NU wrestler eyes
shot at national title
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Jason Kelber is hoping he is
saving the best for last.
Kelber, Nebraska’s top wrestler
at the 126-poun<
his first Big
Eight individ
ual title Sun
day at the
conference
championship
meet in Co
lumbia, Mo.
Now, he’s
setting his sights on the national
crown.
This will be his last chance.
Kelber, a senior from Albion, Iowa,
is using the last of his college eligi
bility this month, and expects to
graduate in August with a degree
in biology.
“Winning the Big Eight cham
pionship was great,” Kclbcr said.
“It feels good. It was a long time
coming.”
KeiDcr, as me lop seed at 126,
got a bye ihc first round, then beat
Oklahoma’s Shawn Harrison 18-6
before wrapping up the title with
an 8-4 decision against Iowa State’s
Dan Knight.
Kclber finished the regular sea
son with a 27-2 dual record. He
was named the Big Eight champi
onship meet’s most outstanding
wrestler.
Nebraska coach Tim Neumann
said he was impressed with the
way Kelber handled adversity dur
ing his final match.
“He got taken down early in the
finals, and that shook him up a
little,” Neumann said. “But he came
back and totally dominated Knight.
He wrestled great.”
Although Kclber dominated his
opponent, Oklahoma Slate domi
nated the team scoring. Seven
Cowboys reached the finals and
six won individual championships
to lead Oklahoma S tale to its fourth
straight team title.
The Cowboys finished with 94.25
points. Iowa State was second with
84 points, followed by Nebraska
with 63.50, Missouri with 29.50
and Oklahoma with 26.50.
Both No. 2 Oklahoma State and
No. 3 Iowa State will take 10 wres
tlers to the NCAA championships
in Iowa City, Iowa, March 14-16.
The Comhuskers, ranked sev
enth in the latest Amateur Wres
tling News coaches’ poll, will send
nine wrestlers to the NCAA cham
pionships. In addition to Kelber,
Nebraska will be represented by
Big Eight runners-up Dave
Droegemueller (134), Scott Che
noweth (177) and Chris Nelson
(190), and third-place finishers John
Buxton (118), Laync Billings (142),
Tommy Robbins (167) and Sonny
Manley (Hwt.).
Todd Enger, who finished fourth
at 150, received a wild-card spot
for the championship tournament.
At last year’s NCAA meet, Kelber
came close to a national title, los
ing 3-2 to Iowa’s Terry Brands in
the final after winning four matches.
“Jason has focused on a rematchl
with Brands all year, but he’s done,
an excellent job of taking care of
business,” Neumann said.
Kelber probably will have to
make it to the final for another shot
at Brands.
“Since we’re ranked first and
second in the country (at 126),”
Kelber said, “we won’t meet unless
we both get there.”
Kelber said the other eight Husker
qualifiers will have to wrestle their
best to place at nationals.
But, he said, he thinks they can
perform well.
“Wc didn’t finish as well as we
wanted to at Big Eights,” he said.
“But I think that maybe opened
some guys’ eyes and made them
realize that they have to get re
focused and work hard to accom
plish what they want to.”
Results ot finals involving Huskers:
126 — Jason Kelber (NU) dec Dan
Knight (ISU), 8-4
134 — Alan Fried (OSU) dec. Dave
Droegemueller (NU), 11 -8
177 — Matt Johnson (ISU) dec Scott
Chenoweth (NU), 8-4.
190 — Randy Coture (OSU) dec Chris
Nelson (NU), 4-3.
NU, KU, OSU
rankings close
Tha Associated Press
The Associated Press rankings for
Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma State
are as close this week as the Big Eight
standings were for those teams.
Kansas, co-champion with Okla
homa State at 10-4, fell from No. 10
to No. 12 this week after losing to the
Comhuskers on Sunday.
Nebraska, third in the conference
at 9-5, lost at Oklahoma State and
defeated Kansas to jump from No. 15
to No. 13.
And the Cowboys, after beating
Nebraska on Wednesday, lost at Iowa
State on Saturday to go 10-4 in the
Big Eight. They dropped from No. 12
to No. 14 with the loss.
Arkansas said farewell to the South
west Conference and to No. 3 in the
poll.
The Razorbacks fell to No. 5 in the
poll, the lowest they’ve been all sea
son, after a 99-86 loss to Texas Sun
day. Arkansas leaves the SWC for the
Southeastern Conference next sea
son.
Texas and DcPaul arc new U) the
poll. DcPaul moved up by beating St.
John’s 79-69 in Roscmont, III.
Out of the poll this week are Pitts
burgh and Virginia. Pitt was No. 22
until losing to Connecticut 78-68, and
Virginia fell out from the 25th spot
after losing to Maryland 78-74 in
overtime.
Records through March 3
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmummmmmm
Rank Record SchoolPoints
1 27-0 UNLV " 1.550
2 25-1 Ohio St. 1.488
3 25-4 Indiana 1.363
4 26-4 Syracuse 1,347
5 28-3 Arkansas 1.298
6 25-6 Duke 1,270
7 22-5 North Carolina 1.156
8 26-2 Utah 1.103
9 24-6 Arizona 1,048
10 22-6 Kentucky 947
11 23-4 New Mexico St. 846
12 21-6 Kansas 813
13 24-6 Nebraska 773
14 21-6 Oklahoma St. 700
15 28-4 E. Tennessee St. 607
16 20 8 LSU 467
17 21-8 UCLA 451
18 20-7 Mississippi St. 450
19 23 2 Princeton 437
20 20-7 St. John's 427
21 19 8 Seton Hall 377
22 21-6 Southern Miss. 376
23 20-7 Texas 263
24 18 9 Alabama 149
25 18-8 DePaul 76
*AP
Robin Trimarch! Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Jeff Stych dives back to first base to beat the pick-off throw in the Cornhuskers’
9-1 first-game win over Western Illinois on Monday.
Shortstop’s hits key in seesaw game
By Erik Unger
Staff Reporter
Dale Hagy made every hit count.
The Comhuskcr shortstop only went
2-for-5 in the second game of Mon
day night’s doublchcader against
Western Illinois, but had five RBIs,
including a three-run home run in the
sixth inning.
His two hits came at opportune
times in the seesaw game. One gave
Nebraska an early lead and the other
the eventual 10-8 victory. Nebraska
also won the first game, 9-1.
Hagy’s first hit, a fourth-inning
single, drove in the run that regained
the lead for Nebraska at 5-4. The
Huskers had been ahead 3-0 after the
first.
His second hit came in the sixth
with Western Illinois leading 7-5. Hagy
hit a changeup off the Buck Bclt/.er
Field scoreboard for his second home
run of the season to put Nebraska up
for good, 8-7.
“They hadn’t thrown me a fastball
all day,’’ Hagy said. “1 was just wait
ing for an off-speed pitch.’’
It was also a strong sixth inning
that helped Nebraska in the first game
of the double-header. Outfielder Jeff
Rhein’s three-run double started a
six-run for the Huskers.
Hagy said he can’t take all the
credit. He said pitchers have to chal
lenge him with runners on base bc
See SEESAW on 8
Law imperils NU athletes
By signing LB69 into law, Gov.
Ben Nelson guaranteed student ath
letes at Nebraska’s postsecondary
educational institutions the full amount
of need-based financial aid that they
are eligible for, despite NCAA rules
to the contrary.
But instead of protecting student
athletes from outdated NCAA rules,
the state government may be jeopard
izing the university’s membership in
the organization itself.
Nebraska is one of seven states
that have considered or are consider
ing legislation dealing with the NCAA.
Last year Kay Orr signed into law
a bill that requires the NCAA guaran
tee due process when dealing with
Nebraska schools. It remains to be
tested.
In the Feb. 27 issue of The NCAA
News, Executive Director Dick Schultz
commented on the recent rash of state
legislation directed at the associa
tion.
“It would depend on how the leg
islation is written,’’Schultz said. “But
it might be impossible for that state’s
institutions to be a member of the
NCAA because there would be no
way for them to comply with the
rules.”
Schultz said the states are trying to
work around the U.S. Supreme Court’s
decision in the case of University of
Ncvada-Las Vegas coach Jerry Tar
kanian. In 1988, the high court ruled
5-4 that Tarkanian’s rights to due
process had not been violated by the
NCAA.
“The Supreme Court ruled that the
NCAA is not a stale actor,” he said.
“What you have arc states trying to
make the NCAA a state actor.
“It’s a voluntary association, a
private organization, that has t he right
to establish rules of membership, and
the members themselves make the
rules. If the members want to vote out
our entire process, they can do it.”
Despite that, Nelson and several
members of the Nebraska Legislature
arc patting themselves on the back for
shaking a paper fist in the face of the
NCAA, while they endanger the live
lihood of the athletic department.
Next they’ll want to pay Nebraska
football players.
Nebraska’s financial aid law, which
goes into effect June 1,1992, already
runs counter to NCAA rules that limit
the amount of benefits a student ath
lete can receive.
Gary Fourakcr, assistant athletic
director for business affairs, said each
individual institution has a different
limit based on its rates for tuition and
fees, room and board, and books.
It is up to the various institutions,
Fourakcr said, to decide how to di
vide the funds.
At Nebraska in-stale athletes are
allowed to receive a maximum of
$4,894 in benefits. Non-residents are
allowed $7,470. Under the current
guidelines, Fourakcr said, student
athletes at Nebraska are allowed $ 1,700
of a $2,100 Pell Grant.
Since the law does not go into
effect until the middle of next year,
Nebraska officials will have the op
portunity to support changes in the
NCAA regulations at the annual con
vention next January.
“Maybe the NCAA will vote to
give them the full Pell Grant,” Fourakcr
said. “If they don’t,there could be
some problems.
In ihc meantime, before next
January, I’m sure there will be some
legislation proposed.”
Nebraska football coach Tom
Osborne said die time is on the school’s
side.
“We feel it can potentially put us
in an awkward position, but the time
gives us an opportunity to change
something,” Osborne said. “If the
NCAA doesn’t change their stance,
we’re going to have to go to the Leg
islature and explain our position.”
In other words, “Thanks, but no
thanks.”
The Legislature has to realize that
the future of the athletic department
is more important than its pride.
The public should understand,
Fourakcr said, that the NCAA’s vot
ing body is made up of the member
instilulions.
“It’s not just four guys down in
Kansas City,” he said.
Fourakcr said convinc ing the other
member-institutions of the NCAA will
be difficult because of how they dis
tribute their funds.
Some schools, he said, allow the
student to receive the entire Pell Grant
and reduce the amount of money paid
out of the scholarship funds.
“It’s a way of saving them money,”
Fourakcr said. “So a lot of the schools
arc going to vote against because that
will tap into their funds.”
Fourakcr said the law would affect
only a small number of Nebraska’s
student-athletes.
“I would say that on the football
team we’re looking at less than 10
players,” Fouraker said.
A bad decision by the Legislature
and by Nelson, however, will affect
the entire athletic department.
Hopfensperger is a sophomore news-edi
torial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior
sports reporter.
