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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1996)
Friday, January 19, 1996 Page 7 Tanna Kinnaman/DN Nebraska heavyweight Tolly Thompson will lead the Comhuskers into battle Saturday and Sunday at the Devaney Center. Thompson, a junior, is the nation’s top-ranked heavyweight and the defending national champion. National Duals with top teams to test Huskers By Antone Oseka Staff Reporter Nebraska coach Tim Neumann paced back and forth across the practice mat like a general preparing his troops for battle. In essence, that was just what he was doing. Neumann gazed intently at the wrestlers,* spotted a mistake and moved in to fix it. Then he paced again, spotted again and fixed again. This week is not like last week and won’t be like next week. Third-ranked Nebraska faces the toughest competition it will see until March at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis. The Comhuskers will wrestle in the Cliff Keen National Dual Meet Championships at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. First-round matches begin Saturday at 9 a.m. The semifinals start at 8 Saturday night. The finals will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday. “I can’t tell if these guys are tired or they’re hungry. They’re focused,” Neumann said. Focus, intensity and technique are drilled every day to produce one outcome: that the team believes in itself and each individual wres tler. “It’s important that they believe,” Neumann said. “We can say it until we’re blue in the face, but unless they believe they can win, it’s irrel evant.” Nebraska has to face a field that includes top See DUALS on 8' Eierman returns to team By Nikki Markota Staff Reporter In September, senior wres tler Mike Eierman, an NCAA All-American as a freshman, was dismissed from the Nebraska wrestling team for breaking team rules. But the new year brings a new chance, and Eierman,a 142 pounder, is back on the team and may see action this weekend at the National Duals. Eierman knows he made a mistake, he said. He paid the price by missing an entire se mester of school and a half-sea son of wrestling. li was a reamy cnecK, Eierman said. “I know I messed up, and I definitely want it more now.” After being dismissed, Eierman spent time in Missouri, where he trained with his broth ers, one of whom wrestles for a Division-II school. Eierman said he wrestled in a couple of open tournaments. “He needs to meet certain academic goals that have been set for him,” Comhusker coach Tim Neumann said. “That and a minor change in lifestyle are es sential for his return to the team.” Neumann said he didn’t rein state Eierman to help No. 3 Ne braska if it gets a shot at Iowa this weekend and later at the NCAA Championships. “That is not an issue at all in this situation,” Neumann said. “Our primary concern is to keep Mike in school so he can gradu ate this year.” Eierman said he was happy to have the chance to contribute again. “I am going to work my hard est to make sure he does not regret his decision to reinstate me,” he said. NU hopes to end Stillwater slump By Gregg Madsen Staff Reporter It was 1987. Ronald Reagan was president and the Bangles were at the top of the music charts. It was also the last year that the Nebraska basketball team won at Gallagher-Iba Arena. In his first year as the Comhusker coach, Danny Nee marched into Stillwater, Okla., and defeated Okla homa State 79-77 in overtime. Since then, Nebraska is 6-13 against the Cowboys, losing by an average margin of 17 points away from home, including a 40-point defeat last sea son. The Huskers will face the Cow boys at 7:05 Saturday night. Senior forward Erick Strickland said the Huskers were ready to end the 10-year drought and avenge last year’s humili ation. The 10-4 Cowboys have struggled to an 0-2 confeience start this season. They lost by seven points at Iowa State and were soundly defeated by Kansas at home by the score of 76-61. A loss on Saturday would give the Cowboys their worst conference start since the 1989-90 season, but the Huskers are under pressure to win as well. “I think we’re back on the wall too,” Strickland said. “We lost a heart breaker down there (at Oklahoma last weekend), so we feel we’ve got to get a road win somewhere. “They’re a physical team. They play good defense and the crowd helps them a lot. You have to play really solid against them, and you have to be really focused and stay focused for 40 minutes.” The Cowboys’ trio of Chianti Rob erts, Maurice Robinson and Jerome Lambert, which has averaged a com bined 34.9 points per game, may not be a big factor Saturday. Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said Robinson, a 6-foot-7 junior, was doubtful for Saturday with a foot in jury and Lambert, though he will play, is recovering from tonsilitis. That leaves the majority ofthe scor ing responsibility on the shoulders of Roberts, a 6-6 junior who averaged 9.5 points per game in two games Basketball Startere_J&Sg5 Nebraska HL Wt Class PPG RPG G jaron Boone 6-6 195 Sr. 17.1 2.8 F Bernard Gamer 6-7 225 Jr. 10.3 6.4 jti—' 205 Jr. 9.4 9.3 Oklahoma State ■■■HIBMMHBMWF1*1911 »• 9.7 2.2 G Andre Owens 5-11 180 Sr. 8.4 3 9 F Jerome Lambert 6-8 215 Sr 10.8 6.2 against the Huskers last season. The Cowboys also will depend on guard R.W. McQuarters, a true fresh man who started at comerback for the Oklahoma State football team. He has averaged 10.5 points per game in the past two games. But sometimes desire is more im portant than scoring, and Nebraska center Mikki Moore said the team with the most heart would win this game. “We don’t expect them to give it to us,” Moore said. “We want a good fight, and they will give us a good battle.” Illinois recruit to fill hole on NU defense 4 .. ■ v.-1- ‘ . •/' ; 1 I r- ■" - . ; •- ' - ' ■ By David Wilson Staff Reporter The Nebraska football team re ceived its 13th verbal commitment Wednesday from linebacker Carlos Polk,a USA Today All-American from Rockford, 111. In his three seasons at Guilford High School, Polk accounted for 441 tackles, setting a new conference record. “He’s a quality player and will defi nitely make a big impact with Ne braska,” Guilford coach Rich Infusino said. The graduation of middle lineback ers Phil Ellis and Doug Colman will leave a hole in the Comhusker defense next season. But Infusino said middle linebacker was not an easy position to fill. And the transition from playing high school football to one of the top college pro grams in the nation is a big step, he said. Infusino said Polk, a 6-foot-2,220 pounder, was built like a linebacker and could easily put on 20 to 25 pounds. Infusino said Polk was “on the bubble” academically, but the coach was sure his player would qualify to play as a freshman. Polk also considered Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State and Wisconsin, but de cided on Nebraska after his visit to Lincoln last week. Polk, who runs a 4.65-second 40 yard dash, posted 152 tackles this sea son, including 17 sacks. He led Guilford, an Illinois class 5-A high school, to a 7-2 record. Polk blocked three kicks and scored a touchdown after one of his three fumble recover ies. He is also a starter on the basket ball team. Players can sign national letters of intent beginning Feb. 7.