Christiansen takes a chance
CHRISTIANSEN from page 20
By David Diehl
Staff writer -
The roller-coaster ride Coach Tim
Neumann has endured for his heavy
weight wrestling class will take yet
another turn this weekend. „
Andy Christiansen chose a prime
weekend to return to the mat for the
No. 7 Comhuskers when they square
off against No. 4 Oklahoma tonight
and fifth-ranked Oklahoma State on
Sunday.
Christiansen is coming off a long
hiatus from wrestling after competing
for Nebraska his redshirt freshman
year. He compiled a 7-7 record at 190
pounds. He then left the team in his
sophomore year. . /
— The junior decided to comeback
after Neumann contacted him about
the problems the team has had at
^ I’d been doing it since I was in the
second grade. I decided it was time to
take a little time off from it.
heavyweight. NU’s original starter, Pat
Miron, is out for die year with a knee
injury, and NU hasn't won a heavy
weight match since he went down.
Christiansen then chose to test the
wrestling waters again.
“It is one of those things if you
look back and you didn’t try it, you
can’t go back and do it,” Christiansen
'Said. “I looked at it and thought I
should try it out.
“They just said they were hurting
for a heavyweight. I decided to try it
out because it was better than what I
was doing.”
Andy Christiansen
heavyweight wrestler
When he talked to Neumann,
Christiansen said his old coach made
the opportunity tough to turn down.
“That’s why he is such a good
recruiter,” Christiansen said. “He
made it sound so good:”
! There were no issues surrounding
Christiansen leaving the team in his
sophomore year. He was just feeling
burnt out, he said.
r “I’d been doing it since I was in the
second grade,” Christiansen said. “I
decided it was time to take a little time
off from it.”
Neumann called Christiansen “a
NFL star Lewis unaware of
murder at club, lawyer says
. i '
■ Ravens’linebacker
claims he didn’t hear of
deaths until ‘hours later.’
ATLANTA (AP) — Pro Bowl
linebacker Elay Lewis was unaware
two men had been killed in a brawl
when he and others left a Super Bowl
party in a limousine, his lawyer said.
The Baltimore Ravens star didn’t
know about the stabbings until he
heard news reports hours later, lawyer
Ed Garland said Thursday.
“He did not have a knife, he did not
use a knife, he did not engage in a
fight, he did not promote in any way a
fight,” Garland said.
Lewis is charged with two counts
of murder in the slayings early
Monday of Richard Lollar, 24, and
Jacinth “Shorty” Baker, 21, outside a
lounge in Atlanta’s Buckhead enter
tainment district. The linebacker is
being held until a Feb. 14 bond hear
ing.
Police said l nursday they were
looking for two men they believe were
riding in the 40-foot-long limodsine
rented by Lewis.
Atlanta police spokesman John
Quigley said A. J. Johnson and Kwame
King are wanted for questioning but
are not necessarily suspects. Johnson
is a former Maryland player who had a
tryout with the Miami Dolphins, and
King grew up in Lewis’ hometown of
Lakeland, Fla.
“We believe they were present in
' die limousine, and we’re interested in
anybody that was with the limousine
at that time,” Quigley said.
Asked if Lewis knows who killed
the men, Garland said: “His vision, his
location/what he saw, I will go into at
a future time. But he does have some
limited knowledge.”
Garland said he will intraview all
of the people who were with Lewis
M Mere presence where a crime takes
place is not a crime under American
law, nor in the state of Georgia.”
Ed Garland
Ray Lewis’ lawyer
when he got into the limousine rented
in Maryland. He said there were at
least eight people who joined Lewis’
party, but declined to identify any of
them. 4
u He said four or five shots were
fired at the limousine as it drove away,
but he was unaware of any shots fired
from inside the car, as witnesses had
reported. Lewis knows of no one
inside the limousine who had a gun,
Lewis’ attorney said.
So far, only Lewis has been
charged in die killings. Garland said „
“overaggressive” police arrested
Lewis in haste before the linebacker
could get on a plane to go to Hawaii,
where he was scheduled to play in the
Pro Bowl on Sunday.
“We have confidence that the
police and the prosecution, when pre
sented with evidence they did not
have, will realize that Ray had nothing
to do with causing the unfortunate
deaths that occurred in this case,”
Garland said.
Quigley said a judge signed an
arrest warrant only after he deter
mined there was sufficient probable
cause that Lewis was involved in the
crime.
In the motion for bond, Garland
told the court that Lewis had no prior
record for any violent offenses and
had never been convicted of a felony.
the Miami Herald reported
Thursday that Lewis has been investi
gated twice, but never charged, on
allegations that he beat up two preg
nant girlfriends while at the University
of Miami.
In the first case in 1994, Lewis was
accused of assaulting Tatyana McCall
while she was pregnant, but she
refUsed to press charges. ;tn the sedond
case in 1995, the stated attorney in
Dade County dropped the charges for
insufficient proof of a crime.
The 24-year-old Lewis also faces
charges he hit a woman at a Baltimore
area bar on Nov. 30. But Howard
Merker, deputy state’s attorney for
Baltimore County, said the case will
not go to trial if die charge cannot be
substantiated.
Even if Lewis didn’t wield a knife,
he can be tried for murder if he helped
the killer or was involved in the fight
that preceded the slayings. Garland
said his client had nothing to do with
die crime or the altercation.
“Mere presence where a crime
takes place is not a crime under
American law, nor in the state of
Georgia,” Garland said.
One of the men Atlanta police are
looking for, Johnson* told The Adanta
Journal-Constitution that, despite a
police statement Thursday, he was not
in Lewis’ limousine after the Super
Bowl.
Johnson told the newspaper he
knew Lewis through another friend on
the Ravens, but watched the game on
television with his girlfriend and three
friends at his Maryland apartment. He
saicj he had not heard from Atlanta
police as of Thursday morning.
I Daily Nebraskan Editor
The 2000-01 editor in chief will formulate editorial policies,
Kermine guidelines for the daily operation of the newsroom, hire
senior editorial staff, help determine the content of the
^newspaper and prepare the editorial wage budget. Applicants must
have one year of newspaper experience, preferably at the Daily
Nebraskan. The position begins Aug. 1, 2000 and lasts until May 4,
2001.
| The editor earns $1000/month (except in December, March and May) and reports
to me ujnl ruDiications board. Ihe editor must be enrolled m at least six credit
hours during each of the two 2000-01 semesters, maintain a 2.0 minimum G.P.A., and not be on academic
probation. Applications are available at the Daily Nebraskan office, basement of the Nebraska Union, and
must be returned with up to five clips by noon Feb. 8.
Bradford’s boards
might key upset bid
BRADFORD from page 20
By Matthew Hansen
Staff writer
The names Tajudeen Soyoye
and Jeff Hafer, both Missouri post
players, fail to strike fear in the
heart of NU’s Steffon Bradford.
He respects them. He says that
while they are the weaker part of the
Tiger lineup, they are capable play
ers.
He just isn’t scared. He said he
plans to go over, around and occa
sionally through the Mizzou duo for
multiple offensive rebounds and
putbacks.
Just like every other game.
Bradford, at times during the
season, has made the Nebraska
backboard his own private property.
He has refused to let opponents or
teammates do so much as sniff the
basketball while he adds another
offensive rebound and two more
points to his ever-increasing totals.
By the numbers, the junior col
lege transfer has had little trouble
adjusting to Big 12 basketball.
Bradford has produced better point
and rebound totals during the con
ference schedule than he did in the
non-conference portion.
Bradford is averaging 12.8
points per game, but has scored at a
15.1 clip in NU’s last 10 contests.
His rebounding numbers have gone
up similarly. He is currently ranked
sixth in the conference with 8.7 i
rebounds per game.
These totals are largely due to
his ability to get to the offensive
glass. Bradford leads the Big 12
with 5.1 offensive boards per game.
It’s his calling card, and he doesn’t
mind admitting it.
“I feel like I can get to the
boards against anybody,” Bradford
said. “I have been blessed with the
physical ability to do so, and I enjoy
it. A lot of basketball players can’t
Soccer team signs
seven new recruits
From Staff Reports
The recruiting classes just keep
getting faster for the Nebraska
women’s soccer team.
NU Coach John Walker signed
seven more speedsters to the 2000
Comhusker roster Thursday, calling
the signees the fastest group he’s
ever recruited.
Headlining the recruits is
Christy Harms, a 5-foot-5 defender
from Blue Springs, Mo. who chose
UNL over defending national cham
pion North Carolina.
Also included in the class is Erin
Miller, a 5-11 defender/midfielder
from Sioux Falls, S.D., Lindsey;
Greenwood, a 5-8 forward from
Bettendorf, Iowa, Lacey Woolf, a 5
4 midfielder from Urbandale, Iowa,
Marie-Claude Henry, a 5-6 all-pur
pose player from St. Hyacinthe,
Quebec and two players from
Calgary, Alberta: 5-9 forward Kelly
Haxton and 5-6 forward/midfielder
Serena Kerekes.
Walker said Henry and Haxton
might be two of the fastest players in
the program next season.
NU will need the speed. The
Huskers, who were one penalty kick
^ That is a very
good sign about
the direction of
our program...
Coach John Walker
NU Women’s Soccer
away from reaching the College
Cup, lost some of the best players in
Nebraska soccer history: Lindsay
Eddleman, Amy Walsh, Isabelle
Morneau and Big 12 Player of the
Year Sharolta Nonen.
All but one of the current
recruiting class committed after
Sept. 1999 - Kerekes, who is attend
ing the Southern Alberta Institute of
Technology.
“That is a very good sign about
the direction of our program and the
perception of our program on the
national level,” Walker said. “It’s the
first time we’ve had that happen,
and to have those six players commit
early to our program really helps us
get ahead in recruiting for next
year.”
h
fit