Nebraskan
Friday, January 21,1994
Sports
Nebraska All-American Frank Velazquez will lead the 11th-ranked Husker wrestlers against some of the nation’s top
competition this weekend at the National Dual Championships in the NU Coliseum. The championships will include
eight of the top 10 teams in the nation.
Nation shnest to wrestle in Lincoln
By Tim Pearson
Senior Reporter _
Nebraska wrestling coach Tim Neumann is
leading his troops into battle.
Just like a general would plan an attack,
Neumann is looking at strategy as his 11th
ranked Comhuskers play host to the National
Dual Meet Championships this weekend at the
NU Coliseum.
Neumann said strategy always was the key in
tournaments like the National Duals. That espe
cially rang true in last year’s duals, when Ne
braska finished second to Penn State after up
setting top-ranked Iowa.
“We’re juggling our lineup all over the place,”
he said. “We can weigh in 15 guys. We will
adjust our lineup to the strengths of our oppo
nents.
“Last year we moved Tony Purler to 134, and
that helped us win.”
Neumann said the meet, which will feature
eight of the top 10 teams in the nation and nine
top-ranked wrestlers, was the nation’s finest
dual tournament.
The rankings seem to back him up.
• Among the participants are Oklahoma
State (No. 1), Iowa (No. 2), Oregon State (No.
3), Michigan (No. 4), North Carolina (No. 6),
Penn State (No. 7), Oklahoma (No. 9) and
Fresno State (No. 10).
• Also, five returning national champions
from the 10 weight divisions will be in the duals.
• Of the 120 nationally ranked wrestlers, 83
are scheduled to wrestle in this weekend’s match
es.
First-round matches start at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Semifinals will then be held at 8 p.m. The finals
will start at 2 p.m. Sunday and will be carried
live by Nebraska and Iowa public television.
Neumann said playing host to the event
could only help the Husker wrestling program.
“It’s a huge pain in the butt to host this
thing,” he said. “If it didn’t cast a brilliant light
on us, we wouldn’t do it.
“It doesn’t get any better than this until the
NCAA Championships.”
The event was moved to Lincoln in the
summer of 1992 when Michigan pulled out as
the host. Neumann was chairman of the selec
tion committee to pick a new site. He was
approached with the idea of Nebraska playing
host to the duals for three years, ending next
year.
Neumann jumped at the opportunity.
“It’s a class event, and it truly does make the
Big Eight and Nebraska look good,” he said.
“We got it for three years, but I want it to stay
here forever.
“I’d like to make Lincoln the permanent site,
but that has to be decided on by the executives
of the NCAA.”
But Neumann said it wouldn’t look good if
his team didn’t do well.
And the Huskers have it tough right from the
start against No. 6 North Carolina.
The Tar Heels enter their first-round match,
scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, with six nation
ally ranked wrestlers.
And that worries Neumann.
“They’ve got a great team,” he said. “Their
- (i
// doesn’t get any better
than this until the NCAA
Championships.
— Neumann
NU wrestling coach
-ff "
118-pounder is good, and T.J. Jaworsky is the
defending national champ at 134. Their heavy
weight is ranked right behind (Nebraska’s) Tolly
Thompson.
“They counter all of our strengths. Our best
wrestler is also at 134.”
But winning may not happen if the Huskers
don’t improve from their last dual, a 19-16 win
over Indiana last Saturday, Neumann said.
“We better have improvement,” he said.
“But we’re 100 percent healthy, and mentally
we’re probably feeling stronger than we have
all year.
“We have to get our upper weights wrestling.
We’re running into older, more mature people,
and they’re just beating us up.”
NOTE:
• Husker junior Mike Eierman was chosen
to participate in the National Wrestling Coach
es All-Star Classic, which will be Jan. 31 in
Pittsburgh.
Texas player
accepts offer
fromHuskers
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter
A hard-hitting defensive back from Bastrop,
Texas, is the latest high school football player
to verbally commit to play for the Nebraska
football team next fall.
Octavius McFarlin said Wednesday he
would accept a scholarship to play for the
Comhuskers. The signing period begins Feb.
2. McFarlin is the 10th athlete — seventh
outside the state — to commit to Nebraska.
The 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound safety —
who high jumps 6 feet, 10 inches — is the
second defensive back to commit to the Husk
ers.
McFarlin, who made 166 tackles, inter
cepted one pass and recorded five sacks last
season, was named to the Fabulous 55, which
recognizes the top 55 players in the Lone Star
state. He was also named a member of the All
Central Texas team.
Darrell Brock, Bastrop High School’s de
fensive coordinator, who has coached McFarlin
since seventh grade, said he was pleased with
his player’s decision. McFarlin chose the
Huskers over Texas Christian, Oklahoma State
and New Mexico.
“He wanted to play for a winning pro
gram,” Brock said. “I think that is what drew
him to Nebraska more than anything else.
They have a great tradition and, of course,
Coach (Tom) Osborne is one of the best coach
es in the nation.
“You can’t imagine how many plays
Octavius made at the line of scrimmage. He’s
See RECRUIT on 8
Women to face
two Big 8 teams
in tough weekend
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
Nebraska women’s basketball coach Angela
Beck will breathe a sigh of relief when she
returns home after a difficult weekend of Big
Eight basketball.
The Huskers, 9-8, travel to Colorado, 13-2,
for a game Friday. They follow with a 2 p.m.
game Sunday at Missouri, 6-9.
“This is by far the toughest weekend for
distance in travel,” Beck said. “Missouri is
always tough to beat, especially at home, and
Colorado is Colorado. This is the toughest road
swing of the season. Once we get this under our
belt, (the season) looks better.”
The Huskers, 1-3 in the Big Eight, can’t
afford to lose both games, Beck said.
“Obviously, the dream is to get both games,
but that will be a difficult task,” she said. “I
know we need to get a split. It’s going to be
tough.”
Nebraska is coming off a split last weekend.
After being manhandled 78-57 by Kansas, Ne
braska turned the tables on Kansas State with a
See ROADTRIP on 8
Despite loss of All- American, Huskers primed for meet
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
There is no better cure for Nebras
ka track and field coach Gary Pepin’s
severe case of anxiety than the Ne
braska Open Saturday at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
the Nebraska
Open will feature
25 teams and
about 700 athletes
to kick off Nebras
ka’s indoor track
and field season.
Pepin said the
meet was just
what his team,
along with the
coaches, needed.
Pepin
“Most kids have been working hard
since the first day the NCAA let us
practice,” he said. “We’re all anxious
to get this started. The new kids are
getting some butterflies, and us coach
es are anxious to get it going as well.”
Pepin said the Nebraska Open
would showcase the Huskers’ talent.
The Nebraska men — ranked No. 7 in
Track & Field magazine’s dual
rankings — have three returning All
Americans, including Andy Meyer
(discus), Riley Washington (100-meter
dash) and Peter Malasev (high jump).
The women — third in Track &
Field’s dual rankings — have four
returning All-Americans, including
Shanelle Porter (400-meter dash),
Paulette Mitchell (shot put), Kwani
Stewart (100-meter hurdles) and
Theresa Stelling (3,000-meter run).
But Nebraska will also get its first
taste of competition without the help
of junior All-American Robert Tho
mas, a long and triple jumper.
Thomas, who holds school records
in the indoor long and triple jumps,
told the Daily Nebraskan Tuesday he
was leaving the team.
Pepin said Thomas’ departure
shouldn’t have too big of an effect on
Nebraska’s performance throughout
the season.
“Robert, for his age, was one of the
finest jumpers in the world, not just
the United States,” he said. “You hate
to lose somebody with Robert’s ath
letic ability and potential. But Robert
never scored a point in outdoor com
petition or in a national meet for us.”
Pepin said Nebraska’s strong per
formances in dual meets proved the
Huskers would be fine without Tho
mas.
“Our team has never been the type
of team that is built around one person
or one event,” Pepin said. “I think that
shows in our duals. Both the men and
women have been one of the better
-44
We’re all anxious to get this started. The new
kids are getting some butterflies, and us coaches
are anxious to get it going as well.
— Pepin
NU track and field coach
dual teams in the United States. There
is not any particular person this team
will live or die by.”
Although no team scores will be
kept, Pepin said, the individual scores
should provide him with a preview for
the rest of the season.
“There is always some surprises in
performances, especially in the first
meet,” Pepin said. “Of course, you’re
hoping there will be more positive
surprises than negative surprises.”
ww
Pepin said he was hoping a strong
performance would move his teams
toward Iowa State, which should con
tend for the Big Eight title with Ne
braska.
“Those are two teams that,, if ev
eryone is healthy, should be the ones
battling for it,” he said. “I think both
our teams (men’s and women’s) are
going to have real fine seasons. There
are some marvelous athletes. We’re
just excited to get it started.”