. a e a 1940 -z ._.T HE M .ICHtIG*SANR DAILY
'olverme SixFaces Heylige' sIllinois Squad HreTo
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By MEL FINEBERG
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those players who are required last
Coach Crisler Returns, Wrestling Problem out a complete game aren't very
(Editor's Note: Today's column is abundant. Besides most players pos-
Says Possibilities Are written by ner )Lev, senior assis- sess some particular abilities which
Narrowed To Three ti"t on The Daily sports' staff). lend to their insertion into the line-
-------- HERE'S SOMETHING we don't up in certain spots.
Herbert Orrin (Fritz) Crisler re- like about the present system of Similarly last spring Cal season as Wol-
turned to Ann Arbor yesterday and I intercollegiate wrestling and we can't verine track mentor had two good
verinettrackomentorehadytwoagoo
promised that a 1940 opponent- to even think of a remedy. Maybe hurdlers, Stan Kelley and Jeff Hall,
replace Chicago would be named someone can help us. behind one great one, Elmer Gedeon.
within a week or 10 days. Adual wrestling meet at present Gedeon won the titles and the fame
consists of eight matches, each in- but there was nevertheless something
Coach Crisler, back from the an- volving contestants at a different left for Kelley and Hall. Medals,
nual coaches' meeting on the Pa- weight. Sometimes a coach finds Varsity letters and a shaie of the
cific coast, said that the possibilits himself in a peculiar situation. Right glory. Thats track.
"have narrowed down to two or three here at Michigan there's a good ex- But wrestling is different. The
ver go d posp ct an I ope tha Iampe o wh t w j st entone .iff1 matche's last only 10 minutes and
the opponent can be named in a week lthe 155-pound class mentio e
___ .~ __ t$ th ranorpnnsubstitutions.Secon
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E
Keen has at.
outstanding
the nation.
been able to
to exhibit.
his command two of thej
collegiate wrestlers in
At 128 pounds he hasn't
scare up a candidate fit
The ineligibility of Bill Combs,
has temporarily relieved the con-
gestion at 155 pounds, but what's
going to happen next semester?
Competing for the same berth
will be Combs, third place win-
ner in the Nationals last year,
and Harland Danner, Big Ten
champion in 1938. Danner was
out of school last year, leaving
his post to Combs and the Okla-
homa youth lived up to all ex-
pectations. The pair can defi-
nitely be rated with the finest
mat performers in Michigan his-
tory. Practice matches have
shown that there's little to choose
between them and either could
probably sweep through the
schedule undefeated. But bar-
ring unforeseen complicmtions,
one of these lads is destined to
ride the bench.;
Shift one of them? Yes, this is
one solution and if Combs gets
over his scholastic hurdle next
month, he possibly will get a
fling at 145 pounds. But is this
the wise way to play the cards?
We doubt it. For one thing
Combs would not be in top con-
dition after shedding 10 pounds.
Second it would mean displacing
a very capable performer in John
Paup, admittedly no Combs, but
far above the average as college
grapplers go.
Other coaches aren't confronted
with such problems. Last fall Fritz
Crisler had Fred Trosko, a good back,
playing second fiddle to two better
backs, Tom Harmon and Paul Kro-
mer. Was Trosko doomed to ob-.
scurity? Of course not. A football
game lasts 60 minutes and in this day
places don't count. Thirds don't ex-
ist.
In other sports a coach can
shift his men around in order to
make best use of his material.
Milo Sukup, overshadowed in his
quest for a backfield berth, be-
came an outstanding guard for
Fritz Krisler. Charley Barker,
formerly a star in the backstroke
for Matt Mann, was moved to the
free style where he was more
sorely "needed for the National
Collegiates, won one title, tied
for another. Ken Doherty, new
iwr .i.".hcoan c lisntivig lu 111..1 ;lina
track coach is hoping to-1111 in
his mile relay team with several
ex-hurdlers and sprinters. But "it
can't happen here" say the
wrestling coaches. A man can't
lose 30 pounds that easily.
And so that's how the situation
stands at present. Last Saturday
Harland Danner mauled his Dear-
born AC. opponent all over the mat
in typical Danner style. Bill Combs,
sitting on the bench, could have done
likewise. But at 128 pounds there
wasn't even a match. Coach Keen
didn't have a man at that weight.
What can be dont about it? If we
were new around here we'd say
abolish the lower weight classes. But
only too well to we recall the da jN
of Johnny Speicher and Paul Cam-
eron, and little Tom Sparks who may
I yet pin his academic troubles and
compete for the Wolverines.
Saturday Michigan's wrestling
team opens its Big Ten season
against Illinois. At 128 pounds Coach
Keen will have to rely on an inex-
perienced performer, probably a lad
who didn't even have enough interest
to come out for the team until an
SOS was called last week. In the
upper classes several good experienced
men will be sitting on the bench. But
again, what can be done about it?
We'd like an answer.
ri
I
Illinois was without the service of
Bill Hapac, its all-conference for-
ward, who was suffering with a cold.
However, even with Hapac in the
line-up Illinois had another trying Strong Illnois
time of it in trimming the lowly rat-
ed Maroons 34-33 last Monday. It is Sa
more than likely that Hapac was not
in the best of condition for this game,
but he should be near top form by the The Michigan wrestling squad will
time the Indians invade Ann Arbor face its first Big Ten meet this Sat-
on the 13th. urday when it takes on Illinois at
The Wolverines are odds-on favor- Yost Field House. The Wolverines
ites to take Iowa this Saturday, In- are pointing toward another unde-
diana is favored to run its nine- feated season and as a warmup they
game winning streak to 10 when it swamped the Dearborn A.C. grapplers
clashes with Minnesota, although the last Saturday.
Gophers are still considered to be in This will be the first time in several
the title race despite a defeat by years that the Illini have come to
Northwestern Monday night, and Ann Arbor to wrestle and the meet
Purdue should have no trouble should draw a good crowd. Coach
against Wisconsin. Keen has named several men to
On Monday, if the three leaders start although three positions are as
keep their slates clean, they will have yet undecided. At 121 will be either
to buck the number 13 jinx to keep Tom Weidig or Fred Klemach. Joe
going on the 'straight and narrow Robinson will handle the 128-pound
path of victory. Indiana will pick spot. 16, either John Raschbacher or
up where their fellow countrymen, Jack Sergeant. Johnny Paup is at
Purdue, left off Saturday when they 145 and Harlan Danner at 155. Jim
engage Wisconsin, whom it should Galles will probably handle the 165-
defeat with little trouble, Purdue pound position. Don Nichols will
takes on Minnesota, which might wrestle at 175 and Capt. "Butch"
prove to be a boomerang, and Mich- Jordan at the heavyweight post.
igan has the hardest job of all as it According to the Daily Illini Illi-
will meet a vastly improved Illinois nois regards the Michigan meet as
team. its toughest Big Ten encounter of
In the two other Conference games the season. Illinois and Michigan
Saturday Northwestern is favored tied for second place in the Confer-
over Chicago and Illinois over Ohio ence meet last year. The boys from
State, and on Monday either Chi- Champaign also had a warmup last
cago or Iowa will break into the win week, humbling Morton Junior Col-
side of the ledger for the first time lege 38 to 0.
Athletic Board And AAU
Sanctions Are Needed
In all probabilities it will be "South
of the Border" next summer for Mich-
igan's Big Ten and National Collegi-
ate swimming squad, Matt Mann an-
nounced yesterday.
The Wolverines received an invi-
tation to give an exhibition in Mexico
City as part of the goodwill project of
the Pan-American countries.
This is the natators' second shot
at a trip during the vacation months,
for this last summer Matt was all
ready to take his squad barnstorm-
ing through the British Isles when
the European war broke out.
All the swimmers need now to make
the Mexican tour official is the okay
of the athletic board and the ap-
proval of the AAU.
"I'm tickled to death we got the
invitation," was Matt's comment.
"I'll probably be able to take about
eight of my champions down, and if
we go, it will be immediately after
my summer camp is over."
1
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