Sports
Two commit to NU; status is unknown on Davis
By David Wilson
Staff writer
While the Nebraska football team
added two names to its list of verbal
commitments last weekend, the status of
a commitment received last summer
became a little fuzzy.
It is unknown if Josh Davis, a run
ning back from Loveland, Colo., who
was arrested on criminal charges last
week, will sign a letter of intent
Wednesday, the first day high school
athletes can sign.
A high school All-American, Davis
was charged with second-degree bur
glary Jan. 21, for allegedly stealing a
Sony PlayStation from a Loveland
home, a Loveland police department
spokesman said Sunday. Davis was also
charged with providing false informa
tion to a pawnbroker.
Davis could face a minimum of five
years in prison and/or $4,000 in fines if
convicted on both charges. Attempts to
reach Davis were unsuccessful Sunday,
and Nebraska coaches generally cannot
discuss the status of a recruit until the
athlete signs a letter of intent.
In other recruiting news, both Jon
Dawson, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound line
man from Cheyenne, Wyo., and
Toniuolevaiavea “Toniu” Fonoti, from
Hauula, Hawaii, have given the
Comhuskers verbal commitments.
Fonoti, a 6-4, 300-pound offensive
lineman, plans to join friend and neigh
bor Tamotu “Junior” Tagoai, who com
mitted to Nebraska last week, in Lincoln
next fall.
But Fonoti said Tagoai’s decision
didn’t influence his commitment.
The neighbors, who attend different
high schools, went head-to-head in the
state championship last season, as
Tagoai’s St. Louis High School handed
Kahuku High School its only loss.
Fonoti, who also considered
Kentucky and Arizona, said he felt
Nebraska just had more to offer.
“I looked at the different schools,
and I thought about the way the
Nebraska coaches were and I thought
about their program - it was just differ
ent than the other schools,” Fonoti said.
“The tradition made a difference.”
Fonoti said he hopes to make an
impact as a true freshman, and after two
years, he may leave on a church mission.
For now, though, he’s just glad to
have his decision out of the way.
“Recruiting magazines were call
ing, and the schools were calling and the
coaches were calling non-stop,” said
Fonoti, who will be in an ankle cast for
another four to five weeks with an
injury suffered playing basketball. “I’m
happy it’s finally over. I’ll probably be
more happy when I sign.”
At least 20 high school athletes have
given Nebraska verbal commitments.
That number does not include receiver
Larry Henderson, a junior college trans
fer who enrolled in classes this semester.
Snyder seals NU’s upset win
ByLisaVonnahme
Staff writer
Before Nebraska’s wrestling dual with
Iowa State, redshirt freshman Bryan Snyder
took matters into his own hands and gave the
NU grapplers a pep talk.
That’s something not out of the ordinary
for a senior to do. But for a first-year competi
tor, it was a bold move.
And it was one that worked.
Snyder’s
Nebraska 19 words tod* team
M 1 w spoke just as loud
Iowa State 18 as his actions
Sunday after his
win over fifth
year senior David Maldonado at 157 pounds.
Snyder’s decision secured a come-from
behind 19-18 Nebraska victory over Iowa
State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
“Unfortunately for him, Snyder’s got the
saddle on right now,” NU Coach Tim
Neumann said. “We’re riding him a little bit.
We’re riding his leadership. We’re riding his
mental toughness.
“Today, he put the team on his back and
said, ‘Ride me.’”
But Snyder wasn’t the only redshirt fresh
man the No. 7 Huskers had to depend on
against the fourth-ranked Cyclones. At 149
pounds, No. 14 Joe Henson scored a big upset
over ISU’s fifth-ranked Cole Sanderson,
putting NU down by two points heading into
the final match.
Henson dominated the match from early
on, earning a takedown and a near-fall in the
first period. The final period escalated
Henson’s lead to 7-2 at the one minute, one
second mark. Sanderson responded with an
escape and a takedown, closing the gap to 7-5.
Earning a large 2:31 riding time advantage,
Henson got the win 8-5.
“A 4-1 lead after the first period against a
guy like Sanderson is nowhere safe,” Henson
said. “I knew I had to keep attacking and
wrestling offensively. I couldn’t just try to hold
out the rest of the match.”
Henson’s victory put the outcome of the
dual on Snyder’s shoulders. Even though
Snyder had to face an All-Amencan, Henson
was confident Snyder could carry the team on
his back.
“I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else out
Ryan Soderlin/DN
REDSHIRT FRESHMAN Bryan Snyder celebrates beating fifth-year senior David
Maldonado of ISU in the 157-pound weight division.
there,” Henson said. “Snyder works so hard, ing a take down in 50 seconds. Maldonado
He’s good mentally. 1 knew he could handle it escaped from Snyder’s control, and closed the
and come out with a win.” first period with a 2-1 score in Snyder’s favor.
In front of a boisterous crowd on its feet, Both wrestlers earned an escape in the
Snyder stepped onto the mat. His confidence _
was visible.
Snyder got the match going quickly, earn- Please see SNYDER on page 8
Elway, Broncos
blow by Falcons
in Super Bowl
■ The veteran Denver quarterback
earns the MVP award in what might
have been his final game.
MIAMI (AP) - What a perfect way for John Ehvay to
say goodbye.
The man who spent his first 14 NFL seasons without a
Super Bowl ring got his second straight Sunday, weaving
his magic for what could be the final time and gaining
revenge on former coach and adversary Dan Reeves and
his upstart Atlanta Falcons.
The final score was 34-19 over an Atlanta team that
was its own worst enemy as the 38-year-old Elway, who
was the unanimous choice for MVP, completed 18 of 29
passes for 336 yards and one touchdown and ran 3 yards
for another score. The total yardage was third best in Super
Bowl history.
Ehvay refused to say whether he would retire or come
back for a chance to win a third straight Super Bowl.
“I’m going to take some time, relish this year,” he said.
“You got to love those challenges. We got the team; we got
the nucleus here to do it. It definitely throws a kink into my
thinking.”
In addition to the falcons, who did everything they
could to self-destruct on offense, Elway’s accomplices
were:
■ Darrien Gordon, who intercepted two passes that set
up two scores and set a Super Bowl record with 108 yards
in interception returns.
■ Fullback Howard Griffith, who had two 1-yard TD
runs.
■Terrell Davis, the league MVP, who carried 25 times
for 102 yards for his seventh consecutive postseason 100
yard game, breaking an NFL record set by John Riggins.
■ Wide receiver Rod Smith, who caught five passes
for 152 yards and an 80-yard touchdown.
All that helped Denver become the first team to win
two straight Super Bowls since Dallas did it in 1993 and
1994 and the first AFC team to win two straight since
Pittsburgh won in 1979 and 1980.
But for all the Broncos did, the game turned on what
the Falcons didn’t do - getting only 6 points on their first
six forays into Denver territory. Their first TD came on
rookie Tim Dwight’s 94-yard kickoff return with 11 min
utes left in the game.
On the others, Jamal Anderson was dumped for a 2
yard loss on fourth and 1 from the Broncos 26, Morten
Andersen missed a 28-yard field goal, and Chris Chandler
threw an interception to Gordon.
ISU’s slow-down tempo ends Nebraska’s five-game win streak
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
AMES, Iowa - All good things must come to
an end. Like the Nebraska men’s basketball team’s
high-flying, five-game winning streak.
It came to a screeching halt at Iowa State on
Saturday night - literally.
ISU (13-8,4-4 in the Big 12 Conference) used
a sleepy but effective time-stalling, half-court
offense and hung around long enough for a 5247
win over NU (13-8, 5-3) in front of a Hilton
Coliseum crowd of 12,107.
The Cyclones, unlike the Huskers’ previous
five opponents, slowed NU’s lightening speed
transition game and never let the Nebraska race to
Iowa State 52
Nebraska 47
a huge lead.
Although he emerged from a locker room full
of hanging heads, Head Coach Danny Nee casual
ly strode to speak to reporters about Iowa State’s
execution.
“I thought the tempo of the game was more
favorable to Iowa State,” Nee said. “I think that’s the
way they wanted it. That’s their style. That’s their
bag. That’s how they do things, and they do it well.”
The Cyclones prevented the Husker defense
from turning the game into another wacky break
fest like the one that powered NU to an 84-69
whipping of No. 22 Kansas last Wednesday. ISU
trailed only 23-22 at halftime.
“They came out with a lot of energy and
slowed us down,” NU guard Cookie Belcher said.
“We couldn’t force turnovers and get fast
breaks, and that’s where we score most of our
points - in transition.”
ISU sophomore forward Marcus Fizer provid
ed the feisty grit the Cyclones needed, gutting out a
game-high 16-point, six-rebound performance.
His shot over NU guard Cary Cochran with
just over one minute left in the game put ISU ahead
for good 46-45.
ISU got the most important of its nine offen
sive rebounds with 59.8 seconds left, when sopho
more center Martin Rancik rebounded the free
throw Fizer missed after Fizer was fouled on his
lead-taking shot over Cochran.
Rancik was immediately fouled by Larry
Florence, made both free throws to put ISU up 48
45, and allowed the Cyclones to control the game
the rest of the way.
Florence had a chance to tie the game up on a
three-pointer with 35 seconds left, but missed.
“The more they hung around, the more confi
dence they got,” Belcher said of Iowa State. “They
hit the big shots at the end, and we didn’t.”
Otherwise, the two teams were almost dead
even in almost all aspects of the game, such as
shooting percentage (NU’s 44.4 percent to ISU’s
43.2); rebounds (26-25); turnovers (11-11); assists
(14-16); and steals (6-6).
At no time did either team hold a lead of more
than 6 points.