Men's Basketball vs. Wisconsin Tonight, 8p.m. Crisler Arena The Michigan Daily SPORTS Women's Gymnastics vs. Eastern Michigan Tonight, 7 p.m. Keen Arena Page 8 Thursday, February 21, 1991 ..._. _ , I Wisconsin, Blue seek redemption by Phil Green Daily Basketball Writer One team will have to redeem it- self in tonight's basketball game at Crisler Arena. Either Michigan, who squandered a seven-point double- overtime lead in an 83-77 loss to Purdue Monday night, or Wisconsin, who blew a 14-point halftime lead against the Wolverines in Madison, must win tonight. "We won in Wisconsin like Pur- due did here," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "Wisconsin did what we have to do, they bounced back." The Badgers (6-6 in the Big Ten, 12-12 overall) followed their 69-68 defeat to the Wolverines (5-8, 12-11) with victories over Northwestern and Purdue. "We're looking to the game with Michigan before," Badger coach Steve Yoder said. "We're just hoping we can come back on the road. We have to play better defense than we did in the first outing." Wisconsin's defensive pressure during the previous meeting's second half allowed Michigan's guards to penetrate at will or sink open jump shots. In addition, tight Wolverine de- fense impeded Wisconsin's front line of Patrick Tompkins and Willie Simms, while shutting down the outside shooting of Tim Locum. "Big strong guys have given us trouble inside. We've got to beat (Tompkins) to a spot and get a quick double team," Fisher said. "We have to make sure not to give him a ca- reer night." Fie PhOtOXENNE I HSMULLER Michigan defenders Eric Riley and Freddie Hunter (31) deny Wisconsin center Patrick Tompkins a shot earlier this season in Madison. Swimmers look to defend conference titles Men's six drive leads to Indy Women hope to take the fifth by Andy De Korte Daily Sports Writer Like the Republican stranglehold on the Presidency, the Michigan men's swimming team has domi- nated the Big Ten, winning five straight Big Ten championships. Next weekend in Indianapolis, the swimmers must defend their title from an onslaught of upstarts. The title defense has not always been a challenge for Michigan. "The Big Ten was not a big ob- stacle in the past two or three years," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "We could look past this meet and win it without too much trouble. "This year, we could be surprised. Iowa and Minnesota are improved teams this season and could beat us." Iowa coach Glenn Patton, whose team has dubbed its season 'Mission Michigan,' was not quite certain of his teams chances. "Michigan is the elite team of the Big Ten conference. They're head and shoulders above the conference right now." Patton said this before a Ohio State thrashed the Wolverines. Because a rested Ohio State team was focused on the dual meet, and kionko's PCOPIES with this coupon 8 11/2 X 11, white, self serve or auto fed only expires 4/30/91 Open 24 Hours 540 E. Liberty 761-4539 1220 S. University 747-9070 Open 7 Days Michigan Union 662-1222 took advantage of its dynamics, it should not be considered a force at the meet. Although the Buckeyes will not contend for the conference title, the defeat did expose Michigan's major weakness - sprints. Fortunately for Michigan, world- class swimmers Mike Barrowman, Eric Namesnik, and Eric Wunderlich lead Michigan's multi-faceted attack. Also, with coach Dick Kimball's strong diving contingent the Wolverines are still favored to win the meet. THE MICHIGAN OPEN Because only 20 swimmers and divers represent a team at the Big Ten meet, a number of athletes can- not compete. Instead of Indianapolis, three teams will send swimmers to Canham Natatorium this weekend to compete in the Michigan Open. The meet, which starts Saturday at 5 p.m., will resume on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., with each ses- sion lasting less than one hour. "We do this to give our younger swimmers a season clincher," Ur- banchek said. "They deserve the chance to see how far they've come and what they can do." by Yoav Irom Daily Sports Writer Following a tough season of long road trips and a considerable amount of training, the Michigan women's swimming and diving team anxiously awaits this week- end's Big Ten Championships. The Wolverines (3-0 in the Big Ten, 6-4 overall) will travel to Minneapolis, attempting to capture their fifth straight Big Ten Cham- pionship Michigan's dominance in the past has come as a result of staying tough and preparing diligently, and the Wolverines feel confident going into this weekend's meet. "We have seen some solid per- formances this season and we are well prepared," said head coach Jim Richardson. Michigan will rely on strong performances from Lisa Anderson, Val Hyduk, Tara Higgins and diver Whitney Scherer to lead the team. Richardson sees other teams as hav- ing advantages that could enable an upset of the top-seeded Wolverines. "Purdue has the best recruiting class, Northwestern always has strong swimmers and Minnesota has the home pool advantage," he said. Michigan's main focus all sea- son has been on training hard and peaking for the Championships. The Wolverines are satisfied with the season thus far and are excited about going to Minneapolis. "The season has gone great," said swimmer Karen Barnes, "We have accomplished what our goals are, and now are psyched for the Big Ten's." "I think we all did a little better than expected," added swimmer Jenny Sutton. "We're all just really excited about the Championships." Since Michigan's last meet was three weeks ago, when it defeated Big Ten rival Indiana, it has had time to train and to remain healthy. "We were fatiguing mentally as well as physically," Richardson said. "We have had a lot of rest, and that will help." After the Big Ten Champi- onships, the Wolverines will swim at home in the Michigan Invita- tional March 1 and 2. Break brings bevy of Blue contests Women gymnasts host Emus by Andy Stabile Daily Sports Writer Eastern Michigan brings its new and improved school nickname t Keen Arena tonight. The "Emus" bring with them momentum from last weekend's season best, surprise performance of 188 points. The Wolverine's best performance this season is 186. "It won't be easy," Michigan coach Bev Fry said. "Until (last week end), Eastern's been about a 184-point team all year, but our kids have competed well at home." After tonight's meet the Wolverine squad will get three days off be- fore leaving for Louisiana Monday. Once there, Michigan will spend three days in training and compete against Louisiana State March 1. Men compete on San Andreas vault by Robert Siegel Daily Sports Writer It's that time of year again for a certain select group of Michigan students. That time of year when somersaults are confused with summer solstices. And the pommel horse is mistaken for the Trojan Horse. The Michigan men's gymnasts have been preparing not only for cal- culus and psychology this week, but also for Stanford and San Jose State. The Wolverines' first meet occurs March 27 at San Jose State with Stanford and Berkeley. The second will be two days later at Stanford with San Jose State, and the third will be March 2 at Stanford. "I think we've got a good shot at beating Stanford," first-year gym- nast Seth Rubin said. "Practice this week has been really intense and that's a good sign." Michigan coach Bob Darden feels the Wolverines should beat San Jose State and Berkeley. But after last weekend's disappointing losses to Wisconsin and Illinois-Chicago, the should must be emphasized. Michigan also sees this trip as a great opportunity to get the scores necessary to qualify for regionals. "Teams tend to score higher out West," Darden said. "I think the judges' criteria is less strict out there. They seem to score more flexi- bly." Baseball team throws out first pitch by Matthew Dodge Daily Baseball Writer College baseball's version of the Grapefruit League is ripe to begin. The Michigan Wolverines will harvest a new season Saturday in St. Pe- tersburg, Fla. against Eckerd. Next up will be the South Florida Tournament, which matches Michigan against national Division I powers South Florida and Maine. One could not ask for a more demanding non-conference schedule. "(South Florida and Maine) won more games than we did last year," Freehan said. "If we're above .500 at the end of spring break, I'll be happy." As a warm-up for the USF Tournament, Michigan will criss-cross the Tampa area to play three nationally-ranked Division II squads: No. 2 Florida Southern(2-0), No. 7 Tampa(4-4) and No. 10 Rollins(2-2). "They will be better than the teams in the lower half of the Big Ten," Freehan said. "They've already played 12 games. These are not easy teams for us to see, because we are coming out of the North." According to Baseball America, Michigan is currently the No. 11 team in the nation. The Wolverines begin the year with a highly-touted slew of rookies, who will be showcased in Florida. "I'll find out soon if I have new players who can help this year," Freehan said. "I would like to think several of them would have a chance to contribute to the team in the field. That's some of what the spring trip is all about." Softball team travels to New Mexico by Jason Bank Daily Sports Writer The Michigan softball team will get a sneak preview of the summer and its 1991 season during spring break in New Mexico, where it plays " two softball tournaments. This weekend, Michigan will compete in a round-robin tournament at the New Mexico Invitational, which features New Mexico, New Mexico State, and Stephen F. Austin. Michigan will then play in the New Mexico State "Road Runner" Invitational with 19 other teams February 28-March 2. This season, Michigan softball head coach Carol Hutchins will try to keep her team at a high level of concentration. "We're just looking to get our feet wet," Hutchins said. "Our goal is to be a whole lot better on the last day we play than on the first day." 1° N Wrestlers travel to Illinois for Big Tens by Josh Dubow Daily Sports Writer_ Entering the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, first place has all but been decided as 17-time defending Big Ten champion Iowa fields one of its strongest teams in recent memory. Michigan coach Dale Bahr assesses the No. 1 ranked Hawkeyes' dominance. "Iowa's a lock," Bahr said. "If I had all the money in the world, I'd bet it on Iowa." Iowa assistant coach Barry Davis echoes Bahr's con- fidence. "I don't think another team has enough depth to knock us off, even if we don't wrestle well." This year's Championships will be held next week- end in Illinois. While Iowa is the clear-cut favorite, there should be a fierce battle for second place between Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Wiscon- sin. All five teams are ranked among the top 13 in the nation, with Ohio State the highest at No. 5. As important as the team results are, individual re- sults will determine the NCAA qualifiers. Out of the 60 wrestlers who will place, 53 - the top four finishers in each class, and 13 other wrestlers who place - will qualify for NCAAs. Iowa should dominate the lower-weight classes with five projected No. 1 seeds in the first six weight classes - Chad Zaputil (118 pounds), Terry Brands (126), Tom Brands (134), Troy Steiner (142) and Tom Ryan (158). Wisconsin's Matt Demaray should crash the Hawkeye party as the No. 1 seed at 150 pounds. No school will dominate the upper-weight classes, as the four favorites - Charlie Jones (167) of Purdue, Marty Morgan (177) of Minnesota, Mike Funk (190) of Northwestern, and Jon Llewellyn (HWT) of Illinois - represent a variety of schools. Bahr envisions seven Michigan wrestlers earning seeds - Joey Gilbert (134), Sean Bormet (158), and Fritz Lehrke (190) at No. 2, Salem Yaffai (118), James Rawls (142), and Phil Tomek (HWT) at No. 3 and Lanny Green (177) at No. 4. Wolverine Brian Harper (150) had his foot placed in a cast to avoid aggravating a possible ruptured tendon. Harper is scheduled to start practicing next Tuesday, and if healthy, Harper will have a chance at a possible NCAA berth. Bahr is optimistic about both Michigan's individual and team results next week. "We are hoping to get seven qualifiers," he said. "If we can do that, we should have a great shot at second." L. BERENSON Continued from page 8 I'm still somewhat accountable for the behavior of my team," Berenson said. "Hopefully this will send a message to other players and coaches for future incidents. "The (CCHA) wanted to make it clear that everyone is accountable. They just feel that we are account- able for the behavior of our team an it wasn't a specific thing they felt we could have done, but they still didn't like the fact that both our teams were on the ice fighting." Assistant coaches Ml 1Pearson and Dave S hand will head the re- maining 16 Wolverines in Beren- son's absence. All of Michigan's suspended players will be back for the first round of the CCHA Play- offs, commencing March 1 at Yost. 'You dory t steed your uneioti rep., Just 1have a seat aria we'll discuss your 9 ievav ice like two ratiotual lrnaftn beings': eo0 802 Monroe Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (313) 995-0221 Final Notice To: Make El Difference! Michigan Student Assembly campus wide student government Graduate Employees Organization Membership Meeting THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21 7:30 PM P a , ,t k . . . . . M.. " 1 m.... .M .... Call for Candidates Elections March 26 & 27 Representative Positions open: 0 Architecture(1) Business(2) Pharmacy(1) SNR(1) Art(1) Medical(1) LS&A(9) Nursing(1) i I i