Sports
Huppert excitedly eyes next year’s season
By Jeff A pel
Senior Editor
Nebraska women’s swimming coach Ray
Huppert has turned his attention toward next
season after seeing the Comhuskers earn a
29th-piace finish at the NCAA swimming and
diving championships.
Huppert said he is ex
cited about next season
because Nebraska loses
only one diver and one
swimmer from this year’s
team which finished 5-7
He said his excitement has
pushed his enthusiasm to
its highest level during his
14-year Husker coaching
career.
"I’ve already got the wheels burning about
next season,” Huppert said. ‘‘With our fresh
man class a year ago, the people we have
coming back and who we’re recruiting, we’re
going to have a lot of talent.”
Huppert said that talent was still too young
to be a team factor at the NCAA champion
ships this weekend in Indianapolis. Nebraska
earned its 29th-placc finish by tallying 16
points, 12 of which were recorded when senior
Julie May finished 5th in the 1-meter diving
competition.
Stanford overcame an early deficit to win
the meet with 6101/2 points followed by Texas
with 547, Florida with 536, Tennessee with
258 1/2 and California with 234. Kansas,
which edged Nebraska for this year’s Big Eight
title, finished in 26th place with 27 points,
while Iowa State tied West Virginia for 41st
place with one point.
Conference rival Missouri failed to score.
Huppert said he was not disappointed with
Nebraska’s performance even though the
Huskers wanted to earn a top-20 finish. He said
the only aspect he was disappointed about was
Nebraska not having a second chance to swim
in four of its events.
The top 16 finishers in each of the three-day
competition’s events were included in the fi
nals. Individuals or relays who failed to finish
among the top 16 were listed as alternates,
meaning they would swim only if a qualifying
team or individual scratched.
“It’s disappointing, but our kids gave a real
strong effort, Huppert said. “They swam
their hearts out.”
In addition to May, who earned All-Amer
ica status with her 5th-place finish in the 1
mcter diving competition, Nebraska’s 400
yard medley relay team of Carole Johnson,
Kristen Neuenfeldt, Jenell Garcia and Mindy
Mathcny earned honorable-mention All
America honors by finishing 16th.
Individuals or relays who finish among the
top eight finishers earn All-America honors,
while those who finish 9th through 16th are
named honorable-mention All-Americans.
Nebraska’s 200 medley relay team of
Johnson, Neuenfeldt, Garcia and Lynne Brad
dock narrowly missed All-American status, as
it finished 17th. The Huskers’ 200 freestyle
relay team of Braddock, Neuenfeldt, Johnson
and Matheny finished 18th.
Braddock also finished 21st in the 50 frees
tyle and 42nd in the 100 freestyle. May finished
23rd in the tower diving competition, while
Amy Aarsen finished 21 st in both the tower and
3-meter diving events.
Huppert said all of the Nebraska athletes
performed well.
‘‘I won’t allow them to hang their heads,”
he said.
Huppert said he was surprised Stanford won
this year’s title. He said the Cardinals trailed
Texas after the first day of competition on
Thursday, but used a late rally to overtake the
Longhorns.
“It caught a lot of people by surprise,”
Huppert said. “The way everybody picked the
teams, they picked Florida as the heavy favor
ite. But Stanford was way too strong. ”
Nebraska’s next competition is on Tuesday,
when the Huskcrs compete in the U.S. Senior
National Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Huppert said Allison Barker, Terri Long
and Kelly Fox will join Braddock, Neuenfeldt,
Garcia and Matheny at the five-day competi
tion. Barker will compete in the 100 and 200
butterfly, while Long will compete in the 200
breaststroke. Fox will compete in the 400 indi
vidual medley.
Huppert said the senior nationals will give
him an opportunity to see how Braddock,
Neuenfeldt, Garcia and Matheny perform with
little rest. He said he expects Barker, Long and
Fox to turn in impressive performances be
cause they will be rested.
NU sophomores gain All-America status
By Steve Sipple
Staff Reporter
Nebraska, led by All-America
performances by a pair of sopho
mores, finished 17th Saturday at the
NCAA wrestling championships in
Oklahoma City.
The Comhuskers finished 39th at
last mason's meet, winning just four
matches. This season, they won 23
matches and 126-pound Jason Kclbcr
and 167-pound Scott Chcnoweth
became the youngest Nebraska wres
tlers ever to gam All-America status.
“We definitely took a step for
ward,” Nebraska coach Tim Neu
mann said Sunday. “I feel good when
I compare last year to this year and
think about next year. (Next year)
we'll have one or two wrestlers in the
finals and we’ll place four or five. I’m
not afraid to say that.”
Nebraska scored 28 points. Big
Eight-rival Oklahoma State won the
title with 91 1/2 points.
Neumann said his optimism for
next year was buoyed by the perform
ances of Kclber, of Albion, Iowa, and
Chenowcth, of Perry, Okla.
Kclber assured himself of All
America status Friday with a 5-0 win
against Ahmed El-Sokkary of Cali
fomia-Bakersfield. He then lost two
matches Saturday -- 1 -0 in overtime
to defending national champion Jim
Martin of Penn State and 5-3 to Peter
Gonzalez of Montclair State in a
fifth place match.
Aeainst Martin, Kclber was called
for stalling with 15 seconds remain
ing, giving Martin the only point he
needed.
“Kclber wrestled his best tourna
ment of the whole year,” Neumann
rlayer says N U is ready
for second-chance game
By Nick Hodge
Senior Reporter
It doesn’t matter whether the term
pride or revenge is used -- the Ne
braska men’s basketball team knows
it must play better than the first time
it laced Ohio State.
Nebraska forward Pete Manning
said the Comhuskers realize they
must improve their execution when
they face Ohio State Monday for the
second lime this season. Nebraska
committed a season-high 30 turn
overs in dropping a 103-76 decision
to Ohio State earlier this season in
Columbus, Ohio.
“We weren’t ready to play be
fore,” said Manning, who led the
Huskers with 17 points in Nebraska’s
first meeting against Ohio Slate. “If
anything, it should make us play bet
hi, nave ii un our iiiinu.v uiai we
have to go back and try to get a win. ”
Nebraska will have a chance to
redeem itself when it makes its sec
ond appearance of the season at St.
John Arena in the second round of the
National Invitational Tournament.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The Huskers earned the right to
face Ohio State by defeating Arkan
sas State 81-79 Thursday night in the
first round of the NIT. Ohio State, 18
‘4, beat Akron 81-70 Wednesday
mghi in St. John Arena.
Manning said Nebraska was sur
prised when it learned that its second
round game would not be staged at
the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
“We were down a little bit after
we heard because the Nebraska fans
help us with giving us momentum
going into the games,” Manning
said.
Manning said the Huskers need to
put their road troubles behind them
and learn from their past mistakes.
Nebraska has compiled a 3*11 road
record this season, including a 1-2
mark at neutral sites.
Nebraska’s two road wins this
season were by a total of three points.
The first came at Texas Tech, when
the Huskers defeated the Red Raiders
71-69. The other came at the
Chaminadc New Year’s Classic in
Honolulu, Hawaii, when Nebraska
defeated Chaminadc 86-85.
Manning said the Huskers must
adjust to the unfriendly atmosphere
of St. John Arena if they want to
advance to the NIT’s third round.
‘‘We seem to be way too tense on
the road,” Manning said. “We have
to try and be looser than before when
they beat us. We just have to play
with stronger nerves on the road.”
Manning said the Huskers will
nave an advantage emu mg mu gamv
because they have already played in
Columbus.
“We’ve been there before which
should help us,’’ Manning said.
“We’re going in with the attitude that
we have to win and are expecting to
win.”
One personnel change in the
Buckeye lineup will provide the
Huskcrs with a different look than the
first meeting.
Ohio Slate point guard Jay Burson
suffered a fractured neck vertebra
after he crashed to the floor while
attempting a layup against Iowa. .
Burson, who scored 20 points
against Nebraska earlier this season,
was Ohio Stale’s leading-scorer with
said.
Chenoweth clinched All-America
honors Friday with a 6-4 win against
two-time All-America John H^ffer
man of Iowa before losinb to
Syracuse’s Jason Morris 7-2 in the
consolation quarterfinals. He was
dccisioncd 6-3 by Dan Niebuhr of
Fresno State Saturday in a match for
seventh-place.
A top eight finish denotes All
America status.
Kelber, who finished the season
33-13, became the first Husker 126
pound wrestler to earn All-America
honors.
Chenoweth finished 27-12-2, with
eight of his losses coming to All
Americas.
Nebraska’s last sophomore to gain
All-America status was heavyweight
Gary Albright, who finished second
in 1984.
Neumann said it was a rugged
NCAA meet, but that his team hung
tough.
‘ ‘Everybody I talked to at the meet
said Nebraska has really improved -
from parents of the kids, other wres
tlers, officials and coaches,” he said.
‘‘During the meet, I’d look up and
every guy is limping, they’re all beat
up with black eyes. Honest to God,
guys were coming off the mat limp
ing and bleeding.
‘‘But when it came time to wrestle
they blocked it all out. It was a special
experience for each coach and each
wrestler. It was real neat.”
Oklahoma State’s first-place fin
ish was good for the conference but
possibly bad for Nebraska, Neumann
said. Nebraska is currently in a head
to-head recruiting battle with the
Saftln DaT]yTJebfasfa n
Nebraska forward Pete Manning battles for a rebound during
the Cornhuskers’ 81-79 victory against Arkansas State.
a 22.1 points per game average. He
was also a candidate for Big Ten
Player of the Year before the injury
ended his season.
Manning said Burson’s absence
has more effect on the Buckeyes than
on Nebraska.
“For them, it docs because they
depended on him as a leader and team
player,’’ Manning said. “They’re
down because of it.’’
Manning said Ohio State has other
players besides Burson that concern
the Huskers.
• •; • ♦ 'They always play tough inside,
Manning said. (Perry) Carter s re
ally tough and if we stop him and
(Grady) Mateen we should have a
good chance to win.”
Ca.ier, a forward, and Mateen, a
center, combined for 17 points and 10
rebounds in the teams’ first meeting.
Forwards Tony White and Jerry
Francis added 21 and 18 points re
spectively.
Manning said die Huskers are not
using vengeance as a motivational
tool. He said if the Huskers take care
of the ball and play smart basketball,
they can win.
Cowboys for two high school stand
outs. But Neumann said he was im
pressed with the Big Eight’s finish at
the meet.
Iowa State, led by championships
from 150-pound Tim Krieger and
190-pound Enc Voclker, finished
third with 63 points. Oklahoma was
fourth with 61 points.
Nebraska was 11 3/4 points from a
top-10 finish.
“It was a great, great perform
ance,’’ Neumann said. “Everybody
wrestled as well as they had their
entire life.’’
Neumann said he will now turn his
attention toward the April 12 na
tional-letter-of-intcnt signing date.
Neumann said he well leave Tuesday
for trips to Oklahoma, Iowa and
Minnesota to pursue prospects.
Huskers’ enemy
will lack leader
Nebraska’s greatest enemy will
not be present when the Com huskers
face Ohio State tonight in the second
round of the National Invitation
Tournament.
Ohio State guard Jay Burson, who
burned the Comhuskers for 48 points
during the teams’ last two meetings,
will miss the game with a neck injury.
Burson’s season ended Feb. 13 when
he fractured a vertebra in his neck
after crashing to the floor against
Iowa.
)
Burson was lucky. The injury
could have left him paralyzed, but
instead it will require him to wear a
head brace that will immobilize his
neck so the bones can heal. He then
will be required to perform a number
of exercises to build his neck muscles
back up to the point where they once
were.
Without Burson, the Buckeyes are
not the same team. They lack poise,
leadership and the all-important 22.1
points per game the senior guard
supplied. They also lack the driving,
slashing antics of a 6-foot guard w, ho
gave new hope to every mediocre
basketball player in the country.
That’s not to say Ohio Slate isr t a
good team. The Buckeyes still have
an arsenal that includes 6-8 Perry
Carter, 6-5 Jerry Francis and 6 11
Grady Mateen. If Matecn would not
See BUCKEYES on 10
