NU wins Big Eight wrestling title
By Tony West
Staff Reporter
Nebraska wrestling coach Tim Neumann
wanted to qualify as many wrestlers to the
NCAA Championships as possible.
And on Sunday night at die Big Eight Cham
pionships in the NU Coliseum, the No. 3
Comhuskers qualified nine out of 10 wrestlers
for the national meet to be held March 16-18 in
Iowa City, Iowa.
The Huskers also won the team title for the
second time in three years by outscoring No. 2
Oklahoma State 83.5-67.5. Oklahoma placed
third with 65, while No. 4 Iowa State and
Missouri rounded out the competition.
“This is the first time we have beat Okla
homa State in any meet,” Neumann said. “The
kids just wrestled phenomenal.”
When Nebraska won the conference title in
1993, Oklahoma State could not compete be
cause of NCAA rules violations.
“It feels really good to win today,” 158
pounder Jason Kraft said, “because we legiti
mately won the Big Eight title with every team
here.”
Erik Josephson was the only Husker wrestler
who didn’t qualify for the national meet be
cause he didn’t place in the top three at 167
pounds. He placed fourth after being defeated
by Oklahoma’s Zach Randall in his first match.
But Josephson may still qualify for the na
tional meet as one of the five wild-card wres
tlers, who are chosen by the conference coaches
at a later date.
“Iowa will probably be the only other team to
have a chance at sending all 10 wrestlers to the
national meet,’’ Neumann said.
The Huskers had four individual champions
in the conference meet: Nebraska’s only senior,
Steve Baer, in the 126-pound weight class,
Temoer Terry at 150, Kraft at 158 and Tolly
Thompson at heavyweight.
Neumann said that being at home played a
major role in the Huskers’ success.
“It’s that Coliseum magic,” he said.
However, Baer said the momentum gained
by the Huskers after they won five of six third
place matches spurred him on to the champion
ship.
“I went in there with a lot of confidence
because everyone was winning their matches,”
Baer said. “It seemed like everything was meant
to be.”
Jay Calderon/DN
Nebraska coach Tim Neumann, at far right, celebrates Jason Kraft’s victory in the 158-pound championship match. The
Huskers won the Bjg Eight title Sunday night. v
Kraft defeated Oklahoma State’s Hardell
Moore, who had beaten Kraft twice this season,
with a last-second takedown to advance to the
finals.
“It really felt good to beat the guy that beat
me twice this season,” Kraft said.
True freshman Kenny Mbah, who placed
third in the 177-pound weight class, said that
Neumann had a big role in sparking that mo
mentum with his talk before the semifinal round.
The Huskers were trailing Oklahoma by one
point going into the round.
“Coach told us as long as we win every match
that we have left, we still have a chance,” Mbah
said.
And after the meet, Neumann said that this
year was only the beginning of a possible Big
Eight Championship streak for the Huskers.
“W ith nine returners, it’s looking pretty good
for the future,” Neumann said.
Huskers finish basketball season with last-minute loss
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
Julius Michalik’sjumper with three
seconds remainingin Iowa State’s 79
77 win over Nebraska Sunday typi
fied the Cornhuskers’ roller-coaster
season.
Nebraska’s regular season came to
an end on Michalik’s game-winning
shot just seconds after Melvin Brooks,
in his final game at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center, tied the game with a 3
pointer in front of 13,112 fans.
I think Nebraska did everything
possible under the circumstances,”
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said. “I
just felt it wasn’t to be. I thought my
players played hard. I thought they
played together .... we just weren’t
able to find a way to win it.”
The Huskers will face Oklahoma
State in the first round of the Big Eight
Tournament Friday in a 6:10 p.m.
game.
Nebraska looked as if it might be
able to avoid ending its season with
another disappointing loss.
Trailing 75-71, Erick Strickland
hit a 3-pointer to bring the Huskers to
within a point with 44 seconds left.
After two Fred Hoiberg free throws
with 3 8 seconds remaining, Nebraska
called timeout to set up a game-tying
3-pointer.
When the Huskers threw the ball
in, Strickland took a long-range shot
with about 30 seconds remaining. Tom
Wald rebounded the miss and kicked
i the ball out toBrooks, who nailed a 3
pointer with 21 seconds left to tie the
game at 77.
After working the ball around, the
Cyclones found Michalik wide-open
on the baseline for the game-winning
shot.
Brooks’ desperation shot at the
buzzer didn ’t come close and Nebraska
dropped its third straight game.
Strickland, who led Nebraska with
22 points, said Nebraska was trying to
keep the ball away from Hoiberg and
Loren Meyer on Iowa State’s final
possession.
We knew they were trying to set
up a play, and we were trying to trap
thema little bit,” Strickland said. “They
found Michalik open down there. We
would give him that shot 100 times
over. It was going to have to be some
one other than Meyer or Hoiberg that
would beat us.”
Late in the first half, Nebraska be
gan to break open a back-and-forth
contest.
Brooks, who matched his career
high with 16 points, hit two consecu
tive 3-pointers to help the Huskers go
on a 10-0 run to end the first half and
hold an 42-35 advantage at intermis
sion.
Meyer and Hoiberg combined to
score 29 of the Cyclones’ 35 first-half
points.
Meyer, who finished with a game
high 31 points and 15 rebounds, scored
11 points in the first 10 minutes of the
second half as Iowa State rallied to tie
the game at 56.
Two consecutive baskets by Chris
Sallee gave Nebraska a 62-58 lead
with just under seven minutes left, but
the Huskers could not hold on.
With four minutes remaining and
the Cyclones on top 65-64, Hoiberg
took over.
The senior from Ames, Iowa, hit
back-to-back 3-pointers and scored
the Cyclones’ final 12 points until
Michalik’s basket with three seconds
left.
“Hoiberg is a great player,” Nee
said. “He’s an all-league player. He
made some fantastic shots — two of
them fading away, falling down. I’ve
always felt Fred Hoiberg was a great
basketball player. The last eight min
utes of the game, I thought he stepped
up and played really solid.”
The loss gave the 17-12 Huskers a
seventh-place conference finish with
a 4-10 Big Eight record. It is the Husk
ers’ worst conference mark since the
10-18 Huskers of 1989-90 also went
4-10.
“Our goal was to try to win this last
game and finish off strong,” Nee said.
“We weren’t able to do it. But I told
the kids I was very proud of their
effort? their desire and how they played
hard. We just didn’t have enough to
beat a good team today. Iowa State hit
the shots when they needed to.”
NOTE:
• Tickets for possible National
Invitational Tournament games will
go on sale Tuesday and Wednesday
from 8 a.m. to &p.m. at the South
Stadium Ticket Office. Tickets will
cost $5 per round; seats will be lo
cated on the floor until all floor
seats are taken. Tickets may be pur
chased for any combination of the
three rounds Nebraska may possi
bly play host to in the NIT.
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska’s Erick Strickland drives past Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg
during the Huskers’79-77loss to the Cyclones Sunday. Strickland
scored 22 points to lead Nebraska.