Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1993)
Sports NU humbles Hawkeyes, bows to Lions By Tim Pearson ^ Staff Reporter After a tremendous upset over top ranked Iowa Saturday night in the semifinalsof the National Dual Cham pionships, the Nebraska wrestling team was hoping to do the same against No. 2 Penn State. Unfortunately, the Comhuskers didn’t achieve their goal. In the finals Sunday at the NU Coliseum, Penn State jumped out to a 17-0 lead, never looked back and cruised to a 20-13 victory. The Comhuskers mounted a come back at the end, tyinning four out of the last five matches,'but they couldn’t pull off the win. Husker AII-American Corey Olson, who won his match at 177 against No. 3 Malt White, said the loss was disap pointing. “Any lime you get close and come up short, it’s going to be disappoint ing,” he said. “We know where we’re at now. We all realize what we have to do.” Even though the Huskcrs got sec ond, Nebraska coach Tim Neumann was pleased with the way his team wrestled. “I’m proud of our program,” he said. “But Penn State was sharper and had more intensity than we did.” After Penn State won the first match, John Buxton, a replacement for the injured Tony Purler, almost brought the Huskcrs back in the sec ond match. Buxton held a 1 -0 lead against the Nittany Lions’ No. 4 Sanshiro Abe until Abe lied the match atone with an escape in the third period. With 41 seconds left in the match, Abe scored a takedown, which gave him a 3-1 lead. He held oh and re corded a It2 victory. Purler hurt his foot in the Iowa match, and he was held out of the Nebraska’s Frank Velazquez gets caught in a tight spot as he wrestles against Penn State’s Cary Kolat Sunda Staci fvteKee DN at the NU Coliseum. Velazquez lost the 131-pound match 5-11. championship match. “He hurt his big toe on his drive leg, the one he pushes off of,” Neumann said. “He tried to walk this morning but couldn’t.” At 1^4, Husker Frank Velazquez lost to No. 4 Cary Kolat 12-5. Neumann said that Velazquez battled, but Kolat was too much for him. “Kolat is amazing,” Neumann said. “He’s the best true freshman I’ve ever seen.” Senior Huskers Malt Lind land and Olson both won their matches. Olson said that the Nittany Lions wrestled with more intensity than the Huskers. “They completely out-hustled us,” he said. “Our reactions were slower than theirs were.” Despite winning the final four matches, Nebraska could only come within seven points at the end. Just one night before, the Huskers pulled off the biggest upset in Ne braska wrestling history. Iowa, the lop team in collegiate wrestling over the past two years, took on Nebraska in front of 1,600 screaming fans. The lead went back and forth, hit ting a climax in the final match at heavyweight. Nebraska led 21-20 going into the final match, and Huskcr Rulon Gardner, ranked No. 3, faced No. 2 John Oostendorp. The match was close the whole way. Gardner led 6-5 and then scored a takedown and near-fall points to clinch the victory. “Rulon was dead tired; he had just enough left to win Neumann said. Even with the win, Neumann said that the Huskcrs haven’t reached Iowa’s level. Huskers seek Big Eight win after dropping third straight By Jeff Singer Senior Reporter 0-3 in Big Eight play. It might have been expected at other conference schools, but it’s now a reality at Nebraska, as thcComhuskcr men’s basketball team dropped its third straight conference game Satur day 66-64 against Kansas State. And it wasn’t hard to sec why Nebraska’s 14-gamc home winning streak was ended in front of 14,481 Ians at the Bob Dcvancy Sports Cen ter. The Huskcrs shot just 36.6 percent from the field in the game, compared with the Wildcats’ 48.9 percent. The free throw line wasn’t much kinder to Nebraska. Kansas State outshot the Huskers 72.7 percent (16 for 22) to 42.1 percent (8 for 19) from the charily stripe. Ncbraskacoach Danny Nee, whose team dropped to 12-6overall, said the Wildcats did what was needed to win. “I think you’ve got to give K-Slate -44 Out in Boulder, they always play tough out there, so if we’re not red, it could be —Piatkowski Nil forward -ff - a lot of credit,” Ncc said. “I think they did everything the way it’s supposed to be done as a team to find a way to win.” He said free throw shooting was the Huskcrs’ Achilles’ heel all night. ”1 think a lot of them were quality points that we needed to pul on the board,” Ncc said. But, Nee said, there weren’t too many excuses for Nebraska’s play. “K-State beat Nebraska fair and square between the lines,” Nee said. ‘‘I thought they did more things better than we did, period — they played better.” Kansas State coach Dana Alunan said it was a good win for his up-and coming team. “Our guys fought and found a way to win, and I’m proud of them,” Allman said. The Huskers fell behind the Wild cats early in the first half and were behind 34-27 at halftime. Kansas Stale extended its lead to 53-39 with just 10 minutes left in the game when Ne braska mounted its comeback. Nebraska ouLscorcd the Wildcats 23-10ovcr the next nine minutes, but Kansas State kept Nebraska at an arms’ length with accurate free throw shooting in the final minute. The Wildcats, who improved their Big Eight record to 3-1 and 11-3 overall, were paced by four players who scored in double figures, led by forward Vincent Jackson’s 17 points. Nebraska was led in scoring by See KANSAS STATE on 8 Guard s dexterity leads Wildcats Kansas State upsets Huskers By Susie Arth Senior Report«r____ Kansas Slate didn’t need to look fora leader Saturday night when things got sticky. Juniorpointguard Anthony Beane, who scored 16 points and dished out five assists, had already won the vote. Wildcat center Dcryl Cunningham said there was never any doubt who would lead the Wildcats down the stretch. “Anthony is our leader," he said. “Everyone looks to him.” And for all but the final 17 seconds of the first half, Beane was on the floor to do the leading. “That’s why I came here,” Beane said. “I wanted to play a lot of min utes.” Beane, a transfer from Three Riv ers Junior Col lege in Missouri, said he had tried to prove his leadership abili ties since he first arrived on the Kan sas State campus. “I really want to bring leadership to tnis team, nc sam. tiviy team mates) see me work hard in every practice, and they give me respect.” Beane, who converted two free throws with 1:12 left in the game to extend Kansas State’s lead to 63-60, said road games bring out the best in him. In a game at Cal-Santa Barbara earlier this season, Beane made a 19 foot jumper with nine seconds re maining in the game to give the Wild cats a 60-59 win. At Oklahoma State, Beane sent the game into overtime by See BEANE on 8 NU women hold back Tigers, Buffaloes with stingy defense By Beau Finley Staff Reporter Nebraska coach Angela Beck may try to schedule more two game weekends against big-time opponents in the future. On Friday, the Cornhusker women’s basketball team beat undefeated and fourth-ranked Colo rado 62-50, then they turned around and blew out Missouri 86-66 on Sunday at the Bob Dcvancy Sports Center. Beck praised her team’s play as well as the players’ attitudes during the busy weekend. “What you saw here was an excellent display of women’s bas ketball,” Beck said. “We showed a lot of composure. I’m proud of their unity and spirit.” The Huskcrs’ stingy defense was the deciding factor in both games. Nebraska held both Missouri and Colorado under 50 percent shoot ing from the field, and allowed Colorado only 24 field goals on 62 attempts. Beck attributed Colorado and Missouri’s scoring difficulty to the Huskcrs’ pressure defense. “Our press is causing problems,” Beck said. “Basically, we’re run ning a lot of different stuff, mixing it up, and they’re not adjusting to it.” Against the Buffaloes, the Husk crs took a 14-13 lead on a basket from senior Karen Jennings, then went on a 10-3 run and never looked back. Colorado was able to pull to within one point at 31-30 with 14:34 to play in the game, but Jennings then converted a three-point play. The Huskcrs did notallow the Buf faloes to gel any closer. The Huskcr win was the biggest upset in team history. Colorado was the highest-ranked team Ne braska has beaten since knocking off No. 5 Texas in 1982. On Sunday, Nebraska contin ued its winning ways against the 13-2 Tigers. Nebraska relied on consistent scoring from Jennings and Nafccsah Brown and a burst from senior Sara Offringa to spark the Huskcr of fense. The Huskcrs led by as many as 24 points in the second half and coasted to the victory. The star of the weekend for the Huskcrs was Brown. The junior forward from Chicago scored 40 points and grabbed 31 in the two Huskcr victories. Brown, who came off the bench early in the year, said getting to start helped her performance. “I feel good about the way I played," Brown said. ‘‘It gives me a lot of confidence to play my best each time I go out on the floor.” The only blemish to the Husk ers’ weekend was an injury to fresh man guard Kate Gall igan, who hurt her left knee as she drove in for a layup in the first half of the Mis-, souri game. The injury appeared to be a tear in Galligan’s anterior cruciate liga ment, but Beck said the severity of the injury was unknown.