... - I •_,
SPORTS Nebraskan
I^JFX V yr I m. ■ Wednesday, March 17, 1993
Wrestlers owe OSU piece of potential prize
By Tim Pearson
Staff Reporter
If the Nebraska wrestling team wins the
NCAA title, the Comhuskers should give part
of the championship trophy to Oklahoma State.
The Cowboy wrestling program was put on
probation earlier this year, keeping Oklahoma
State out of the NCAA Championships.
Because of the probation, Tony Purler trans
ferred to Nebraska, giving the Huskers another
All-American wrestler along with senior Corey
Olson.
Purler will try to gain even more than All
American honors this year at the NCAA Cham
pionships on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in
Ames, Iowa.
Purler, ranked second in the nation, has
compiled a 30-2 record at 126 pounds, includ
-44—
(Purler) has Increased the Intensity in our lower weights. He’s
the best wrestler In the nation at 126.
—Neumann
, NU wrestling coach
mm —
ing six pins.
Husker coach Tim Neumann said Purler
gave the Huskers another weapon in the lineup.
“He has increased the intensity in our lower
weights,” Neumann said. “He’s the best wres
tler in the nation at 126.”
The addition of Purler meant the Huskers
had two wrestlers with NCAA Championship
experience wrestling at 126 this year.
Before the arrival of Purler, senior John
w w
Buxton wrestled at 126.
Buxton was the Big Eight champion at 118
his freshman year, and he was named a Second
Team Amateur Wrestling News Freshman All
Star behind Purler, who then wrestled for the
Cowboys.
With both Buxton and Purler at 126,
Neumann was faced with a pleasant problem.
During the second half of the season, Purler
wrestled at 126, and Buxton moved down to
Team should
value chance,
Beck says
N U women prepare for
NCAA tournament
By Derek Samson
Staff Reporter
As the Nebraska women’s basketball team
draws nearer to its NCAA tournament first
round game with San Diego tonight, Coach
Angela Beck is trying to turn nervousness
into excitement.
“I told the players it should be one of the
most exciting things in their lives. We’ve
worked hard to get to this point,” she said.
“If you don’t have a smile and feel good
about it, something is not right. These op
portunities don’t come very often, you need
to enjoy it,” she said.
The only other time the Lady Huskers
have been in the NCAA Tournament was in
1988. That year, the team finished 22-7 and
lost in the first round to Southern California
100-82. Beck said her 1993 Huskers, also
22-7, had a chance of making some noise in
the tournament.
“I’ve learned a lot about this team. We
stay in any game and the nevcr-say-die
attitude is tremendous,” Beck said. “They
practiced really hard today. They practiced
extremely physical.”
San Diego, 16^11, will have to play the
Lady Huskers in Lincoln, which Beck said
added to the enthusiasm.
“It’s a great feeling to be able to be at
home. The thrill is a lot greater,” Beck said.
“That also means a lot to our seniors.”
Because the pairings were just announced
Sunday, Beck said she had not been able to
study San Diego in depth.
“It’s hard because we haven’t been able
to get any real meat-and-potatocs informa
tion. We just know some of the general
information,” she said.
Beck said the team would have to work
harder on defense.
“We’re going to have to be a lot more
* Michelle Psuhnsn/DN
Nebraska’s Karen Jennings drives past a Kansas defender in the finals of the
Big Eight Tournament. The Huskers will play an NCAA Tournament first
round game tonight against San Diego.
a^lV3dlTWl/llUVIVII9VailU |7Ul 11IV/1V/ pivaouiv
on them,” she said.
Beck said Husker guard Sara Offringa
said, “It's nice that we get to decide when
our season ends and not a committee.”
i nai s true, oui mis team nas never lei
anyone decide their own destiny. They knew
what they had to do to get in and they did it,”
Beck said.
118 for the Big Eight Championships and the
NCAA Championships.
Neumann said Buxton’s move to 118 would
help the Huskers in their quest for their first
national title.
“If Tony wouldn’t have come here, Buxton
would not have moved down to 118,” he said.
“Having both Buxton and Purler in the lineup
makes us 15 or 16 points better.”
Purler found out about Oklahoma State’s
probation in the middle of October, Neumann
said, and he selected Nebraska over Iowa State
and Oregon State.
“He came here because of Brad Penrith, who
is the best lightweight coach in the country,” he
said. “Two seniors gave up parts of their schol
arships to let Tony in, because they know that
with him, it gives us a better chance to win a
national title.”
Nee hopes NU
will overcome
losing streak
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter
no mauer wnat nappens on rriaay, Ne
braska men’s basketbal 1 coach Danny Nee wants
Comhusker fans to remember seven years, not
one day.
Nebraska plays New Mexico State at 6:30
p.m. Friday in Syracuse, N. Y., with the Huskers
looking for their first-ever win in the NCAA
Tournament.
But while Nee has led Nebraska to a school
record third-straight NCAA loumey berth, he
said he thought the progress of the program
needed to be looked at when evaluating the —
Huskers.
“We think our program is reaching a new -
level,” Nee said. “We’ve had three consecutive
NCAA appearances—we think that’s a monu
mental accomplishment.” Va . ,, i
Nee said now that Nebraska had become use
to postseason play, he hoped the Huskers could
break their losing streak in the NCAA tourney.
“We think we’ve grown, we think we’ve
improved. We’re ready to take the next step,
and the next step is to try to win a game in the
NCAA,” he said. “Once we win one game, our
goal will be to try to gel to the Sweet 16, the
Final Four or the next step. But first we have to
do what we’re ready to do and we’re going to try
to win games.”
But, Nee said, it’s amazing how people’s
goals for the Huskers have changed during his
tenure in Lincoln.
“This program seven years ago wouldn’t
think about playing in three NCAAs in a row,”
Nee said. “The mentality of you guys was the
NIT or a winning season, and we’ve changed
that”
Nebraska finished this season in a second
place tie in the Big Eight standings to accom
pany its 20-10 record.
But regular-season accomplishments are
usually forgotten come postseason, according
to Nee. __
“What has happened with the media is that
all the accomplishments of the teams that got
into the tournament seem to go out the window
and you’re judged on the tournament,” he said.
“Thai’s just how it is, and we’re going to have
to deal with that.”
tiuskers need gutsf not glitz to win NCAA Tournament
OK, Comhuskers:
Want to find out how to win your
first NCAA Tournament game against
New Mexico State Friday?
Just take a look at the upset stom
ach you had after last week’s Kansas
State fiasco and after at least eight of
your nine other losses this year.
Go ahead, take a gander at your
guts.
Now spell it with me.
Guts. G-U-T-S. Guts.
No, Coach Nee, not glitz. No, Pike,
not glamour. Guts.
You said it yourself, Coach, after
the Kansas State loss, that the Huskers
lacked any grit or guts, as if they were
in a pickup game.
Recess is over, gentlemen.
Get guts, and you’ll have a chance
for a victory over New Mexico State.
Leave your guts on the Bob Devaney
Sports Center floor — no doubt still
craving for more after a gutsy win
over Oklahoma — and you might as
well take the red eye and your red
faces home from Syracuse Friday
night.
So do all Nebraska fans a favor and
leave the gimmicks, glitz and glam
our at home.
That means dropping the new
NCAA warm-ups Nee unveiled ear
lier this week off your charter plane
today and letting them melt away
with the snow somewhere out east
I know, I know, Coach. The shirts
and warm -ups are designed to provide
a fresh, upbeat attitude going into the
NCAA Tournament.
But if your team needs new clothes
to get up for a game, get out of the
tournament and let Oklahoma in.
And give the gimmicks a rest,
Coach.
You’ve never seen Duke, Ken
tucky, Evansville — or any of the
other 60 teams in the field, for that
Todd
Cooper
matter — have to use new shirts and
warm-ups to gel focused for an NCAA
Tournament game.
You won’t see the Kansas
Jayhawks, who struggled just as much
in their last game against Kansas State,
coming out in black uniforms when
they play Ball State on Thursday.
In the NCAA Tournament, glam
our gets teams about as far as a dia
mond-studded mink on Madison Av
enue.
As a native New Yorker, Nee, you
should know that belter than anyone.
Fans in the Carrier Dome aren’t
going to be impressed by neat warm
ups or fancy T-shirts.
In fact, if you want to impress New
Yorkers, come out in chains and com
bat boots.
Another lackluster loss like the last
two years and you can expect to hang
up Ian NIT banner — speaking of
gimmicks—if you ’re mediocre again
ner ear.
th some guts and some glory,
you can put up a worthwhile banner
— one that says “First-round win
ners” or “Round of 32” or something
really glitzy.
And if you’re not going to play
with some grit — if you’re willing to
watch New Mexico State out-rebound
and out-hustle you as you let Kansas
State — do us all a favor
Give us a call. That way we won’t
waste our time watching you in your
nifty warm-ups and shirts.
Instead, we’ll be able to rest upand
watch two teams that are sure to have
some intestinal fortitude this week
end:
The Husker women (after they earn
Nebraska’s first-ever NCAA Tourna
ment win tonight) and the Husker
wrestlers.
With Karen Jennings, Sara
Offringa, Meggan Yedscna, Rissa
Taylor and Nateesah Brown, there
will be guts galore on the women’s
side.
And with Corey Olson, Tony
Purler, Malt Lindland, Rulon Gardner,
John Buxton and the rest of the Husker
wrestlers, grit will be game in Ames,
Iowa, for the NCAA Wrestling Cham
pionships.
But will a gutty, gritty group of
Huskers show up in Syracuse, N.Y.?
My gut instincts say they better.
Cooper is a Junior news-editorial m^jor,
the Dally Nebraskan wire editor and a sports
columnist.