Sam McKewon
Blue-collar
Tobin hears
final whistle
CLEVELAND - Crawling north
on Interstate 77, you catch your first
glimpse of the Cleveland skyline.
Actually, only half of it. The tops of
the three skyscrapers that dot the hori
zon are shrouded in smog and smoke,
freshly emitted from the numerous
steel mills and ore plants that line the
highway.
Cleveland, you see. is a working
man's town, one of muscle and might.
The industry that lives on the banks of
Lake hne may not be all that pretty, but
it gets the job done, produces efficient
ly and puts food on the table.
Nebraska senior wrestler Ryan
Tobin was a great match for Cleveland
home of the NCAA Wrestling
Championships March 19 to 21.
Tobin is the working man's champi
on. He brings his lunch pail to the mat
every day . Known for his consummate
preparation, Tobin doesn't win in a
flashy manner, he just wins.
But what Tobin wanted most was a
national title at 190 pounds. He took a
redshirt year in 1997 to prepare for it.
And best of all, the championships
were in Cleveland a town suited for his
style. The stage wns set.
If hadn't been for Braveheart, Tobin
Iust might have stolen the show.
Braveheart was the nickname of the
top-ranked wrestler at 190 pounds.
Jason Robison of Edinboro (Pa.)
College. On the cover of Edinboro's
media guide, you can find Robison sit
ting on a horse w ith his face painted
wielding a sword. Apparently,
Edinboro thought Robison looked a lot
like Mel Gibson.
Still, Robison buried his oppo
nents. Up until his match with Tobin,
Robison had pinned all of his oppo
nents - quite easily.
When Robison met Tobin, there
was no pin. Both were in for a match
that would come down to the end.
Tobin tied Robison 3-3 after the
first period and executed his game plan
the way he wanted to.
“Duan A\A /on rfViinrr mar run
posed to in the match,” NU Coach Tim
Neumann said. “Robison did nothing
we hadn’t prepared for.”
But in the end, Robison wore Tobin
down. Both were dead tired, and
Robison had a little more in the tank to
win 10-7. It was a disappointing end to
a quest that had begun 24 months
before.
“Ryan couldn’t have done anymore
to prepare for this match, for this cham
pionship, than he did,” Neumann said.
“He worked very hard to get here. He
just didn’t win.”
Tobin knows he did what he could.
In the working man’s world, that’s not
always enough. After finishing fourth
Tobin told reporters that “retirement
was looking better and better.”
Spoken like a true working man.
Sam McKewon is a sophomore
news-editorial and political science
major and a Daily Nebraskan senior
reporter.
New leaders rush ahead
Kelsay, Rucker to fill shoes of seniors
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior Reporter
People are watching Mike
Rucker and Chad Kelsay. They are
watching the Nebraska rush ends
in the weight room, off the football
field and on the field during the
Comhuskers' spring practices.
They are watching because
Rucker and Kelsay have big shoes
to fill and even bigger names to
replace. Gone are NU All
Americans and first-round draft
picks Grant Wistrom and Jason
Peter, whose leadership roles
stretched beyond their statistical
dominance.
And Rucker and Kelsay, both
preseason All-America candidates,
know they have to fill the void.
“Where before, you took your
helmet off between drills, you
don’t any more. And you say some
thing to those that do,” Rucker said.
“You do that one extra rep in the
weight room instead of cutting a
couple out. You play for the team,
but you play for yourself and the
pride you have.
“Whether you know it or not,
people are watching you.”
Rucker and Kelsay have com
manded the attention with their
success on the field in 1997 and
strong work ethic throughout win
ter conditioning, NU Defensive
Line Coach Nelson Barnes said.
The two alternated at left rush
end in 1997, but Rucker will move
to the nght side to replace Wistrom.
Kelsay finished last season as NU s
10th-leading tackier with 34 total
and 13 solo stops. He ranked fourth
on the team with 14 quarterback
hurries.
Rucker ended the year eighth
in tackles with 38(17 solo) and
second in sacks and tackles for
losses.
But because of the loss
Wistrom and Peter, Barnes sai
Rucker and Kelsay will have to pr
duce more than just statistically ne
fall.
“Around here, there’s a traditii
that when the senior class leaves, t
next few guys have to step up and ta
that leadership role,” Barnes sai
“And it didn’t just start last year wi
Grant Wistrom. Guys like Jar<
Michael Warren/DN
AFTER RUNNING DRILLS with the rush ends in Schulte Fieldhouse,
Nebraska senior Mike Rucker wipes the sweat from his brow while waiting
for the next set of drills to begin.
Tomich were All-Americans and
^ established that great defensive-line
tradition. Mike and Chad just know
’ that its their turn.
t “Both have stepped up big time.
They’re no longer taking that back
seat attitude.”
Rucker and Kelsay will lead a tal
ented group of defensive lineman in
j 1998.
^ Four letter winners with limited
expenence will back up Rucker and
Kelsay at the rush end positions this
fall: Kyle Vanden Bosch, Brandon
Mooberry, Travis Toline and Aaron
Wills.
Steve Warren and Jason Wiltz
return at nose tackle and defensive
tackle.
Providing leadership to the group
has been a necessary adjustment.
“Last year, we were behind guys
that were stars,” Kelsay said. “When
you have athletes like that, it’s easy to
Please see LINE on 8
NU still
winless in
conference
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
Missouri slugged 11 home runs
Wednesday night in a doubleheader
sweep of the Cornhuskers at Simmons
Field m Columbia, Mo.
The Fluskers (12-10 overall and 0-3
in the Big 12 Conference) were out
slugged in the first game 21-9 before
dropping the night cap 12-8.
NU led the Tigers 8-5 after seven
innings in game two, but Missouri
scored seven unanswered runs in the
eighth inning.
The Tigers were led by nght-fielder
Ryan Fry who went 6 for 8 m the dou
bleheader with four homers, seven
RBIs and six runs scored.
Fry hit a pair of home runs in both
games and became the school’s all-time
RBI leader in the second game.
Sophomore right-hander Chad
Wiles started the second game for the
Huskers and pitched lour innings, sur
rendering five runs, before junior lefty
Jay Siriani took over.
Sinanni pitched until the middle of
the seventh after allowing two runs to
the Tigers.
Senior Tevis Arnold (0-1) came on
with one out in the seventh and gave up
the go-ahead runs and the Huskers
couldn’t recover.
Third baseman Danny Kimura
drove in half of NU's eight runs with a
2-for-4 effort.
Husker right-fielder Donny
Starkins also clubbed a homer, his
fourth of the season.
The first game was disastrous from
the beginning for Nebraska as the
Tigers scored 14 runs in the first three
innings.
NU starter Kenny Duebelbeis (1 -3)
lasted only one inning. The senior was
shelled for six runs on six luts.
Junior Jarod Bearinger pitched the
next two innings and gave up eight runs
on seven hits. After the second game,
NU’s team earned-run average had
risen from 4.23 to 5.29 in one day.
Missouri feasted on the Huskers in
the first game, hitting a Big 12-record
nine home runs.
Fry, Griffin Moore and Jake Epstein
each jacked a pair of round trippers.
The game was called after seven
innings because of the Big 12 double
header mercy rule.
The Fluskers will continue Big 12
play this weekend as they play a three
game weekend series in Manhattan,
Kan., against Kansas State.
Rmgo, Huskers look lor win in Arizona
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
When asked how she felt about
going back to Arizona Saturday to
compete at the NCAA Regional
meet, Nebraska freshman gymnast
Amy Ringo got a wide grin on her
face and said, “I’m so excited.
“My whole club, family and rel
atives will be there.”
This isn’t the first homecoming
for the Phoenix native.
At the Feb. 20 Arizona State
Classic, Ringo, who was sick the
entire week before the meet, posted
a 9.15 in the vault, a 9.60 on the
floor exercise and a 9.275 on the
balance beam.
But she is healthy this time.
“I will show them what I can
really do,” Ringo said.
NU Coach Dan Kendig hopes
Ringo and the rest of the Husker
gymnasts will show the same stuff
they did at the Big 12
Championships - where Nebraska
posted the second-best score in
school history - and qualify for the
NCAA Championships held April
16-18 in Los Aiigeles.
Standing in No. 10 Nebraska’s
way is No. 3 Utah, No. 9 Arizona
State, No. 11 Brigham Young and
No. 22 Arizona.
“We have a strong, if not the
strongest, region in the country with
four teams in the top 11,” Kendig
said. “I think that each of the top
four teams should qualify for
nationals if they hit their routines
this weekend. It all comes down to
who hits.”
Kendig said Utah has won the
region every year, but he said he
thought NU had a good shot at win
ning this year.
“This is the time of year where
you have to be at your best,” Kendig
said. “I feel that if the girls all stay
focused, they are capable of doing
that right now.”
What the Huskers have going
their way is that they are performing
in the same rotation they did at Big
12s and at last year’s regional when
they finished third.
NU sophomore Heather Brink
said the rotation will be especially
beneficial to her.
“I’ve always done well with
beam first,” said Brink, who posted
a school-record all-around score of
39.575 at the Big 12 meet. “It’s nice
to get beam done early.”
For its rotation, NU will have a
bye to start off and then go on bal
ance beam. After beam they go bye,
floor exercise, bye, vault and end up
on uneven bars
Normally, teams don’t have
byes, but junior Jess Swift didn’t
think the Huskers would have trou
ble adjusting. During the byes,
Swift said, the girls will relaxed and
visualize their next routines.
“We start on the beam, and the
momentum will build,” Kendig said.
Kendig said he hoped a good
start would translate into a lot of
energy for the vault and floor exer
cise routines.
If that happens, Kendig said, NU
will meet its goal.
“We are looking at (the meet) to
be a means to the end,” Kendig said.
“A means to the NCAA.”
