n
UNL grapplers meet
defending champs
By Larry Stunkel
Defending Big 8 wrestling champion Oklahoma State
University will invade the Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. tonight to take
on the young UNL grapplens.
The tradition-rich Cowboys, who have won the Big 8 titie for
the last three years and finished second behind Iowa State
University in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Assoc.
Championship) the last two years, will bring to Lincoln a 9-1 dual
record after beating ISU last Saturday. .
"Oklahoma State has an excellent chance of being both Big 8
and NCAA champions this year," said Masker Coach Orval
Borgialli. "They are the best team in ths nation."
"They've beaten Missouri 39-0 and Colorado 45-0, to give you
some idea what we're walking into," Borgialli added.
Top individuals for the Cowboys this season are 118-pound
Everett Gomez and 150-pound Steve Randall, who are both
undefeated for the year. Other top OSU grapplers are Billy Martin
and Rick Jones, who are both defending Big 8 champions, and
Alex Maculuso and heavyweight Tom Hazel, who were
conference runners-up last year.
After suffering a 19-18 defeat at Kansas State University la't
Friday, the Huskers will be trying to get back on the winning
track,
"We really have no excuses," said Borgialli. "It was one of our
poorer showings of the year."
"We made some mistakes," he continued. "They beat us with
basically two moves, their stand-up and their single-leg take
down."
Bruce Conger, Bob Johnson, Ralph Manning, Gary Harnish
and Mark Borer all turned in winning efforts for the Huskers.
Conger was the only Husker to win by pin, while Manning,
Harnish, Borer and Johnson won by decision.
Two other Huskers, Denny Zuk and Tom Jennings, both lost
close matches to undefeated opponents. Zuk lost to Roger Fisher
12-10, and Jennings dropped a 3-1 decision to Wayne Jackson in
the final seconds of the match.
"They're young kids, so they should bounca back," said
Borgialli. "They're stable and are gaining experience with each
meet."
Husker Ralph Manning maneuvers for a takedown at the Friday wrestling meet with
Kansas State University.
Jeanne Dix(on) sports
The past year was a relatively calm one
in the world of sports. To find
controversy and action, the TV viewer
had to be satisfied with the Watergate
hearings, not the game of the week. 1973
was also a frustrating year for the
underdog fan. Most of the darkhorses
never got out of the barn.
The predictions below are for the
coming sports year. In a few of them,
sentiment outweighed logic. Since most
of these columns probably end up lining
waste-baskets, I hope to escape the
inevitable sarcasm when these predictions
turn sour.
The coming year:
-Oklahoma University will win the
college football national championship.
-Hank Aaron will smash Babe Ruth's
career home run record and then retire.
-Golfer Lee Trevino will win the U.S.
Open.
-Billib Jean King will suffer an attack
of 5-ysar laryingitis, preventing her
participation in anything but tennis
(sentiment).
-UCLA will whip North Carolina
State in the national college basketball
championship game.
-The Nntra Dame football team will
be watching TV on New Year's Day.
-The Milwaukee Bucks wiil easily win
the National Basketball Assoc.
championship.
-The Kansas City Royals will make it
to the World Series, but lose to the
Pittsburgh Pirates.
-O.J. Simpson will make more TV
guest appearances than Milton Berle.
The Miami Dolphins will beat the
Dallas Cowboys for a third Super Bowl
win in a row.
Arizona State University will win the
College World Series in Omaha.
Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut wiil
somersault into hot water with the
Russian government, but regain her form
after a back injury. ,
teve taybr
c
teylofcd spores
The candidate
When Nebraska football fans trade
iiiiiei auuui iiie good oid days, they are
not talking about the era when people
went to the big game in a horse and
buggy.
They are taking about 1970 and
1971, when the Hukri wan tht top
team in tha country end football replaced
crops as the main topic of conversation in
NebrasN. Merchants painted slow-moving
items red and braced for the
dollar-waving crowd. Every Nebraskan
was happy, but nobody had a better
reason to smils than Jerry Tagge.
The soft-spoken quarterback was a
portrait of confidence as he directed the
Husker attack. When Nebraska fell
behind, his mere pesence would reassure
the panic-inclined crowd. With Tagge in
the game, it just seemed that nothing
could go wrong, and it seldom did.
Now with the Green Bay Packers,
Tagge's future is uncertain. Dan Devine,
whose coaching methods sometimes
conflict with the principles of common
sense, k?pt Tagge guessing about his
assignment each Sunday. Sometimes he
would be in street clothes keeping charts. .
Other times he would be the starting
quarterback.
There is the growing suspicion that the
Packers will trade for a quarterback
(maybe James Harris of the Los Angeles
Rams) during the off season. That would
leave the Pack with four signal-callers and
the possibility that two would be tent
packing.
If there is any justice in the world,
Tagge will make it in professional
footoail. If not, maybe he should return
to Lincoln and run' for public office.
After all, Jerry Tagge just can't lose in
Nebraska.
The UNL women's,
basketball team defeated the
University of Nebraska at
Omaha, 37-32, Saturday. The
same two teams meet again
Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in
Women's Physical Education
BIdg.313.
Roger Chadwick led the
Husker track team in the
Oklahoma City Invitational
Saturday. He won the 880-yard
run in 1:52, only three-tenths
of a second off the meet
record.
The distance medley and
2-mile relay teams added
second place finishes, as did
Dan Speck in the 1,000-vard
run.
Husker swimmers defeated
two opponents in the Coliseum
pool Saturday. UNL beat
Duefici Yii4 (iowa), i02-iu,
and Bemidii (toinn.) State
University, 95-18. The Huskers
took first place in every event.
Cowboy
rebounding
subdues
Huskers
By Steve Taylor
Stillwater, Okla. Inspired by a roaring
crowd, Oklahoma State University's
Cowboys outmuscled Nebraska, 79-66,
Saturday night. Rebounding was the
story of the game. The Cowboys grabbed
43 rebounds to the Huskers' 33.
Nebraska raced to a 4-0 lead in the
first minute on the strength of two free
throws by Jerry Fort and a jumpshot by
Tom Novak. Oklahoma State didn't score
for four minutes, but when they did, the
roof caved in on the Huskers. The
Cowboys reeled off eight straight points
in a flurry that propelled them to their
first conference win this year,
Novak's long-ranja shots accounted
for 21 points. The Huskers as a team shot
a respectable 43 per cent, but just
couldn't rebound. The big gun for the
Cowboys in scoring was Kevin Fitzgerald
with 21 points.
But the night belonged to Andy
Hopson. Hopson plucked 24 rebounds off
the boards, setting an OSU record. The 6
ft. 8 in. junior also made 18 points.
It was not a night Fort wili tell his
grandchildren about. He made one of
nine shots from the field and had only
four points. To compound his misery, the
6 ft. 3 ir;, guard fouled out midway
through the second half, delighting the
crowd, which had been hostile toward
him all night.
When askad if the crowd had any
effect on him, Fort replied, "I think they
had more of an effect on the referees.
Man, they sure had my number tonight,"
referring to the five fouls called on him.
After trailing by as many as 19 points
in the second half, the Huskers had one
last gasp when they narrowed the score to
7464. But Phil Chambers, Novak and
Rick Seidel missed hots that would have
narrowed the gep, and the game was on
Cowboy ice.
After the game, Husker Coach Joe
Cpriano was calm. He said the Cowboys
were a different team than the one the
Huskers beat in the Big 8 tournament,
but not necessarily a better one. He also
said the crowd had helped the Pokes on
this particular night.
As Opriano bearded the team bus, he
said hat anything could happen in the
game with Oklahoma University tonighty
page 10
daily nebraskan
monday, january 28, 1974
