6B - March 23, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
68 - March 23, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 6
Luke wins NCAA Championship
By MIKE FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
Five years, 141 matches and an
undefeated senior season culminat-
ed in one final feat Saturday in St.
Louis for Michigan wrestler Steve
Luke.
At the NCAA Championships,
Luke (174 pounds) proved deserv-
ing of the No. 1 ranking he held all
year by beating Central Michigan's
seventh-ranked Mike Miller 8-4 in
his last collegiate match. The win
gave Michigan its first individual
wrestling national championship
since 2005.
The victory also avenged the loss
he suffered in the national finals a
year ago.
"Last year, I was really nervous,"
Luke said. "I don't think I was men-
tally prepared going into the match,
while this year, I think I had a lot
more confidence. I felt really good
when I was running out to the
mat."
But Luke's championship almost
didn't happen. His semifinal match
with No. 5 Missouri senior Ray-
mond Jordan went into overtime.
Jordan had a chance to score,
grabbing hold of one of Luke's legs.
But Luke kept Jordan from get-
ting into a better position to score
and eventually, the referee called a
stalemate.
"There is nobody I would rather
put into an overtime match than
Steve Luke," Michigan coach Joe
SOONERS
From page 1B
up with the scoring role, and I just
took the shots that I think Coach
would want me to take."
The officials' calls proved to be
another obstacle Saturday. In the
second half, Beilein was called for
a technical after repeatedly asking
a referee, 'What are we supposed
to do?' after freshman Zack Novak
was called for a foul when Blake
Griffin knocked him down while
powering up for a layup.
Harris and fifth-year senior C.J.
Lee both fouled out for the first
time all season, and, by looking
at the Michigan players' faces, it
was easy to tell how they felt about
some of the calls.
Regardless, Michigan still
couldn't stop Griffin. The Wolver-
ines used their 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone
defenses as well as double-teams
to try and slow the sophomore,
who notched his 28th double-dou-
ble of the season with 33 points
and 17 rebounds.
"There was no way we could
McFarland said. "He has great
positioning. He is extremely hard
to score on, you can't get to his legs
and when you do, it is very difficult
to score on him."
Luke's championship match
opponent was familiar.
He and Miller grew up in nearby
towns in Ohio and matched up ear-
lier in the year, with Luke winning,
10-4.
"My style matches up well with
him," Luke said. "He's a pretty
strongkid and he would win match-
es by just pushing the pace, but a
lot of times, he stands flat-footed.
When I wrestle people who are flat-
footed, Iam usually able to getin on
their legs and score and that's what
happened both times I wrestled
him this year."
With his performance, Luke
gained his third career All-Ameri-
can honor. His co-captain fifth-year
senior Tyrel Todd (197 pounds) also
earned his third honor, while soph-
omore Kellen Russell (141 pounds)
earned his first. The three per-
formances helped Michigan to an
11th-place team finish. Big Ten rival
Iowa took the overall team champi-
onship
Fourth-seeded Todd, who came
back from a torn ACL earlier in
the year, advanced to the semifi-
nals and matched up with the No.
1 seed, Craig Brester of Nebraska.
Todd scored an early takedown but
was not able to keep the pace after
hyper-extending his elbow, falling
stand there and slug it out with
them," Beilein said. "Like I said,
this is one fantastic player on one
very good team. There's no way we
could just matchup and say, 'Okay,
we're going to slug it out with you
in man-to-man.' We had to keep
changing."
The strategy worked to an
extent, forcing turnovers and mak-
ing it difficult for Griffin at times.
But Beilein said the 11 turnovers
weren't enough. Oklahoma point
guard Austin Johnson and Warren
combined for six 3-pointers, mak-
ing it difficult for the Michigan
defense to focus entirely on Grif-
fin.
"Our guys played as hard, as
well as we could tonight," Beilein
said. "I think we're a better team
than we played tonight, but it just
didn't work that way."
Oklahoma's quick 8-0 run to
start the second half forced Michi-
gan to play from behind the rest of
the game.
Despite that pressure, the Wol-
verines stayed competitive for the
most part, even cutting the deficit
to three with 6:04 left. The Soon-
7-2.
"He struggled a little with that
elbow the rest of the bout, and I
think it had a bearing on the out-
come," McFarland said. "But I was
real proud of him, how he was able
to come back ... and be an All-Amer-
ican for a third time, that is pretty
impressive."
Todd was defeated in the third-
place match to finish fourth.
Russell, the No. 1 seed in his
class, was one of many victims of
upsets in his weight class. After
leading his second-round match for
most of the bout, he was pinned by
Illinois' Ryan Prater.
Despite the loss, Russell recov-
ered to win five straight consola-
tion matches to finish seventh - the
highest he could place after losing
so early.
"He got caught in a defensive
tilt," McFarland said. "He got
caught and pinned and those things
happen sometimes. It was sort of a
shocker for all of us. I liked the way
he was able to come back and earn
All-American status. This will be a
buildingblock for Kellen."
Although Russell is well on his
way to earning more than one All-
American honor, he can't fill the
void of the departingseniors alone.
Leaving with the seniors are
more than 200 combined wins, six
All-American honors and one indi-
vidual national championship. The
question of who fills that hole won't
be answered until next November.
ers surged in the final two min-
utes, ending Michigan's comeback
bid.
It was the final collegiate game
for seniors Lee, David Merritt, and
Jevohn Shepherd, a trio that was
instrumental in the Wolverines'
11-win improvement from 2008.
"We had some Kleenexes out in
(the locker room)," Beilein said.
"They have been virtually no-
maintenance, team-first guys from
the very beginning."
Before the season Beilein said
the campaign would be a "roller
coaster." But there's no denying
there were more ups than downs
in 2009, capped with the pro-
gram's first NCAA Tournament
appearance since 1998 and a first
round win over No. 7 Clemson last
Thursday.
"I'm definitely proud of our
guys and program," Lee said. "I'm
proud of the possibility of where
we can go and these guys did not
stop until it's all over. That's all you
can ask as a senior of your fellow
teammates. That's all a coach can
ask of his players. So, I'll remem-
ber that forever."
a
a
cLuF REEDER/Daily
Michigan fans cheer on their team during the Wolverines' loss to Oklahoma at the NCAA Tournament in Kansas City.
FANS
From page 1B
thought that we'd be gone by the
time they were really good. This
is just the best possible thing that
I could have wished for, mak-
ing it to the second round of the
NCAAs."
Armed with a maize-and-blue
and mullet-style wig, a Michigan
jersey, a friend who had no more
than $80 available for the trip
and enough patience to make the
12-hour drive to the Sprint Cen-
ter, Rosin made his NCAA dreams
come true this weekend.
He, along with about 1,000
other rowdy Michigan fans, made
Kansas City a welcoming atmo-
sphere for the Wolverines - and a
hostile one for Clemson and Okla-
homa.
Hours before Thursday's game
against the Tigers, hundreds of
Michigan faithful took over a
pep rally across the street from
the arena. Michigan, Clemson,
Oklahoma and Morgan State each
got 20 minutes to showcase their
band and cheer teams.
Belligerent Wolverine fans in
attendance saw their opportunity
to strike as the Clemson band,
cheerleaders and tiger mascot
took the stage.Animpromptu ren-
dition of "The Victors" drowned
out the introduction, and the
few Clemson fans in attendance
seemed taken aback.
Rosin equated the atmosphere,
in which strangers wearing Mich-
igan apparel shouted "Go Blue" to
one another from across the street
or concourse, to the 2007 Rose
Bowl, which he also attended.
"At the Rose Bowl, it was cool to
see how people from around the
country came out to support their
team," Rosin said. "But I love this
(NCAA Tournament regional).
You get eight different teams that
come up here, you know, drive
however many hours. I just love
the atmosphere here."
Michigan, Clemson, Oklaho-
ma, Maryland, Memphis, Califor-
nia, Morgan State and Cal-State
Northridge played in the Sprint
Center over the weekend -- and
all were well-represented.
And even with the loss to Okla-
homa on Saturday, Michigan fans
stood and sang the fight song
again in the final minute of regu-
lation, relieved that the long wait
for an NCAA Tournament game
was finally over.
Beilein makes quick
return to Big Dance
By JASON KOHLER
Daily Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - When
Michigan coach John Beilein
entered the locker room follow-
ing Saturday's 73-63 second-round
loss to Oklahoma, he saw a group
of players with
heads bowed in NOTEBOOK
disappointment
- a group that was taught never to
be satisfied with a loss.
He didn't say much. What he did
say was that he was appreciative of
their hard work, and that he was
proud to be a Michigan man.
But Beilein hasn't been at Mich-
igan for very long. In his second
year in Ann Arbor, he overcame
low expectations by bouncingback
from a 10-22 season and led the
Wolverines to the Big Dance.
Michigan is the fourth school
Beilein has led to the NCAA Tour-
nament in his five appearances. He
has compiled a 7-5 record in the
Tournament.
Richmond is the only Beilein
team that reached the Tourna-
ment at a faster pace. The Spiders
reached the second round in his
first season.
But this season might be more
impressive. At Richmond, he
inherited a senior-laden squad. He
came to Ann Arbor to find just one
senior and three juniors.
Beilein will be rewarded for his
work. He is set to receive a $25,000
bonus for making the tourna-
ment - a figure which would have
increased to $50,000 if Michigan
had knocked off the Sooners.
Athletic Director Bill Martin is
more than happy to cough up the
money.
"John had to take a program
that has been off the charts for
two decades almost, and he did it
in two years," Martin said after the
game. "I think you'll just see us in
the future continue to improve."
CROWDED: As redshirt fresh-
man center Ben Cronin walked
across the court and took his seat
in the first row opposite the Michi-
gan bench before Saturday's game,
one inebriated fan awkwardly
hugged the 7-footer.
Cronin just smiled.
Cronin, along with walk-on
freshman guard Corey Person and
head manager Alex Gravlin, were
forced to sit in the stands due to
NCAA limitations on who can sit
on the bench.
Only active players and coaches
are allowed to sit on the bench for
NCAA Tournament games. Since
both players were redshirted, they
were forced into the crowd.
For the first time, the players
found themselves taking part in
the Michigan cheers.
"They were doing some of the
cheers and I was like, 'I always
wanted to do this cheer,' but you
can't be doing a cheer when you're
on the bench," Person said after
Michigan knocked off Clemson on
Thursday. "It almost made us clos-
er with the fans because we got to
interact with them."
Asked if he would paint his face
for the Oklahoma game, Cronin
laughed and said, "I don't think so.
We're still players."
Brian Townsend, Michigan
director of basketball operations,
was also relegated to the stands.
Before Michigan's win against
Clemson, fifth-year senior guard
DavidMerrittpointedatTownsend
from the bench, reminding the for-
mer Wolverine linebacker where
he reallybelonged.
WRIGHTED: Before the Okla-
homa game, Beilein went down the
line of players on the bench, giving
high-fives and saying "Be ready, be
ready."
Little did he know how early he
would have to rely on his reserves.
With two quick fouls less than
five minutes into the game, soph-
omore forward Manny Harris
walked to the bench. So did Michi-
gan's best chance of keeping up
with the powerful Sooner offense.
And when junior forward
DeShawn Sims took a seat after
forward Blake Griffin inadvertent-
ly poked him in the eye, the Wol-
verine attack was even weaker.
As Harris exited the court, red-
shirt sophomore Anthony Wright
walked on. Wright, who came in
averaging 2.3 points per game,
quickly drained three 3-pointers
and Michigan held a three-point
lead with just under four minutes
left in the half.
"I knew somebody had to step
up into that scoring role," Wright
said. "So I got more aggressive."
Wright tied his season high of 12
points in just 14 first-half minutes.
Beilein admitted it wasn't his
ideal lineup but that Wright, along
with junior forward Zach Gibson,
filled in well and got the job done.
The Wolverines finished with 19
bench points. The Sooners did not
substitute in the second half and
had just one point from a bench
player.
"We're not a one-man team,"
freshman guard Zach Novak
said. "We got guys that stepped
up tonight. Anthony stepped up
huge."
HE'LL BE BACK: After the loss
to Oklahoma, Harris all but said
he would not make the jump to
the NBA this summer and instead
return to play for Michigan.
"I love the college game," Har-
ris said. "I still have a lot of work to
do before I make the jump."
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