Douglas won't stop coaching
POUGLASfrompagelO
for 27years.
But Smith, who was a gold
medalist on Douglas’ 1992
Olympic squad, said Douglas’
impact on the sport is nothing to
shake one’s head at
“He’s given a lot to wrestling,”
said Smith, who is in his ninth
year as coach of the Cowboys. “I
realty like Bobby, and I’ve learned
to appreciate him a lot more now
as a head coach.”
Manning, in his fourth year
overall as coach after three at
Northern Iowa, said doing what
Douglas has done for so long
takes a special person.
“It takes a strong person with a
great work ethic,” Manning said.
“He’s a consistent competitor.
Obviously he’s done a lot of good
things, and he’s done them right.”
Doing so started early.
Douglas recalls in his pre-grade
school days church picnics dur
ing warm spring Sundays in his
hometown. He’d watch, sitting
atop his grandfather’s shoulders,
five or six dozen children
wrestling in the soft spring grass
in his tiny hometown of Blaine,
Ohio, made up of just 32 families.
“Every Sunday there was
wrestling,” Douglas said, “and
then in grade school there was
wrestling, and then in high school
m
From there it went Douglas
went on to win an Ohio state
championship, and wrestling at
West liberty (WVa.) State College,
he won an NAIA title before trans
ferring to Oklahoma State.
From die days of wrestling at
church picnics to the 27 years of
instructing hundreds of wrestlers
from the bench, it's easy to tell
Douglas's love for wrestling hasn’t
been taken down. That's why he’s
still going strong.
But the people he works with,
especially the wrestlers, are what
keep him coming back and will
keep him coming back for the
next eight to lOyears, he said.
Of all the record-setting sta
tistics Douglas has acquired, an
often overlooked one is his
favorite. He’s graduated 93 per
cent of his wrestlers, he said.
“I’m in it for the guys,"
Douglas said. “My biggest stat is
the alumni I’ve produced over my
years."
Cyclone's Sanderson
one of history's best
WRESTLER from page 10
wrestling and coaching legend Dan Gable's streak of 99 straight wins
like it was a Ford Festiva on 1-80.
He has now piled up 110 straight wins. I don’t care if you’re doing
log rolling or tiddlywinks, 110 straight wins in anything is simply stag
gering, unless it’s Kansas State nonconference football games.
The Heber City, Utah, native won national championships his
freshman and sophomore years, and he’s going to win again this year
and the next Bet the house, the dorm or wherever you live.
He’ll be named the NCAA championship’s most outstanding
wrestler these next two seasons, just as he was
in his first two.
Whereas Gable had his streak snapped in
his last collegiate match, Sanderson won’t
lose. Not even kryptonite could stop this kid.
He's proven he can’t really be touched as an
amazing 36 of Sanderson’s 110 wins have
come by pin. This season he's won by decision
onlytwiceoutof31 matches, the closest mar
gin being six points - not exactly a photo fin
ish.
The distance between him and the sec
ond-ranked wrestler is like putting my
Cavalier in die Daytona 500 this weekend. No
disrespect to Illinois’ Nate Patrick, but it’s
true. (Sanderson has already smoked him in a
16-7 major decision this year.)
And the saddest thing is you didn't even
know about him until five minutes ago. You
won’t take advantage of the opportunity to
watch one of the most dominant athletes of
all time.
If wrestlers
wore
numbers on
singlets,
they
wouldn’t
just retire
hist they’d
take it out
of the
whole
numerical
system.
If Sanderson, who s no slouch in the class
room as a two-time academic All-American,
was on the hardwood instead of a wrestling mat, you’d slam down your
money to see him without even thinking. If his success was measured
in passing yards or triple-doubles instead of double-leg takedowns,
you’d wait in line to get just a passing glance.
No doubt thousands of students are turning backflips anticipating
Notre Dame's visit to Memorial Stadium next season. Why is that game,
which will feature two relatively mediocre football teams, such a hot
ticket?
“Because it’s Notre Dame-Nebraska - the opportunity of a life
time," you say. “Duh."
Same here, but you won’t check out Sanderson because it’s
wrestling. Because you don’t understand it Because it’s not exciting.
Because there’s no fireworks and laser shows after someone notches a
pin.
But the sport of wrestling has acclimated itself to getting pigeon
holed by those outside of it as not being interesting enough, and its fig
ures have accepted that they won’t get the coverage or notice they
deserve. It comes with the sport’s territory.
So if you say you’re a fan of all sports, you owe it to yourself to check
out Sanderson on Friday.
Or even if you’re just a convict who wants to bust out
Freshmen gymnasts step up
FRESHMEN from page 10
this season - the very same meet
Bruce was called upon to com
pete in her only all-around of the
season.
The Champlin, Minn., native
filled in nicely for the Huskers,
scoring a39.325.
Because national rankings
are based on the average all'
around scores, Bruce's average of
39.325 ranks her third individu
ally in die nation.
“It is kind of a joke,” Bruce
said, “but it is really cool to see
your name up there and to know
you did just as good as die other
girls for not being an all
arounder.”
What isn't a joke is the amaz
Big 12 title
at stake for
swimmers
SWIMMERS from page 10
men’s scores will be added to
the men’s team scores when the
Big 12 championship takes
place on March 1-3.
Jerilyn Drummond will
guide the NU diving squad
against a formidable squad
horn Texas A&M.
On the men's side, Charlie
Law will lead his team and
attempt to knock off one of the
nation’s best again. After beat
ing top-notch Georgia diver Jud
Campbell in his last meet, the
task doesn’t get any easier.
Texas's Ttoy Dumias is arguably
the premier diver in the Big 12
and in the country.
Karaica remarked about the
demeanor of the team heading
into championship and said
that the team is ready, focused
and enthused about compet
ing.
“People have a lot of ener
gy," Karaica said. “Everybody is
all giddy and loud, and that is a
good sign. If people were mop
ing around and tired, that
would be bad."
ing power Bruce has displayed
during her vault routine. In the
Missouri and Oregon State
meets, Bruce scored a 9.9 for die
event in both meets.
“Gina's main strength is her
power,” said Brink, who is a grad
uate assistant with NU this year.
“Her vault is something you have
never seen before.”
Another surprise for NU this
season has been the emergence
of Landgraf. The Fort Collins,
Colo., native has been a staple in
Nebraska's lineup.
Landgraf has competed in
every event this year except for
die balance beam.
She was able to set career
highs on the vault (9.85) and
uneven bars (9.825) last week in
West Virginia.
With her superb twisting
ability, Kendig uses Landgraf to
pace NU on the uneven bars. She
has led off on the apparatus for
each ofNU’s meets this year.
“(Leading off) is a tough
place to be sometimes because it
sets the tone to what is to come,”
Kendig said.
With their poise and their
hard work, the freshmen have
gained the respect from their fel
low teammates.
“As far as their competitive
edge, they are very strong and
very focused,” NU senior all
American Amy Ringo said. “They
have done an incredible job of
stepping up and performing for
us.”
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a force in
easy win
WILPaTSfrompagelO
to go out there and get that job
done”
The redshirt freshman from
Hubbard, Ohio, showed that the
start was deserved, impressing
Nebraska Coach Barry Collier
with his defense and rebounding,
areas that Collier said had been
lacking in the freshman's game.
“He has not shown defense
and rebounding like the level he
was at tonight,” Collier said. "The
coaches already have talked
about what the lineup may be
after tonight’s game.”
The Huskers jumped to a 14-3
lead only five minutes into the
game with its renovated starting
lineup.
“We came out with more
intensity and with more of a pur
pose,” Ffriend said. "The guards
were doing a good job of getting
the ball inside low and once we
got on a roll, they just kept on
feeding us.”
i\eDrasKa senior iorwara
Cookie Belcher was one of the
Huskers who found post players
open on a consistent basis, com
piling eight assists in his 24 min
utes of action to go with 15 points.
The Huskers’ defense was
equally impressive as its offense.
NU held Kansas State to 38 per
cent shooting for the game, allow
ing only 23 first-half points to help
Nebraska gaina 17-pointhalftime
advantage. The Wildcats wouldn’t
get any closer than 14 in the last 20
minutes.
"We did our part of rebounding
the ball and taking care of it, and
obviously we shot the ball well,”
Collier said of his tram’s 53 parent
shooting performance. "And I was
encouraged by our continued [day
after getting the big lead”
The Huskers pushed the lead
to 76-45 in the second half, allow
ing Collier to empty his bench.
"You always want to see guys
on the end of the bench get in,”
Conklin said “It was a great feeling
seeing those guys get in tonight”
The win gives NU some
momentum going into its
Saturday road tilt at Colorado,
which handed NU a 60-57 loss
Feb. 3, a critical game to win if NU
wants to keep its postseason
hopes above water.
Wednesday’s win, Ffriend
said, puts NU in position to make
a conference run and improve its
seed in the Big 12 tournament
“If we can go to Colorado and
get a road win, it would be huge
for us,” Ffriend said
David Chsen/DN
Rodney Fields makes a layup during the first half of Nebraska's 82-56 victory over
Kansas State on Wednesday night Fields had nine points during the game.
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