Gregg Madsen
Former Husker
makes impact
outside gym
During his career as a Nebraska
gymnast, Brad Bryan became accus
tomed to success.
He was a key part of three con
secutive Comhusker national cham
pionship teams from 1988 through
1990.
For four years, Bryan’s life was
dominated by the handstands,
backflips and somersaults he honed
to perfection every day.
Now, Bryan is a key member of
another successful team.
This success isn’t from gymnas
tics, but from a daily routine that
hasn’t gotten any easier.
Bryan is the executive director of
City Impact, a newly-formed, non
denominational ministry that teaches
biblical principles to disadvantaged
youths.
When Bryan helps lead activities
for the youths involved in City Im
pact, he isn’t performing in front of
the thousands of people he used to
at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
His crowd consists of about 80
Lincoln children, many of whom
come from broken homes.
He doesn’t take orders from Ne
braska men’s gymnastics Coach
Francis Allen on how to stick a high
bar dismount, and he doesn’t dazzle
judges with his floor exercise rou
tine anymore.
His events are now a Bible study
on Tuesdays for 5- to 12-year-olds
and one every Thursday for high
schoolers and middle schoolers.
He is a mentor for young boys..
He helps coordinate monthly ac
tivities that range from helping out
nursing home residents to serving
food at the People’s City Mission.
Bryan is now an all-arounder for
God.
“The kids are looking for some
one to spend time with them and to
listen to them and just be a part of
their lives/* he said. “I want to share
the love of Christ that I have in my
life because that can give them
hope.”
City Impact, which meets at the
Central Church at 28th and O streets,
is instilling values that will prevent
the next generation from growing up
fatherless and godless, Bryan said.
Through all the hours Bryan sac
rificed in the gym, he learned the
value of setting goals and discipline.
Now he’s sharing those same values
with the children of City Impact.
“We want to be a holistic minis
try,” he said. “We want to share
Christ with them, but we also want
to teach them values.”
He won’t be winning another na
tional title anytime soon, but the im
pact Bryan is having on the lives of
children through City Impact makes
any trophy look pale in comparison.
Madsen is a junior news-edito
rial major and a Daily Nebraska
staff reporter.
Matt Miller/DN
KIM OEHAAN has never lost a conference meet in her four years at Nebraska and she hopes to continue that on
Saturday at the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla.
NU pounds
Coyotes for
43 runs
NU win streak
continues with 43-hit
effort.
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
t Hitting is contagious.
> The Nebraska baseball team
pounded out 43 hits and scored 43
runs en route to a doubleheader sweep
of South Dakota Thursday at Buck
Beltzer Field.
The Comhuskers, who improved
to 12-14, won the first game 22-3 and
defeated the Coyotes 21-6 in the
nightcap.
“The bats are heating up a little
bit,” NU sophomore Craig Moore
said. “They weren’t doing it at the
beginning of the season, but I think
now everyone is gaining confidence.
When one guy starts getting on a
streak, everybody does.”
Moore, who started both games as
the designated hitter, finished the day
4 for 7 with three runs scored and four
RBIs.
“You see a guy in front of you get
a base hit, that just makes you more
focused to get a hit too,” Moore said.
All-America candidate Todd Sears
finished with seven hits in 10 at bats
and five RBIs. The junior first
baseman raised his team-high aver
age to .485 and also spanked his sixth
home run of the season.
Center fielder Francis Collins and
third baseman Cliffton Durham each
added six hits in the thrashing of the
Please see HIT on 8
Thompson wins,
NU 12th at NCAAs
By Anyone Oseka
Staff Reporter
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The
meet that was supposed to be a
horse race between Iowa and Okla
homa State
barely got out
of the gates
Thursday.
Much
of the 1997
NCAA Wres
tling Champi
onships under
the UNI-Dome
in Cedar Falls
was billed as a
dogfight be
tween the defending champion
Hawkeyes and the top-ranked Cow
boys.
After wresting began Thursday
the race didn’t look close as Iowa
jumped out to the team lead and OSU
was in fourth. During the second
round however, OSU moved into
second place.
After the first round Nebraska
was in 10th, as coach Tim Neumann
expected. By the end of the second
round NU was in 12th place.
“Other than (Brad) Canoyer,
we’re doing fine,” Neumann said.
“With a win by Canoyer we’re do
ing as good as we could hope for.”
The biggest surprise for NU in
the first round was a loss by the 134
pound Canoyer. Seeded seventh,
Canoyer was upset 6-4 by North
Carolina’s Jason LaMotta. Canoyer
battled back in the second round
beating Illinois’ Tony Siebert 10-3.
Most of NU’s success came
from heavyweight Tolly Thomp
son. Thompson advanced to the
quarterfinals with pins in his first
two matches. He pinned Oregon
State’s Matt Orndorff in 2:41 in
round one and Vince Pellis of West
Virginia in 2:32 in round two.
Thompson, who is from just up
the road in Janesville — five miles
from the UNI-Dome — however he
said he couldn’t hear his supporters.
That was nearly impossible as
attendance for the first-round set a
new record with 14,520 fans.
All six NU wrestlers are still
alive entering today’s third round.
Jason Kraft (158 pounds) will try
to lead the Huskers through the
wrestle-backs. He won a first round
match 13-5 over Cal State
Fullerton’s Steve Duran before los
ing to Big 12 Conference rival
Hardell Moore 7-3.
Freshmen Todd Beckerman
(118) and Charles McTorry (177)
both dropped decision in their first
NCAA meet, but are still alive af
ter winning second-round matches.
The only other Huskers to earn
a first-round win was 126-pounder
Jeramie Welder. Welder pinned
Northwestern’s Micah Hey in 1:21.
He lost in the second round to Dane
Valdez of Oklahoma 4-3.
As his five teammates try to stay
alive, Thompson competes this
morning in the quarterfinals against
sixth-seed Airron Richardson of
Michigan.
“It will be interesting,” Thomp
son said. “That is what the national
tournament is all about separating
the men from the boys.”
Huskers
roll into
Big 12s
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Following its most successful regu
lar season in school history, the Ne
braska women’s gymnastics team is
poised to enter the championship por
tion of 1997.
The Comhuskers travel to Norman,
Okla., for Saturday’s inaugural Big 12
women’s gymnastics championship.
The meet, set for a 7 p.m. start, will
feature the eighth-ranked Huskers, No.
13 Iowa State, Oklahoma and Mis
souri.
Even though no new teams were
added when the Big 12 was formed,
NU Coach Dan Kendig said the meet
is still very important to the team.
“I feel like that’s how people mea
sure you,” Kendig said. “You win the
Big 12s, that’s big news. And I hon
estly feel like we’re not ready to end
our streak yet.”
The Huskers have won the last
three conference titles and 12 overall
since 1976.
Last season, Nebraska narrowly
escaped Ames with the crown after a
195.05-194.15 victory over Iowa
Please see WOMEN on 8
Husky coach
sees NTT as
springboard
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
Connecticut hit the wall hard last
month when it lost five straight bas
ketball games and the chance to play
in the NCAA
Tournament for
the seventh time
in eight years.
Now after a
pair of National
Invitation Tourna
ment wins, Coach
Jim Calhoun said
he hopes his Hus
kies have scaled
that wall and hit Calhoun
the ground run
ning, with an eye on Madison Square
Garden and the NIT semifinals. Be
cause at 6:30 tonight at Gampel Pa
vilion in Storrs, Conn., Calhoun said,
the Huskies need every bit of firepower
in their young arsenal to derail a dan
gerous Nebraska team.
“We understand that we are going
to be physically overmatched and
overwhelmed,” Calhoun said. “But we
won’t be overwhelmed mentally.”
UConn, which compiled an 89-13
record from 1993 through 1996 before
losing all five starters this season, en
ters tonight’s quarterfinal matchup
expecting a near-sellout crowd of
9,700 following postseason victories
over Iona and Bradley.
The Huskies (16-14) finished the
Big East Conference with a 7-11 mark
and a bruised ego. After winning 52
Please see UCONN on 8