touts y to take over
NEUMANN from page 20
Josh Henson - transferring for reasons
unrelated to Neumann’s resignation.
Denke said he was looking at Northern
Iowa, while Henson is going to
Pennsylvania. Neither wrestler was
aware of Neumann’s situation.
The same could be said of most of the
Husker team, none of whom knew about
Neumann’s resignation before it was
announced to the media at 5:21 p.m.
Many expressed shock at the develop
ments.
“Damn, man,” Ati Conner said. “I
mean, what do you say? I can’t believe it
happened. That man is the main reason I
came here.”
Said Husker Charles, N^Torry, who
was reached at NU captain Brian
Snyder’s home: “He’s a good coach and a
good man. That’s all there is to it”
As for Vering: “He was a great coach
who cared about his wrestlers, on the
mat, off the mat. He is a great family
man.”
Very few of the wrestlers had spoken
to the coach in more than a week, some
not since Nebraska’s end-of-the-year
banquet April 8.
Snyder said he had spoken to
Neumann on Monday on the phone, but
the coach’s job status wasn’t among the
topics.
“I can talk to Coach on a personal
level,” Snyder said. “We’re friends in that
way, so we can talk about things outside
wrestling.”
As a captain, along with Vering,
Snyder said both knew slightly more
about the situation than their teammates.
But the junior knew no specifics.
Bob Houser, president of the Husker
wrestling booster club and longtime
Neumann friend, said Neumann’s resig
nation was in no way connected to the
booster club. Houser said he had spoken
with Neumann early Tuesday but didn’t
know the severity of the proceedings
until he was informed Neumann had
resigned.
“I’m sorry to see that it came to this.
Tim and I are good friends. We will
remain good friends,” Houser said.
“We had a nice visit on Tuesday. We
never discussed the possibility (of a res
ignation). I am overwhelmed by all of
this.” . -
In his 15 seasons, Neumann had
established an impressive resume as
Comhusker Coach.
A native of Peshtigo, Wis., Neumann
wrestled at NU during die 1979-80 sea
son before transferring to Northern
Michigan. He joined the Husker staff in
1983 as an assistant under Bob Fehrs.
^ He was a great
coach who cared
about his
wrestlers, on the
mat, off the mat.
Brad Vering
NU captain
Neumann took over the program in
1985 as the interim coach, then was made
official coach one year later. During his
tenure, Neumann coached four national
champions: Kelber, 126-pounder Tony
Purler in 1993, heavyweight Tolly
Thompson in 1995 and Vering this sea
son.
Neumann, 42, was Nebraska’s all
time winningest wrestling coach with his
199 wins and was a three-time Big Eight
Coach of the Year.
In 1990, Neumann was named the
National Coach of the Year after guiding
NU to a 21-2-1 record and a fifth place
national finish.
Senior editor Samuel McKewon
contributed to this report. .
Price wants a chance
at Olympic greatness
PRICE from page 20
high school coach suggested she
look at the university to compete
as a thrower.
“Our initial response was no,
because her marks weren’t as
good as the others we’d seen,”
Colligan said.
But she persisted, and after
viewing a video Price submitted,
Colligan changed his mind.
“You could just see an explo
siveness and athleticism,” he said.
When she arrived, Colligan
said he would help her with her
discus if she would attempt to
throw the hammer.
Learning a completely differ
ent throwing technique took time,
a lot of work and a lot of falling
down.
“I fell down a lot and bruised
my knees,” she said. “Sometimes I
got really dizzy.”
But Price kept improving by
throwing and lifting weights about
four hours a day.
Although the transition to the
hammer throw was difficult and
sometimes frustrating, Price said
she was pleased with Colligan’s
decision.
“I’m just happy to be here and
throwing whatever (weight) will
make this the best team,” she said.
Said Colligan: “She wouldn’t
even touch the disc now.”
Price said her highlight from
her freshman year was scoring at
the Big 12 Outdoor
Championship meet, which is
right about when Colligan saw his
young thrower in a whole new
light.
“We had suspicions about her
potential up until that point,” he
said.
“That’s when we realized she
was maybe even better than we
thought.”
Price kept moving forward,
earning All-American honors in
1999 as well as placing 10* in the
NCAA championship meet with a
throw of 189-6.
Although Price had a record
breaking season last year,
Colligan said he thought this year
could be even better, as her train
ing is designed for her to peak at
the beginning of June.
“She’s way ahead of where she
was at this point a year ago,” he
said.
Price has until Sept. 11 to
reach the 213-3 mark. And if she
doesn’t qualify? ‘
“I’ll be training for 2004,” she
said.
ATTENTION CLASS OF 2000
www.unl.egrad2000.com
: M
I
• f *.v -
Daily
.' Nebraskan
egratfojliiii CDjogtrak.com
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KC owner
welcomed
into league
HOUSTON (AP) - While baseball
owners postponed a decision on
realignment until June, they unani
mously admitted David Glass to their
club, approving his $96 million deal to
buy the Kansas City Royals.
“Everybody respects David Glass a
great deal,” Arizona Diamondbacks
owner Jerry Colangelo said after
Monday’s vote.
Glass took over as Royals chair
man in September 1993, shortly after
the death of founding owner Ewing
Kauffman.
under Kauitman s succession
plan, the team was offered for sale to
Kansas City-area individuals and com
panies, with the money earmarked for
charity.
“It’s been a long time coming,”
Glass said. “I’ve already raised the
cash. Thank goodness I didn’t have it in
the Nasdaq.”
Owners, who also approved a plan
on how to handle disasters such as a
team plane crash, needed just 40 sec
onds to approve Glass.
In November 1998, the Royals’
board accepted a $75 million offer
from lawyer Miles Prentice, but com
missioner Bud Selig convinced owners
not to approve that deal when it came
up for a vote in September. Glass, who
had withdrawn from the lengthy bid
ding process when he feared the
Kansas City area didn’t support him,
then made his offer.
“1 know that Ewing Kauffman
wanted me to wind up owning the
team. He said that to me more than
once,” said Glass, who in January
retired as chief executive officer of
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
To buy the Royals, Glass sold
about 2 million shares ofWal-Mart last
month, raising nearly $111 million,
according to papers filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
He wants his 41-year-old son, David, to
help run the team.
“Hopefully, long after I’m no
longer around, our family will still be
involved with die Royals,” Glass said.
His purchase is set to close April 28
or May 1. He wants the Royals front
office to know there won’t be major
changes in the way the team is run.
