2B - January 30, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Five sons return to Barwis for NFL preparation

PLYMOUTH, Mich. -
In a nondescript building
located 20 minutes outside
Ann Arbor, Mike Barwis
found a new home for his sons.
He's training
them now -
for the NFL
Combine, for
the violent
game they
love and for
life.
"They're
my kids," Bar- TIM
wis said, asa ROHAN
matter of fact-
"I'll take care
of them."
Barwis - who redefined
strength and conditioning at
Michigan for three seasons under
then-coach Rich Rodriguez -
decorated the dojo's entrance
with memories. Among the signed
jerseys, three small pictures stand
out. They show his three Michi-
gan teams, gathered at midfield
after a practice, most without
their shirts - showing off his
work - and all smiling.
Front and center stood a lean,
short-haired defensive end, flex-
ing his bicep. Inside the dojo on
this Friday morning, two years
older, Ryan Van Bergen laid down
on a bench with Barwis standing
over him.
Four of Barwis' sons - Van
Bergen, Kevin Koger, Dave Molk
and Steve Watson - were in the
middle of a "hell day." Their fifth
training partner, Mike Martin,
who was busy at the Senior Bowl.
The five of them know that train-
ing with Barwis at his Barwis-
Methods center in Plymouth gives
them the best chance to realize
their NFL dreams.
Only one framed jersey hangs
on the wall inside the dojo. It
belongs to former Michigan soc-
cer player Justin Meram, and
it's signed, "To Mike, Thanks for
kicking my ass." Flags hang from
the rafters above it - one West
Virginia and one Michigan -
reminders of how many kids he's
helped. He hasn't changed much.
On the wall by Van Bergen, Bar-
wis put up a quote from General
George Patton in big red type:
"May God have mercy on my
enemies, because I won't."
Rap music pulsed through
speakers, and Barwis screamed
at Van Bergen over DMX's "Gon'
Give it to Ya." He slapped Van
Bergen, as hard as he could, in the
ribs on each side. That was the
cue to start.
Van Bergen was at the Eccen-
tric bench, which Barwis himself

e ILE PHOTO/Daily
Former Michigan strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis has gone from Ann Arbor to Plymouth, where he works as a professional trainer at BarwisMethods.

helped design. It looks like a nor-
mal bench press, but with wires
and other weights attached to
the structure, it acts asa "reverse
bench press" and forces Van Ber-
gen to pull the weight towards his
chest instead of letting gravity
pull the bar down. Then, he push-
es the weight up, using the same
muscles as a normal bench press.
Watson took a break to watch.
He's the one who needs Barwis
most. Without an invite to the
combine, unlike Molk and Mar-
tin, and without extensive game
film to take pride in, unlike Koger
and Van Bergen, Watson is a long
shot to make it to the NFL. The
tight end has one career catch
and one career touchdown to his
name. It wasn't necessarily his
fault - as he bounced between
tight end and defensive end
thanks to the coaching change,
finally landing at tight end under
Brady Hoke.
Now, Watson tells Barwis that
he's not afraid totake his shirt off
in public, that he has abs for the
first time in his life.
. He admired the 12-foot-tall
American flag on the wall behind
Van Bergen.
"He's going to knock this wall
down, push it out, then have a real
big dojo," Watson said, motioning
towards it.
Barwis will need the space if
his reputation continues to bulge
as efficiently as the guys he trains.
Not too far from Watson, Detroit
Tigers third baseman Brandon
Inge worked out, doing lunges
with bands strapped to his ankles.

"He's the best motivator I've
ever been around in my life," Inge
said of Barwis, who also has a
mixed martial arts background.
"You can't really argue with any-
thing he says, because he'll prob-
ably choke you out if you do."
Van Bergen finished his set,
jumped up and barked at Molk,
imitating DMX's woofs as the
song blared.
Like the others, Van Bergen
relishes havingtime to devote to
sculpting his body. During the
season, extra time to lift was rare.
Plus, he suffered a pinched nerve
in his neck against Michigan State
when he tried to uproot a ball car-
rier on a goal-line play - some-
thing he and Martin did routinely
all season. From that game on, he
couldn't fire his pectoral muscle
or tricep.
"Most people don't know I
played the last half of the season
without a right arm," he said.
His pinched nerve is fine
now, but he estimated he's about
70-percent recovered from a par-
tially torn ligament in his foot,
which he played through in the
Sugar Bowl. That injury won't be
fully healed for another month.
Every weekday, he meets at
the dojo at 9 a.m. and doesn't get
home until 6 p.m. On Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, the
five have "hell days," working out
nearly every muscle in their bod-
ies. On Tuesdays and Thursdays,
they do combine-specific drills
and Barwis teaches them how to
run - the most efficient ways to
cut and to accelerate.

They take planned periodic
breaks to stretch or eat one of the
six nutritional meals Barwis maps
out for the nine-hour period.
"Every day - same meal," said
Van Bergen, who attributed half
of the credit for his toned look
to Barwis' nutrition plan. "I can
tell you exactly what I'm going
to have later: I have seven eggs,
four pieces of whole-wheat toast
and one eight-ounce cup of yogurt
waiting for me."
Van Bergen and Watson move
onto other drills, while Koger
does lunges with ankle resistance
and catches a ball thrown by one
of Barwis' assistants. Meanwhile,
across the room, one of Barwis'
star pupils puts on a show.
Laying on a bench, Molk
strengthens his neck by resisting
pressure an assistant applied by
pressinga towel to his forehead.
If you didn't know any better, you
might have thought Molk was
being tortured. After more than
10 minutes of struggling, Molk's
neck was no longer distinguish-
able, swollen and puffy.
"You look like acartoon
character," Van Bergen shouted,
laughing.
The rest of the morning, Molk,
the Rimington Trophy winner,
strengthened his strong left leg
and tested out his healing right
leg. He had surgery two weeks
ago to repair a torn tendon in his
right foot suffered minutes before
the Sugar Bowl. But it doesn't stop
Barwis, who tests Molk, making
the center push back as he applies
pressure to the leg.

"I can squat 700 pounds," Molk
gasped in between reps. "But I
(can't handle) a 190-pound man."
Barwis smiled. He'd do any-
thing for Molk. On Wednesday,
when Molk realized he had a doc-
tor's appointment for the injury
(which has a 4-month recovery
period) it was Barwis who came
in at 6 a.m. to work Molk out.
And when Molk needed a ride to
the airport, it was Barwis who
dropped everything to take him.
"I love all my guys," Barwis
would say later. "Molk's like my
son. Van Bergen's like my son.
Koger's like my son. That's how
we are."
Every day for three years, Bar-
wis worked out Martin and Molk
at the same time, mostly because
they were the only two who could
keep up with each other. They
were competitive in everything.
If Martin lifted 500, Molk put on
510. It's the kind of atmosphere
Molk envisioned when he com-
mitted to Michigan and to Bar-
Wis.
When the morning workouts
are done, Molk explains how
important strength training was
in his college choice, how the
right program could prepare
someone for the NFL and how
Barwis blew everyone away.
"Mike was the best - the best,"
Molk said. "Hands down. Top of
the line. The best guy. The best
system. The best sell. The best
knowledge base of the people that
I talked to, and I talked to a lot of
strength coaches.... There was no
one who even compared to Mike."

Barwis' system, designed to
build lean but strong-as-a-bull
lineman, developed Molk and
Martin into "two of the strongest
players in the United States,"
according to Barwis. But when
Brady Hoke was hired in Janu-
ary 2010, Barwis was replaced by
Aaron Wellman, whom Hoke was
more comfortable with.
"The whole season was awk-
ward without (Barwis)," Molk
said. "I was so used to having him
around, so used to the voice, the
pre-game speeches, the workouts
- that was night-and-day differ-
ence. And it was weird not having
him there, because all of the ath-
letic ability everyone had going
into (the Sugar Bowl) and going
into the season was attributed to
Mike."
The difference between Well-
man and Barwis was black and
white, Molk explains.
"Mike knew it because he was
the guy who led the research,"
Molk said, notingthe strength
and conditioning journals that
have published Barwis' work.
"Wellman read the research. It
is what it is."
Molk hopes he can work out for
teams before April's NFL Draft.
He said he plans on lifting at the
Combine, and that the highest
he's ever repped in the 225-pound
bench press was 38 times - and
that was after a brutal workout.
The record is 49 reps.
"Who knows what I can do
fresh," Molk said. "Mike (Mar-
tin's) the only one who's going to
be near me."
I asked Molk if he was worried
he wouldn't be able to work out
for NFL teams and prove he's not
too short (he's listed at 6-foot-2)
to play center.
"He's got plenty of film," Bar-
wis interjected, on his way out
the door to lunch, as Van Bergen
opened up his eggs in another
room.
Watching from afar, Barwis
said he still was Molk's and
Martin's and Van Bergen's and
Watson's and Koger's biggest fan.
Those who come in contact with
him tend to stay close. Guys he
sculpted 15 years ago still come
around. And Friday morning,
before four of his sons showed
up to workout, one he trained 19
years ago called looking for family
advice.
"I'm always goingto be that
guy - I'm kind of like the dad,"
Barwis said.
"I never forget about my kids."
- Rohan can be reached
at trohan@umich.edu.

S

0

Youthful Blue seeks identity

Seniors take final home meet

By LIZ NAGLE the Golden Gophers from having
Daily Sports Writer a rally of their own. Michigan's
streak ended with losses in the
Five Michigan wrestlers said final four bouts. With three Big
their goodbyes to Cliff Keen Ten duals remaining, the Wol-
Arena on Sunday in their Senior verines returned home, thirsty
Day meet, escorted by their fam- for a win.
ilies onto the mat branded with Justin Zeerip was especially
the block 'M' for the last time. anxious for a victory. Two days
They've all had unique jour- earlier, he fell to Minnesota
neys, but one thing they had in freshman Logan Storely in over-
common was their desire to win. time for his second loss of the
More than 1,300 spectators wit- season.
nessed that shared purpose in "It was one of the toughest
an in-state rivalry meet against losses of my career," Zeerip said.
Michigan State on Sunday. "I hurt the team, too."
"It was awesome to see every Though he's ranked fifth
seat filled here in the arena," said nationally, Zeerip felt he had
fifth-year senior Justin Zeerip. something to prove. He started
A testament to the legacy of the meet against Spartan senior
the five seniors - Dave John- Curran Jacobs with a vengeance,
son, Kellen Russell, Zac Stevens, though his opponent was also
Mark Weber and Zeerip - the looking for payback. It was a
Michigan wrestling team pulled rematch from the early-season
away from an early tie, en route Michigan State Open semifinals,
to a 26-9 win. where Zeerip was crowned as
It was a crucial win for the the 174-pound champion.
11th-ranked Wolverines, who Zeerip scored a takedown in
were coming off a Friday-night the first 30 seconds of the match,
loss to No. 3 Minnesota. and at the end of the first period,
"Friday was very disap- he had already accumulated 2:37
pointing for our program," said in riding time. Leaving Jacobs
Michigan assistant coach Donny almost scoreless, Zeerip record-
Pritzlaff. ed a 7-1 win.
After two lightweight losses, After the next four matches,
Michigan rallied with four con- 133-pound senior Zac Stevens
secutive wins to start an upset took the mat. Stevens pummeled
bid against the Golden Gophers. Michigan State freshman Terry
Russell headlined the bid Turner in the first period. With
with a pin on Minnesota red- six converted takedowns, Ste-
shirt freshman Seth Lange in vens ended the match with a 17-7
2:28. Following his lead, redshirt major decision.
sophomores Eric Grajales, Bran- Fifth-year senior and reigning
don Zeerip and Dan Yates each national champion Kellen Rus-
contributed to Michigan's 15-7 sell followed Stevens in the 141-
advantage. pound bout.
But that wasn't enough to stop As top-ranked Russell wres-

tied, there was a respectful
silence in the arena. Everyone
was in awe as they watched
Russell complete his Cliff Keen
career.
"It's just really special to be
able to share today with them,"
Russell said.
Russell got on top of Michi-
gan State freshman Brian Gibbs.
With that advantage, Gibbs was
left helpless. An excited specta-
tor broke the silence and humor-
ously embarrassed Gibbs, "Come
out, come out, wherever you
are!"
With two near-falls and 4:16
in riding time, Russell out his
opponent and advanced to 22-1
on the season.
After back-to-back major
decisions, Eric Grajales forced a
rapid fall on Spartan junior Dan
Osterman in 1:50, bringing most
Michigan fans to their feet.
By that point, Michigan held a
big lead. Even after splitting the
final two matches, the Wolver-
ines claimed the last home-meet
win of the season.
"I think they're heading in the
right direction," said program
alum Ryan Churella. "It's good
to see those guys having suc-
cess."
But can the Wolverines feed
off of this win? In the upcoming
week, Michigan will go on the
road against No. 5 Ohio State and
No. 2 Penn State.
"Hopefully, they use today's
performance and really exhaust
everything they have left in their
tank," Pritzlaff said. "We have
to be consistent and wrestle the
whole seven minutes, not six
minutes and 56 seconds."

By GLENN MILLERJR.
For the Daily
The Michigan women's gym-
nastics team left Crisler Cen-
ter on Friday night with a win
against Illinois, but that wasn't
enough to allay the bitterness
the team felt about their frus-
trating performance.
"We definitely just need to
regroup as a team, and decide,
well, we're small, but we're
strong," said freshman Sachi
Sugiyama. "We just need to get
stronger - especially mentally."
For the second week in a row,
Michigan's fate came down to
the final rotation, and yet again,
they didn't disappoint. After
struggling on beam, the 19th-
ranked Wolverines rallied on
floor to narrowly defeat the 14th-
ranked Fighting Illini, 194.225-
193.700.
There were many questions
coming into Friday's meet con-
cerning Michigan's response to
the loss of junior Natalie Beil-
stein to a season-ending ankle
injury. Many of those questions,
though, will have to wait until
the Wolverines can develop a
fail-safe performance and post a
decisive total score.
Michigan (3-0) got out to a
strong start on Friday. Impres-
sive performances by Sugiyama
and junior captain Katie Zurales
led the Wolverines to top finish-
es on vault, followed by sopho-
more Joanna Sampson, who tied
for third. Michigan then contin-
ued its success on uneven bars,
recording its best performance
of the year (49.125). With five
scores of 9.800 or higher, the
Wolverines added to their lead
thanks to the routines of sopho-

*I

AUSTEN HUFFORD/Da
Freshman Sachi Sugiyama sustained a fall on beam but helped 'M' to victory

more Shelby Gies and freshman
Annette Miele.
"I thought Annette Miele did
a fabulous job on uneven bars
stepping in for (Beilstein)," said
Michigan coach Bev Plocki.
Miele, who made her col-
legiate debut on balance beam
against Ohio State, was one of
the athletes who Plocki has spot-
lighted in Beilstein's absence. In
her first performance on uneven
bars this season, the freshman
showed few signs of inexperi-
ence.
It was only a matter of time,
though, before the Wolverines
would face their nemesis - the
balance beam. Despite strong
performances from Sampson,
Gies and junior Brittnee Marti-
nez, Michigan posted its worst
overall score this season for the
event (47.675). After being forced
to count two disappointing falls,
the Wolverines struggled in their
third rotation, which allowed
Illinois to take the lead.
"I told the kids after beam
coming into floor, 'I hate to
always be going into the last
event needing to rally to win a
competition, but you guys have

done it well up to this point, so
let's keep it going,"' Plocki said.
Michigan's clutch perfor-
mance on the balance beam last
week helped secure their nar-
row victory in the fourth rota-
tion over Minnesota. This week,
even with the advantage of being
the home team, the Wolverines
reverted to what Plocki called
a "frustrating" performance.
Fortunately for Michigan, the
balance beam wasn't too kind
toward Illinois, either. The
Fighting Illini recorded their
own share of falls on the balance
beam, which allowed the Wol-
verines a chance to get back into
the meet.
Once again, the Wolverines
displayed their late-meet hero-
ics, led by sophomore Reema
Zakharia, who tied for the event
title on floor (9.900). Round-
ing out the quartet of Michigan
gymnasts - who all recorded
scores of 9.800 or higher - were
Sugiyama, Zurales, and Samp-
son. Michigan's strong perfor-
mance on floor proved too much
for Illinois and helped lead the
Wolverines to athird win despite
their stumbles on beam.

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