GE TEN THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wolverine Cagers Only Sport To Fail in Quest of Big Ten Cr By BILL MULLENDOIIE 1943-44 was just another year as far as Michigan basketball was con- cerned as Coach Bennie Oosterbann's charges finished the season with an over-all record of eight wins and nine losses and a Western Confer- ence total of five victories in 12 starts, good for sixth place in the standings. Thus, the cagers became the only winter sports aggregation which failed to bring home a Big Ten title and may very easily become the only team during the '43-44 season to fail in Conference play as the baseball, outdoor track, tennis and golf squads head for titular laurels this spring. Michigan Gets Off to Bad Start Michigan opened the campaign with the brightest prospects in years as a Navy-laden squad was estab- lished as one of the Big Ten favorites in pre-season dope. However, the Wolverines got off to a bad start and by the time they straightened out, any chance for a championship was lost. The hopes of the Maize and Blue fans for a winning team after several years of wandering around in the waste lands of defeat were buoyed considerably as Oosterbaan's squad defeated its first two opponents, Cen- tral Michigan and Romulus Air Base, by overwhelming scores. The third contest of the season provided a few more thrills as a fighting Fort Custer quintet gave Michigan a fright before succumb- ing, 46-44. With a perfect record of three wins in as many outings, the Wolverines went confidently into a two-game series with a powerful Western Michigan quintet and were humbled in both tilts, 48-38 and 57-50. The second game of this series brought out the fighting qualities which distinguished the Maize and Blue five all season as it came from behind in the final seconds to knot the count and force the game into overtime. It also saw the birth of diminutive Tommy King as Michi- gan's leading scorer as he pumped in 13 points. Wildcats Beat Michigan 57-47. The Western Conference opener saw a highly-touted Northwestern five invade Ann Arbor and leave with a 57-47 victory despite a re- markable 24-point splurge "by King in one of the finest individual perfor- mances ever seen on a Michigan court. Elroy Hirsch played his first game as regular center in this tilt and brought much acclaim .for his aggressive backboard tactics. The following night the Wolverines played host to Illinois, Conference champs of the previous season, and humbled the "Gee Whiz Kids" 52-45 for an upset win in a see-saw battle. King continued to set the pace with 16 markers. Teact own Following the even break in the opening week-end of Big Ten play, Michigan trekked to Wisconsin for a two-game series and proceeded to drop both contests, 50-41 and 42-31. In these tilts it was the play of de- pendable Dave Strack which stood out although he worked for a lost cause. The next week-end, the Wolverines entrained for Purdue and another two-game duel. The first contest went into overtime before the Boiler- makers eked out a 46-44 triumph. Strack hung up 19 points in this affair. In the second tilt Purdue finally found its vaunted power to coast to an easy 51-35 win. Michigan came home for its next two contests, meeting Ohio State. King racked up 27 points .as the Buckeyes won the first 53-49, and was effectively stopped in the second which Ohio State took 51-37. Wolverines Win Two from Indiana Against Indiana the following week-end, the Maize and Blue finally got back on the victory trail with a double victory over the Hoosiers, tak- ing the first game in a walk, 65-49, with Hirsch getting 22 tallies, and squeezing through to a 46-44 win in the second. The hapless Chicago Maroons were the Michigan victims in the next game as the Wolverines poured on a 71-34 drubbing. Oosterbaan's charges closed the season with a surprise 50-45 upset of Northwestern to av- enge the earlier trouncing by the Wildcats. King finished. in sixth place inI Conference scoring and was elected the most valuable player on the squad. Strack was tenth in the Big Ten and was named honorary cap- tain. He also was named by the Detroit Free Press as the outstanding basketball player in the state. Hirsch wound up 13th in scorig. Crtis8, Wilson, _ . .t Garner Firsts in Big Ten Finals By HANK MANThO Qualifying four men in the finalse and winning a number of runner-up1 positions, thle Michgan wrestling1 team climaxed a highly successfult season by copping their first Big Tenx title since 1938, 28-27, as they staved off Purdue't desper ate bid for the crown, When the 1944 edition of the Mich-t igan mat squad greeted Coach Ray Courtright on their first day of prac-1 tice, the only two lettermen reportingt were Johnny Greene, heavyweight, and Bob Allen, 165-pounder. However, as the season progressed, the Maize and Blue squad was bol- stered by the addition of Jim Galles, 175-pound former Conference cham- pion, and with the improvement of Lowell Oberly, Wisconsin transfer, two untried sophomores, George Cur- tis and Hugh Wilson, and reserve let- terman Chip Warrick, Coach Court- right's squad was gradually rounding into one of the best balanced and strongest teams in recent years. Michigan and Purdue Are Tops Michigan and Purdue were rated as the two top teams in the Big Ten in pre-season dope, and as these two Goliaths of the mid-west clashed, it could easily have been a preview of the Big Ten finals for the crown, which was to be held later on at Ev- anston. Both teams entered the meet with untarnished slates, but the Wolver- ines managed to knock the Boiler- makers off the unbeaten list in a nip and tuck battle, 17-9. Michigan started out fast as Bob Reichert and Bob Gittins registered victories in the first two matches of the day, but Dan Nettersheim of Purdue, wrestling in the 136-pound bracket, scored a 1-0 decision over Lowell Oberly, his life-long pal, to tally the first points fory Purdue. Chip Warrick then registered three more points to the Wolverine total as he decisioned Bob Armstrong. However, the Boilermakers had a lot at stake in this meet and they came back strong to give Michigan a scare, winning the next two matches on decisions to knot the count at nine ally Newt Copple and Jack Shep- ard of Purdue scored these decisions over Michigan's George Curtis and Hugh Wilson at 155 and 165 pounds. Jim Galles, Wolverine 175-pounder, then throttled this rally by the des- perate Boilermakers, as he scored the only fall of the day over Bruce Porter, in a match which he had pretty much his own way; and with the three _points contributed by Captain John- ny Greene in a 7-] decision over Bob Wilson in a heavyweight encounter, the Wolverines ended the scoring for the day. As Michigan approached the half- way mark in the season with their two toughest teams registered on the Wrestlers Capture Conference Title win side of the ledger, the power- barely edging out a strong threat by laden Wolverines put their undefeat- Purdue. ed slate on the block two more times Michigan Qualifies Every Man against Minnesota and Indiana, win- The Wolverines hit tle jack pot in ning the first match by 25-3 and the the preliminaries of the Big Ten second by 23-3 thereby establishing finals as they qualified every man on themselves more firmly as the Con- the squad for the semi-final events, ference favorites. getting five points for the totals on In the Indiana match, Michigan five falls by Lowell Oberly, Jim Galles, entered the meet minus three regu- Johnny Greene, George Curtis and lars, Jim Galles, Hugh Wilson and John King. Bob Gittins, though they had little Hovever, Oberly, Curtis, Wilson trouble subduing the Hoosiers, win- and Greene were the only Wolverines ning six matches, losing one, and to survive the semi-finals and quali- gaining one on a forfeit. fy for the finals. Jim Galles and After polishing off Indiana, defend- Bob Reichert, the only two Michigan ing Big Ten champs, and finishing men undefeated in the four dual their season undefeated in four dual meets, were both beaten in the semi- meets, the Wolverines went on to finals. Reichert lost a decision to Evanston Feb. 19 to win their first George DeLong of the Illini and did Conference title since 1938, 28-27, not place at all, while Galles lost t t x r 1 i 1 t I I = - - ' We can't win the war without the navy; our soldier can't win unless our ships deliver; merchant ships can't deliver unless the home front provides. One important convoy job is flashing signals as this youth is doing in the Battle of the Atlantic. 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