10 - Tuesday, January 30, 2007 SPORTS The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Junior back on track MEN'S GYMNASTICS Chan shows up and makes @0 By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN Daily Sports Writer The early years of Michigan wrestler Eric Tan- nenbaum' career certainly weren't what they are today. "I was terrible, actually," he said. But with Tannenbaum's unblemished record and hisrise to the No.2 rankinginthe nation at the 165-pound weight class, the Wolverines are happy he stayed with the sport. "I guess (becoming a wrestler) was by chance," theco-captainsaid. "IplayedabunchofsportslikeT soccer, baseball, karate, pretty much everything, and Ijuststuckwithwrestling.T "I did karate for a while and I really liked it, but it was non-contact. I was a little more tough. On the soccer field I'd always be running into people, so I just figured wrestling would be a good idea Junior Eric Tannenbaum, up two weight classes this season, is the nation's No. 2-ranked wrestler in his tlass. and Ijust liked it and stuck with it." What might have become of his budding karate "I kind of missed my goal by a little bit, but... it this year. career is unknown, but Tannenbaum's perfor- was definitely a good season to welcome me into "To be honest, this year I'm a little more chilled mance on the wrestling mat speaks for itself BigTenwrestling." out," Tannenbaum said. "I tend to be uptight The Naperville, Ill., native has racked up 13 wins, The early success didn't end there Tannen- and wound pretty tight about stuff ... I'm not as includingfour major decisions, forthe 17th-ranked baum, now a redshirt junior. At the beginning of stressed out, I'm not cutting as much weight and Wolverines so far this season. his second season, he was invited to the NWCA I'mjust enjoying working out more." Tannenbaum's love of contact (his nickname is All-Star Classic, where he was slated to face the By putting on more weight, Tannenbaum was "Rock") and the one-on-one intimacy of the sport defending national champion, Oklahoma State's moved two weight classes and took a different kept him wrestling after a rough start. But he had Zack Esposito, on his home mat. mental approach to the wrestling mat. no idea where his natural talent on the mat would After going down2-0 on a reverse in the second Last year, getting under weight dominated Tan- carry him. period, Tannenbaum didn'tlook back and went on nenbaum's focus, and as a result, he often had a After winning three Illinois state champion- to avenge an earlier loss (semifinals of the 2005 negative attitude and was unable to practice well. ships, Tannenbaum made the difficult jump to NCAA Championships) to Esposito, 7-3. Now, Tannenbaum is having a lot more fn collegiate wrestling. His addition to the team "Before that match, we were in the locker room, wrestling. immediatelyhelped the Wolverines. andoneofthekids(Tannenbaum'sfriend)wasjust McFarland said Tannenbaum's experience, "He's not afraid to get in there and mix it up givingme crap (and)joking around," Tannenbaum along with his confidence following a victory over with anybody," Michigan coach Joe McFarland recalled. "And he was like, 'How does it make you then second-ranked Travis Paulson of Iowa State, said. "He came in here right away as a freshman feel that on the poll on the Internet, you'recthe only could result in a national championship. and was getting in with (two-time NCAA cham- one that nobody voted to win?"' "I want to see him win a national champion- pion Ryan) Bertin and those guys right away and Despite a quick rise to the top and fast start to ship while he's here at Michigan,"McFarland said. just getting after them." the season, Tannenbaum finished just fifth at the "There's no reason why he can't because he's got Tannenbaum's impact was not limited to the Big Ten Championships and sixth at the NCAA all the skills and the work ethic to do it." practice mat. As a redshirt freshman, he won the Championships. And that's all Tannenbaum is focused on. Big Ten title at 149 pounds and finished fourth at The followingsummer, for the first time in a few "All I really care about is winning a national the NCAA Championships. years, Tannenbaum wouldn't put himself through title," Tannenbaum said. "Everybody always says "My freshman year, in my eyes, was pretty suc- the intense routine of traveling and wrestling for the end of the year is all that matters and that's cessful," Tannenbaum said. "My goal was to take the summer. Instead, studying for the MCATs really true. Nobody asks you what your record is. top-three at nationals, and when I'd say that as my dominated the neuroscience major's time. Nobody asks you who you beat during the season. goal, mostpeople looked at me like'ok', but I ended Tannenbaum's concentration on academics set ... The only thing that people remember is who up taking fourth. him up for the tremendous success he's enjoying won nationals at the end of the year." instant By COLT ROSENSWEIG Daily Sports Writer One day in late October, a freshman walked into the prac- tice gym, just looking for a way to get back into gymnastics after two years away from the sport. At the time, the Michigan men's gymnastics team had no idea a secret weapon was falling into its lap. David Chan, 21, is a Singa- pore native with an Australian accent. He spent the past two years doing mandatory military service in the Singapore army and navy, which left no time for keeping up with his gymnastics regimen. Chan chose to attend Michigan for its engineering program, unaware the Univer- sity even had a men's gymnastics team. Once he discovered the team, Chan stopped by to see if he might be able to work out. "Well, not really," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "There isn't an open gym, and there isn't a men's club team, so really the only way is to try out for the team. Then if you make the team, you can work out." Thefreshman'strialimpressed Golder and the other coaches so much they knew right off the bat they had to have him for their squad. Chan was immediately wel- comed onto the team. Not only are the gymnasts a generally friendly group, but they know a quality competitor when they see one. "The first time I saw him walk in the gym, I could just tell that he was going to be a good gym- nast, just by the way he carried himself," junior Paul Woodward said. "He carried himself like a champion." During first semester, Chan's schedule was not formed around practice times. Much of the time he had to work out in the early morning, alone or with junior Arren Yoshimura, whose impact demanding architecture course- load also conflicted with prac- tice. His best event turned out to be pommel horse, adding more depth to the already strong line- up. He is also working on parallel bars, and hopes to break into the floor exercise and vault lineups in the future as well. The process of getting back into peak gymnastics condition was slow and painful, but it paid off. The opening meet of the season found Chan in the start- ing lineup for pommel horse. He notched a score of 8.5 on the apparatus at the Windy City Invitational on Jan. 13, and post- ed an 8.35 against Oklahoma. "I've never been part of such a big team," Chan said. "The support everyone here has for each other - even at training - it's encouraging how every- one is helping each other spot mistakes, teaching you what's wrong." At 21, he is more mature than the average freshman; he is also very in tune with his body. "The thing I like about David is he understands his body really well," Michigan assistant coach Scott Vetere said. "He knows how to get in a hollow position. He thinks before he does the skill. You see him after he takes a turn - he focuses and goes over in his head what he needs to do. He goes through the movements a couple of times before he gets back up." And hardly anyone in the col- legiate gymnastics community knows of Chan's existence. He attended high school in Austra- lia to pursue gymnastics further. So, other teams may underesti- mate Michigan's strength - but not for long. "He's going to be our secret weapon," sophomore Ryan McCarthy said. 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