1994_03 The Daily Collegian March 1994

              Thursday, March 17,1994
THECOLLEGIAN
Sports—10
Eight Bulldogs try to fulfill NCAA title hopes
Seven wrestlers,
one swimmer start
NCAA competi¬
tion today
Bu HaHr flu !■■■•
oy msth Bryant
THEfJOLLBGIAN
Fresno State's wrestlers will
look to come out on top at the
NCAA Championships at the Dean
Smith Center at the University of
North Carolina today through Sat¬
urday.
The Bulldogs, who rolled to a
second straight WAC tide, quali¬
fied seven for die NCAA champi¬
onships, which equals a school
record and matches the total of a
year ago.
Last season, the 'Dogs finished
eighth in the NCAA's, the best
finish in school history. FSU has
had to battle inexperience in get¬
ting ready for the showdown at
UNC.
The Bulldogs have had to over¬
come the loss of five starters to
graduation and one to a redshirt
season, including Robbie Sordi,
Harold Zinkin, and Lorenzo Neal.
But the new additions and un¬
heralded returnees have fit in nicely,
with Nick Zinkin, Jason Geris, and
Jeromy McKean, all having stellar
Senior Terry Watts and junior
two-time All-American Gerry Abas
are the eery two returning from a
season ago to the NCAA's. Abas
earned his second All-American
honors by finishing runner-up at
142 pounds last season.
Being second-best in the
NCAA's may be satisfy ing enough
for some, but no* Abas. He lost the
championship match by two points
and the defeat has not only gnawed
at him, but it has given him the
motivation to come out on top this
year.
. "This has been the goal I've had
since I've started here, to win the
WAC, go the NCAA's and be the
national champion. Anything less
would be a major disapointment."
The 'Dogs cruised through the
WAC Championships for the sec¬
ond straight season by taking the
team championship and winning
six individual titles in the confer¬
ence meet at New Mexico.
FSU gained 104 points, which
easily outdistanced Wyoming's
67.5 points and Air Force's 53. In
winning six individual titles, the
Bulldogs did better than -last
season's version that won five.
At 118 pounds, senior Sam
Lopez wrestled strong and earned
his first trip to the NCAA's. Nick
Zinkin was the top seed at 126 and
won his title easily.
De Way ne Zinkin, still unbeaten
S\
•J.
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Main Level
278-4268
X ■ 4
at 134 pounds (28-0), had to
scramble in the finals, but still won
aclose one at 10-9over Wyoming's
BryceBochy, Abas, ranked second
nationally at 142, took home his
back-to-back titles by turning in
two strong wins.
To secure his third trip to the
NCAA Tournament, the 150-pound
Watts had to fight for a 3-1 win
over BYU's Greg Taylor to take
third place and gain a wild-card
berth. Watts entered the tourna¬
ment as a top seed but was upset by
Air Force** Rangi Smart 4-2.
McKean increased his winning
streak to 22 matches as he contin¬
ued to dominate at his new 167-
pound division. He claimed top
honors and improved on his third-
place showing last year. McKean
has the most wins for the Bulldogs
this year with a 36-6 record, while
Geris had another strong showing
at 177, finishing second.      >
Abas and DeLiddo came away
with more honors by the time the
WAC Championships were all said
and done. Abas was named the
WACs Most Outstanding. Wres¬
tler and DeLiddo earned his sec¬
ond consecutive WAC Coach of
the Year award.
DeLiddo said that the key to
FSU's surprising season, despite
'heavy losses was due to Abas and
Watts returning as starters.
• "They brought leadership and
experience to a team that didn't
have much," DeLiddo said. "(Abas
and Watts) have been the team's
leaders and they played an impor- *
tarit role in getting the younger
wrestlers ready.** *»HjF
But with strong recruiting
classes the past two year?, DeLiddo
was able to put new blood into the
Bulldogs without skipping a beat
He can only hope that the 'Dogs
See
NCAA,
page 11
Brady does double duty for 'Dogs
Victor Hernandez
THECOLLEGIAN
Backed by not one, but two superb
pitching performances by Fresno State
aceMaureerrBrady.theFSUsoftbalJ
lira was able to sweep No. 9 UNLV
in a twin bill played at Bulldog Dia¬
mond Tuesday.
The Bulldogs defeated the
Rebels 4-0 in the opener and then
relied on the strong relief of Brady
in the second match to win 4-3. -
"We picked up two great wins
today over a very tough softball
team," said head coach Margie
Wright "Wehaven'tplayedagame
in over a week; it was important for
us to come out here today and do
the things necessary in order for us
to be successful," added Wright
In the first game of the double-
dip Fresno State needed only the
third inning to unleash its fury upon
the Lady Rebels. . Senior Kim
Maher. FSU's leading hitter,
yielded a sacrifice fly which plated
the Bulldogs' first run of tne game.
The next hitter was senior desig¬
nated player Michelle Bolt who,
was in her first game back since her
arm injury, which kept her out of
action for nine games. With two
base runners on. Bolt deposited a
three-run shot over the left field
fence. Bolt picked up her 15th,
16th and 17th RBIs with the blast
and also notched her sixth round-
tripper of the season.
"I didn't think it was going to
get out. I was just hustling around
the bases when I heard all the ex¬
cite men t, then I knew it was gone,"
saidBolt. The fourruns FSU plated
in the third proved to be the differ¬
ence as die Lady Bulldogs played
stingy defense and cnnseoVtp the 4-
Owin.
Not to be outsbjned by the of¬
fense, junior Maureen Brady hurled
a near flawless game. Consistently
on target throughout the contest
Brady displayed excellent control,
walking none and striking out four.
'Mo', as affectionately known by
her teammates, threw a complete
game shut-out and picked up her
sixth victory of the season.
In the second game, freshman
Jenifer Clark started the game for
FSU on the mound and experienced
early trouble as UNLV utilized
timely hitting tojump out to aquick
first inning lead. The Lady Bull¬
dogs answered in their half of the
inning via a remarkable seven con-
secutive base hits. FSU established
a 4-2 lead after one.
Jn the second inning Clark was
relieved by Brady, who was called
upon by Wright to put out the flames
and retire the Rebels. Brady who
had just completed ashut-out vic¬
tory now found herself in the midst
of another battle with the opposi-
tion. Pitching five and one-third
innings with no runs or walks, while
whiffing three, Brady blanked the
Las Vegas team - again. The win
gave Brady seven on the yearfad
improves the FSU's record to 12-5.
At the plate Fresno State was led by
Bolt who smacked two hits, a
double and two RBIs. Senior
Christa Yorke also contributed two
base hits, ooe run and stellar de¬
fense from her catcher position.
"My arm feels fine right now,
although tomorrow it'll probably
be a htlle sore,** said a smiling
Brady. When asked upon where
she gets her great stamina and en¬
durance Brady had this to say: In
practice I push myself very hard
and pitching a lot of innings is
something I' ve j ust gotten used to,
much of it has to do with being in
good shape."
The Bulldogs have ballgames
slated all weekend long with double-
headers versus New Mexico on Fri¬
day, Colorado State for Saturday
and Nebraska in town on Sunday.
All the action takes place here at the
Bulldog Diamond and with the tal¬
ented and exciting team coach
Wright has this season, Fresno State
faithful surely won' t be disappointed.
INTRAMURAL
march 24th
March 18th, at 10am
Contact Shelly, Jeff, Carrie, Ricky or Kim
278-2526