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The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 6, 1995 - 1
Women cagers get two top
preps in early signing period
It may be early in the season for the Michigan women's
basketball team, but that doesn't mean
next year is out of the question.
The Wolverines' future got a little
brighter recently, as two prep stars
signed national letters of intent during
the early fall signing period.
Stacey Thomas, of Flint, and
Kenisha Walker, of Grand Rapids,
are both set to join Michigan in 1996.
Thomas is a 5-10 guard who led Flint
Southwestern Academy to a school
record 17-0 mark this eason. She scored
25.5 pointspercontest, andpulled down
12.5 rebounds as well.
preparation for
Notebook
current hoopsters Molly Murray and Ann Lemire were
also second-place finishers...
Thomas also competes in cross country and track and
field. In both her freshman and sophomore seasons, she
won the state high jump title. In addition, she holds the
school 800, 1600 and 3,200 meter records.
Walker, at 6-0, is versatile enough to play both off-
guard and small forward. A four-time all-conference
selection, she was named the AAU Most Valuable
Player in the State of Michigan. Walker comes to the
Wolverines from Cresten High School, where she was
a two-time Associated Press Michigan All-State first
team selection.
Walker, who finished ninth in the Miss Michigan
Basketball balloting, picked Michigan from a list of
schools that included Stanford, Northwestern, Michigan
State and Ohio State.
- Jim Rose
Thomas finished second in the Miss Michigan basket-
ball voting this year. This marks the third time in a row
that the runner-up has committed to the Wolverines -
Gymnasts start season in Massachusetts
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The Michigan wrestling team used its preseason experience to help in last weekend's Las Vegas Open. A EF-R
Blue grapplers t n istrong
howingt naton best
With nine lettermen returning, the Michigan men's
gymnastics team opened its season on Saturday at the
Massachusetts Open. The Wolverines placed fourth in the
meet, with four members of the team placing in various
events.
Senior captain Chris Onuska was responsible for two
of Michigan's top finishes. With a score of 9.15, Onuska
placed fourth on the pommel horse. Onuska also finished
fifth on the parallel bars with a score of 9.10.
Sophomore Tim Lauring also placed twice for the
Wolverines - finishing sixth on the vault (9.15) and
seventh in the floor exercise (9.4).
Michigan senior Kris Klinger placed fourth on the
highbar (9.5), and junior Flavio Martins placed seventh
on the parallel bars (9.05).
Senior Brad Terris believes the meet will help the
team in ways that cannot be measured by finishes.
"We were not great, but we also were not horrible,"
Terris said. "This meet woke us up that its time to
compete. We're a pretty good team."
Despite the solid finish at Amherst, many on the team
feel that the season has a lot of uncertainty.
"We don't have as much depth as we're used to,"junior
Paul Bischoff said. "We're basically having a hard time
recruiting because we don't have scholarships."
Despite the uncertainty, Bischoff is still looking for-
ward to a productive season.
"We're definitely going to make the best of what we
have," Bischoff said. "I think the team attitude is great."
The Wolverines next competition will come Jan. 19 at
the Windy City Invitational in Chicago.
-Chaim Hyman
By Jennifer Hodulik
Daily Sports Writer
.In the city renowned for fast times, big
money and the lure of casinos, luck was a
lady for the Michigan wrestling team. But
the Wolverines didn't need to take any
big risks this weekend in Las Vegas.
: , After months of preparation, Michi-
gan officially competed for the first
time this season, and relied on the ef-
forts of old lucky charms from the pre-
season open tournaments.
In an impressive showing, the No. 14
Wolverines turned in a fourth-place fin-
ish in a field of 34 teams at the Las
Vegas Invitational. The teams in atten-
dance included six of the top ten ranked
teams in the country, including No. 1
Iowa State.
The strong showing placed Michi-
gan, with a score of 89.5 points, ahead
of top-ten opponents Cal State-Baker,
Oklahoma State and Oregon State. The
Wolverines were also the Big Ten's top
finisher, beating out Wisconsin, Ohio
State and Purdue.
, "This meet is a good gage to tell us
where we need to be in order to be the
best," senior Jake Young said. "It's im-
portantinthatwe facedtop-ranked teams."
The top finishers for the Wolverines
were, not surprisingly, seniors Jesse
Rawls Jr., and Young. In a finish remi-
niscent of an earlier meet - the Wis-
consin Open - Rawls and Young
earned runner-up awards at 177 and
150 pounds, respectively.
Rawls, who came into the tourna-
ment seeded third, was defeated by No.
1 seed Andy Reese of Wyoming. Young
fell to top seed Chris Bono of Iowa
State, 5-4 in the championship. The
Cyclones captured the tournament title
with 126 points.
Despite the Wolverines high finish,
Young recognized there was room for
improvement.
"We need to pick up our intensity and
have greater confidence," said Young.
"We got intimidated by the ranked op-
ponents."
Sophomores Jeff Catrabone and
Airron Richardson were also impres-
sive, turning in third-place perfor-
mances. Again, this success is nothing
new to the second-year duo, who were
similarly effective at the Eastern Michi-
gan Open earlier this season.
In the 158-pound weight class,
Catrabone rebounded from a loss to
Fresno State's Alfonso Tucker en route
to winning the third-place match over
Ken Porter of Clarion.
Richardson fell to eventual heavy-
weight champion Tolly Thompson of
Nebraska, 6-1, before capturing third-
placehonors with a 10-5 win over South
Oregon State's Stephen Neal.
Fellow sophomore Brandon Howe
was also a place-winner - a sixth-
place finish at 126. He lost to Jeromie
Walder of Nebraska, 6-3, in the fifth-
place match.
While a total of four points separated
the second through fourth place teams,
two other unexpected contributions
stood out.
"At 190, (freshman) Frank Lodeserto
was one match away from placing,"
Young said. "As a freshman, it's very
hard to adjust to the college level and he
got us points."
In addition, sophomore Bill Lacure
moved up from his normal position at
150 pounds to 167 and won some im-
portant matches.
"Not much was expected (of Lacure)
in moving up two weight classes," said
Young, "but the points he got are the
difference between fourth and sixth."
Women tankers to rest up over break
After two months of grueling training and tough com-
petition, the Michigan women's swiming team is finally
getting some time off.
Since October, the Wolverines have been working
through a training regimen that gets more rigorous each
week. In addition, Michigan has competed in several
meets - duals and invitational tournaments.
The team has faced such national powerhouses as
Southern Methodist and two meetings with Stanford.
The Wolverines will be off until Jan. 2 when they
Freshman step in to
On a team that returns just seven letterwinners, two
seniors and no juniors, the Michigan wrestling team must
look to its true freshmen to fill in the weight classes.
The 1995-96 recruiting class has been ranked as high as
No. 8 in the nation and will be relied upon for strong
performances this season.
Joe Warren (118 pounds), Taya Hill (142) and Frank
compete in the Colorado Springs Invitational.
Until then, the swimmers will have time to prepare
for finals and enter into a new winter training program.
Michigan has every reason to be tired after a week-
end of competition in Texas. At the 1995 All-Ameri-
can Long Course Championships last weekend, the
Wolverines faced No. I Stanford, No. 4 Texas and No.
7 Southern Cal.
Michigan retained its No. 2 ranking.
- By Chris Murphy
help 'M'wrestlers
Lodeserto (190) have already been tested as starters at the
Las Vegas Classic this past weekend. Lodeserto was a
top-12 finisher in his first team competition, while eachb
newcomer gained valuable experience.
In joining five sophomore starters, these first year
wrestlers will add depth to an up-and-coming team that
could make a run at the Big Ten and national titles.
- Jennifer Hodulik
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