attending tonight's game.
The Maize Rage bus will pick up
fans at Mary Markley Residence
Hall, East Quadrangle Residence
Hall and the Michigan Union
beginning at 7 p.m. and running
continuous loops until 11 p.m. d
Blue's penalty-killer instinct shines
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By NATE SANDALS Forcing turnovers at the blue line
Daily Sports Writer gives Michigan's short-handed unit
the chance for odd-man rushes and
En route to a 4-1 loss to Michigan goals, as it did in Friday night's 5-2
State, the Michigan penalty-kill- win over Northern Michigan.
ing unit didn't Michigan has an advantage in
just look short- NOTEBOOK its forwards' ability to kill penal-
handed in the ties, even top scorers like senior T.J.
Great Lakes Hensick and junior Kevin Porter
Invitational championship game can do the job.
Dec. 30 - it appeared to be missing The duo, which often teams up for
all of its appendages. both power-play and even-strength
The Wolverines gave up three tallies, showed its offensive skill
power-play goals on six opportuni- working a perfect give-and-go for a
ties.. short-handed goal to put Michigan
But the New Year has thus far up, 4-0in Friday's contest.
produced a newfound commitment "(Short-handed goals) are huge,"
to solid penalty killing.Inlast week's Michigan coach Red Berenson said.
three games, the Wolverines killed "When you have players like Porter,
17-of-18 opponent power plays. T.J., (sophomore Andrew) Cogliano,
"We focused a lot on it because and (junior Chad)Kolarik on the ice,
it's been such a weak part in the last it's definitely a possibility. Because
few weeks," sophomore Danny Far- when they get the puck, they might
dig said. "We've been working hard attack you."
in practice and then really bearing CIRAULO THRILL-O: Anthony
down when it comes to the games." Ciraulo didn't just step onto the Yost
Many power-play goals Michigan Arena ice; the freshman's journey
allowed during the first half of the onto the Maize and Blue roster and
season were on second and third even into a game was longer than
rebound chances. most.
Aside from quickly clearing pucks "Ciraulo has come in the hard
from around the crease, attack- way," Berenson said. "He's had to
ing the point men and blocking wait his turn to even play in a game.
shots proved crucial to Michigan's We weren't sure whether he could
improved penalty kill. even play in a game the way he start-
ed off (in practice)."
After being scratched in each
game for the first two months,
Ciraulo suffered a shoulder injury
in November.
It wasn't until Jason Bailey's
departure to the Ontario Hockey
League on Dec. 19 that the door
opened for Ciraulo to suit up consis-
tently for the Wolverines.
Ciraulo has been impressive as
the fourth-line center, and on Fri-
daynighthis resilience paid off with
his first career goal.
Midway through the first period,
Ciraulo deflected a shot from fellow
freshman Steve Kampfer through
Northern Michigan goalie Bill
Zaniboni's five-hole to give the Wol-
verines a two-goal lead. When the
public address announcer informed
the crowd it was Ciraulo's first
career goal, they responded with
the night's loudest ovation.
"It definitely feels great," Ciraulo
said of finally lighting the lamp. "It
boosts your confidence alot and gets
you to that comfort level you want to
be at."
7-11 CLOSED: It's a given in any
game that either Hensick or Por-
ter, Michigan's top two scorers, will
register a point. Even more likely,
both will make the stat sheet.
One or the other has scored a
point in all but two games this sea-
son. The two exceptions: Michigan's
4-1 GLI loss to Michigan State and
Saturday's 2-1 defeat at the hands of
Northern Michigan.
While the Wolverines need scor-
ing from all four lines if they hope
to make a run to the Frozen Four,
Berenson knows how important the
production of his top players will be
from now on.
"The second half of the season
will come down to our top play-
ers," Berenson said early last week.
"They'll be the difference."
Saturday, the coach's prophecy
certainly rang true.
CONFERENCE PROPS: Two Wolver-
ines were named CCHA player of
the week in their respective posi-
tions after last week's games.
Sophomore goalie Billy Sauer
garnered his second Goaltender of
the Week honor of the season and
senior Jason Dest earned his first
career Defenseman of the Week
award.
Sauer earned his first shutout
against Bowling Green and had
a .954 save percentage in three
games.
Dest recorded four assists on
the weekend and helped bolster a
defense that allowed just four goals
in three games.
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