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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1995)
Sports Weekend Friday, February 3, 1995 Page 7 Former Husker hired as linebacker coach By Tim Pearson Senior Editor Craig Bohl’s high school football coach knew Bohl was a leader. But when Bohl graduated from Lincoln East in 1977, Lee Zentic had no clue Bohl would be the lineback ers’ coach at Nebraska 18 years later. “It was kind of hard at that point to determine,” Zentic said. “He had re ally good knowledge of the game, and he was very interested in the game.” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne an nounced Thursday that Bohl, a former Husker player and graduate assistant, had been hired to fill the position vacated by Kevin Steele. Steele re signed two weeks ago to become the inside linebackers coach with the ex pansion Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. As a running back and defensive back for the Spartans, Bohl helped lead Lincoln East to a state title in 1975. John Gingery, a former teammate of Bohl’s and now an assistant coach at East, said Bohl always played hard on the field. “He was a 100-percent kind of guy when he played football,” Gingery said. “He was very determined.” And that determination has led him up the coaching ladder. Bohl was a graduate assistant at Nebraska from 1981 -83. He then spent a year at North Dakota State, two years at both Tulsa and Wisconsin and the last five years at Duke. “You never know what the profes sion has in store for you,” Zentic said. Duke coach Fred Goldsmith said the 36-year-old Bohl would be missed. “We will certainly miss Craig, as he has been a member of the coaching staff since my first day at Rice,” he said. “We have had a very close-knit group the last six years, but I wish him well at his alma mater Nebraska.” Osborne said in a release that Bohl would recruit in Texas, the Caroli nas, Florida and Georgia. “We know Craig well,” he said. “He’s-a hard worker of sound charac ter with a great deal of experience and has been cfuite successful. We are delighted to have hfm join our staff.” Huskers hope Sooners’ flame soon fizzles out By Trevor Parks Staff Reporter What a difference a week makes. One week ago, both Nebraska and Okla homa were 14-4 and 1-2 in the Big Eight Conference, but now both teams are headed in opposite directions. The Sooners have used an 82-72 win over Nebraska in Norman, Okla., as a springboard to improve to 16-4 and 3-2 in the Big Eight. Oklahoma defeated No. 11 Iowa State 79-78 in Norman Wednesday night. In the meantime, 14-6 Nebraska, fell to 1-4 in the conference after losing to the Sooners and being embarrassed by Oklahoma State 82 65 in Lincoln. Now the two teams square off again Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in the Bob Devaney Sports Cen ter. “We just played them, so they are still in the back of our minds with what they do and how they play,” Nebraska guard Jaron Boone said. “We need need need need this game right here for us to turn it around.” Boone said the Comhuskers had not been discouraged by their recent skid. “I think it’s a positive for us,” Boone said. “Everybody rs frustrated and everybody wants to play well.” That pressure to play well was evident Wednesday. Nebraska was forced into shooting 37.9 percent by a tough Oklahoma State defense and shot only 25 percent from outside the 3-point line. The Huskers were alsooutrebounded 36-25, and die 65 points were the second fewest scored this season. Coach Danny Nee said Nebraska needed to turn things around quickly. “Losing is losing. Now we just have to find a way to win,” Nee said. “But we have to start playing better.” Boone agreed, and said this trend of slump ing at the beginning of the Big Eight season had become typical for the Huskers. “We lose the flow of the offense and doing things that we did at the beginning of the season,” Boone said. “Then we tend to pick it up in the middle half or right about now in the Big Eight, and that’s what we can do. If not, we’re in trouble.” Jon Wailer/DN Nebraska’s Chris Sallee fights for the ball with Oklahoma State’s Bryant Reeves while knocking over Andre Owens during the Cornhuskers’ 82-65 loss on Wednesday night. Sooner player rises to meet the challenge By Trevor Parks Staff Reporter Some players tend to raise their play against certain teams. Oklahoma basketball player Ryan Minor is one of those players. And Nebraska just hap pens to be a team that Mi nor excels against. Minor and the Sooners will take on the Comhuskers Sun day in a 12:30 p.m. game at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Minor said he didn’t know why he’s had so much sue ... cess against iNeorastca. Minor “Nebraska’s fun to play against,” Minor said. “They’re easygoing, and I really want to say that I don’t focus on Nebraska every year. It just happens to be like that.” In his last three games against Nebraska, Minor has averaged 25.3 points per game, including a 30-point effort in last Saturday’s Sooner win in Norman, Okla. Minor missed one game against Nebraska because of a broken foot. “I had a couple of good games last year,” Minor said. “They beat us in the Big Eight Tournament, and that was really tough on us.” Minor scored 23 points against the Huskers in the first round of the Big Eight Tournament last year. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound junior from Hammond, Okla., said even though the Soon ers defeated Iowa State 79-78 Wednesday, playing Nebraska twice in eight days was not good scheduling. “It’s kind of tough to play a team back-to back like that,” Minor said. “Teams that get beat on the road and then have to come back and play the same team at home have a mindset of coming out and playing hard because they still have that bad taste in their mouth.” Minor said more time off would be to the Sooners’ benefit. “If you have time in between, you have time to regroup before you play that team again.” See MINOR on 8 Wrestlers healthy, ready to dominate, Neumann says Travis Heying/DN Nebraska’s Kenny Mbah goes for a takedown against Penn State’s Rob Neivdlinger at the National Duals. Mbah will wrestle at 177 pounds Saturday. By Tim Pearson Senior Editor Nebraska wrestling coach Tim Neumann is ready for his team to dominate. After splitting two duals last week end, the Comhuskers will make the trip to Clemson, S.C., on Saturday for three duals. The fourth-ranked Huskers will take on No. 22 Ohio State, Clemson and James Madison. “We’re doing enough to win,” Neumann said. “But we’re not tear ing people apart like Iowa. “Our theme for the rest of the season is to dominate.” And the Huskers better start domi nating soon with the Big Eight and NCAA meets coming up, Neumann said. Last year Nebraska finished 29th at Nationals. Before this season %started, Neumann projected his team would be in the top four by now. “Before the Big Eights, we should be in the top four or five,” he said. “A lot of that is based on work done the past summer. How we finish depends on how we do from now until nation als. “If we finish weak, it’ll be like last year.” For the first time in a month, the Huskers will be wrestling at full strength. Steve Baer at 126 pounds and Temoer Terry at 150 pounds will both be ready for this weekend after missing last weekend’s duals against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. “We’re just about healed up,” Neumann said. “We determined our starting lineup (Wednesday) with wrestle-offs.” Neumann said his team should be excited to wrestle with a completely healthy team. But the Huskers will have some tough competition and face some different styles of wrestling this weekend, he said. “Clemson is in the toughest posi tion they’ve been in in a long time,” Neumann said. Although Ohio State is ranked 22nd, Neumann said the Buckeyes should qualify six wrestlers for the NCAA meet. Neumann said he was a little con cerned about his team’s fatigue after last weekend’s trip to Oklahoma. “We expected to beat Oklahoma State. We wrestled unemotional against them and average against Oklahoma,” he said. “(Oklahoma State) was an oppor tunity for us to move up,” he said. “I don’t know if the National Duals sapped our emotion. But it’s tough to beat the No. 2 team without two start »» ers.
