95 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/07/07 5:00am)
March Madness is upon us, and although the IU men’s and women’s basketball teams won’t be finishing their seasons at Assembly Hall, several other IU students saw their amateur careers come to an end there this past Sunday and Monday evenings.\nThe intramural basketball team played its championship games in Assembly Hall earlier this week. The men’s division II and III, women’s division II and co-ed division II championships were Sunday, and the men’s, women’s and co-ed division I finals were Monday.\nFourteen teams stepped on the floor usually reserved for the varsity basketball teams. These teams played the several-weeks-long intramural season before advancing to the final round. \n“The season was a lot of fun,” said junior John Guidry, who played for Christian Student Fellowship, the division I co-ed champions.\nSunday began with the men’s division III game, which was won by the Green Wave. The co-ed division II game was played afterward, between the Blue Ballers and We’ve Seen the Light. The score remained within a point or two the entire game until We’ve Seen the Light eventually pulled away victorious, 39-35.\nThe women’s division II game was next, where team Swisher Sweets took on the Region Rats. The game remained close the entire first half, with several lead changes. But the Region Rats began pulling away in the second half, leading by as many as 12 points. Despite an attempted comeback by the Sweets, the Rats went on to win 32-22. \nAlthough her team lost, Swisher Sweet player and IU junior Emily Williams found the opportunity to play in Assembly Hall to be one she would never forget.\n“It was really cool. It’s huge from down on the court,” she said. “It would have been cooler if there were more people and we could get the full effect, but it was really neat.”\nIn Sunday’s games, the men’s divsion II teams squared off for a shot at their title. \nFormer IU basketball player Kyle Hornsby was included on the roster of the team Rule XXIX, which faced The Fighting Scalpals. The teams were close from tip-off, but The Fighting Scalpals went on a run and brought their lead to as much as six before Rule XXIX caught up and went into the half down by two. \nMost of the second half was back and forth between the two teams, but in the last three minutes of regulation time Rule XXIX hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers, creating a significant lead that The Fighting Scalpals were never able to close. Rule XXIX went on to win, 51-43.\nMonday night began with the division I co-ed game, where the Christian Student Fellowship and the team Cumin-bac-atcha!!! faced off. The Christian Student Fellowship maintained a lead most of the game, leading by 18 at the half. Cumin-bac-atcha!!! got within eight points but eventually lost, 50-66.\nNext up was the women’s division I game, where Club Soccer Ladies and the Effen All-Stars competed. The game started off with slow scoring, remaining tied at 6 for several minutes. \nThe Club Soccer Ladies got a lead off free throws and a 3-point shot before receiving a technical foul for improper check-in. The Ladies didn’t let it phase them, as they went on to out-score the Effen All-Stars 24-1 in the second half, winning by a score of 37-10.\nThe final game of the championship series was the men’s division I game. \nThe Pi Kappa B team played against UMAD. The two teams went back in forth in scoring and as the game progressed, the fouls became more frequent. \nThe Pi Kappa team began to turn the ball over, which precipitated their demise. UMAD maintained a double digit lead for most of the second half, but Pi Kappa started to play catch-up in the last three minutes. Despite the late rally, UMAD eventually beat Pi Kappa to take the division I title, 56-51.
(03/07/07 5:00am)
While some championship game halftimes feature acrobatics, dance routines or wardrobe malfunctions, the halftimes of the intramural basketball championship games instead gave students an opportunity to show off their 3-point-shooting talents.\nTwelve students – six male and six female, made the cut for the 3-point shootout with top scores at the qualifying shootout Feb. 20 in Wildermuth Gym. These participants then duked it out during the halftimes of the intramural basketball championship games with their eyes on the prize – a signed basketball from IU men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson.\nTwo players at a time were allowed to shoot during the half-time break of the division I co-ed game, as well as the men’s division I, II and III games and the women’s division I and II games. While 10 of the 12 ended up competing, only two were awarded the title.\nSenior Kendra Lower won on the women’s side with a final score of 12 points. She shot on Sunday during the women’s division I halftime but had to wait until Monday after the rest of the women had shot to find out she had won.\n“It was really exciting to shoot in Assembly Hall,” Lower said. “I didn’t think I shot very well but luckily I pulled it off.”\nOn the men’s side, sophomore Ryan Nagle was awarded the top prize with a score of 17. This was Nagle’s second time winning the shootout in two years.\n“It’s cool because it was two times in a row,” Nagle said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it again.”\nFreshman Morgan Davis also participated in the shootout. She shot during the halftime of the women’s division I game Monday. She also played on team Swisher Sweets in the women’s division II finals the day before.\n“It was amazing,” Davis said. “It’s cool to know I shot on the same court IU plays on.”\nNagle and Lower were each awarded a signed Sampson basketball, which both agreed was better than “just a T-shirt.”
(03/05/07 5:00am)
After ending the regular season with a loss, the IU wrestling team began postseason play with the Big Ten tournament this weekend after a two-week layoff and finished fifth. \nAfter the first day of wrestling, the Hoosiers were ranked fourth behind Minnesota, Wisconsin and Penn State, but they were only 2.5 points out of second place.\nThe defending champion Minnesota Golden Gophers were leading the pack, up 40 points on second place Wisconsin. \nFreshman Angel Escobedo started off the tournament strong, defeating both Brandon Precin of Northwestern and Will Livingston of Ohio State. He then lost to Charlie Falck of Iowa, which gave Escobedo just his fifth loss of the season. \nIn the final round Sunday, he faced Colin Cudd of Wisconsin and defeated him 5-2, then defeated Gabe Flores of Illinois, locking his third-place finish.\nFreshman Trevor Perry was seeded fifth going into the tournament, where he sought revenge on John Murphy of Michigan State in the first round. Murphy was the only loss on Perry’s record during the regular season. Perry defeated Murphy, 10-3. \nPerry was then toppled in the next round by fourth seed Gabriel Dretsch of Minnesota. Later, he faced Jason Martin of Purdue and Matt Winterhalter of Illinois, both of whom he defeated. \nOn Sunday he faced Eric Luedke of Iowa in the opening round, where he lost. He eventually beat Matt Maciag of Wisconsin to seal a fifth-place rank. \n“For being a freshman, and this being my first Big Ten, it was pretty exciting,” Perry said. “Fifth wasn’t too bad. I feel pretty good.”\nJunior Brandon Becker and sophomore Andrae Hernandez were the only Hoosiers to earn a bid to the championship round, which also took place Sunday. \nHernandez was the sixth seed going into the tournament and was the lowest seed to advance to the championship round this year. \nBecker had a bye in the first round, but he got a major decision against Jake Murphy of Purdue in the second round. In the championship semi-finals, he faced No. 3 seed Craig Henning of Wisconsin, defeating him for the third time this season. He then lost to C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota in the championship match. No. 2 seed Becker had the highest pre-tournament seed on the Hoosier squad. \nHernandez defeated unseeded Chris Diehl of Michigan and quickly followed that victory with an upset of No. 3 seed Mack Reiter of Minnesota to advance to the semifinal round, where he topped Jamie Kennedy of Illinois. He was then set to face top-ranked defending champion Nick Simmons of Michigan State in the championship round Sunday, where he lost 6-4.\n“It was a great confidence boost to beat a number two and number three seed,” Hernandez said. “I would have liked to win, but it didn’t turn out that way.”\nThe Hoosiers finished the tournament with a final ranking of fifth place overall.\n“We were impressive,” IU coach Duane Goldman said. “A lot of teams were impressed at their showing despite their youth.”\nMinnesota dominated the top spot with a margin of 56.5 points between it and second-place Wisconsin.
(03/01/07 5:00am)
Metal, like any other genre, is a complex, multifaceted world inhabited by both passionate artists and leeching fakers alike. There is extremely good metal out there: The fascinating story-telling and epic bass lines from Primus, the infectious high energy of Korn or Disturbed, and Pantera's raw ability to consistently rock your face off, for example. However, there is quite a bit out there touting itself as metal that is just plain awful. Kittie's newest endeavor, Funeral for Yesterday, is of the latter type. \nIn an unoriginal, painfully dull album that is equal parts Gwen Stefani post-Tragic Kingdom and tired Metallica rip-off riffs on an elephant-dose of Valium, these plastic tough girls try desperately to thwart the cruelties of aging by facing the world with rhyming couplets straight out of an eighth-grader's diary.\nLyrics like, "Your hate sustains me" and "Buried alive, I soon grow weak" sung in a thin baby doll voice leave the listener confused by the disconnect between the contrived, dark lyrics and their positively peppy voices. It's as if they're just happy someone gave them studio time. The lyrics themselves are so shallow and synthetic, it's like the girls sat down and said, "Okay, what are the most dark phrases we can think of?" then tracked them on top of some instrumental recordings collecting dust in a garage. There is no heart, no sincerity and no continuity between vocals and instrumentals. They are playing on the organic feelings of a young audience, hoping they won't know better so the band can make a buck. Vile.\nOn a rare positive note, the occasional guitar solos are impressively reminiscent of Slayer and give a welcome respite from the shallow, talentless lyrical musings of Morgan and Mercedes Lander. Those two need to shut up more often and let the obvious instrumental potential of their band mates save them from the embarrassment of their age-inappropriate whining. The many layers of driving, complicated beats and heavy bass lines merit recognition; however, they can't be heard most of the time, due to the overpowering, unbalanced vocals. \nOverall, Funeral for Yesterday is a complete waste of production time, attention, instrumental talent and plastic. The sound technicians responsible for the album's vocal-instrumental volume disparity should never be allowed to work in the industry again. The women of Kittie need to accept that they are no longer 14 years old and the world expects their message to reflect that. Once committed to a more organic angst coming out of true experience, Kittie could evolve to the higher echelon of metal infamy. Until they commit to their own personal truths, however, they will continue to ruin their own legitimacy with contrived sentimentality and a tired routine.
(02/28/07 5:00am)
Although Woodlawn Field is locked up for the winter, several students across campus have found a way to continue playing their favorite outdoor sport. \nCoed intramural indoor soccer is currently underway at the Student Recreational Sports Center. Seventy teams registered to play, according to the RecSports Web site. \nEach team plays with four players and a goalie, with regular season play being organized as a three-game round-robin. \nLess than two years ago, during the summer of 2005, RecSports installed the indoor arena for soccer in multi-purpose gym two at the SRSC. It has since become a popular room in the SRSC during informal play hours and has opened up an opportunity to improve the playing field of a sport already offered in the intramural roster. In the past, the gyms of the SRSC offered indoor soccer, though it was difficult to play. \n“It was not ideal for soccer because there were bleachers in there,” said Eric Kammeyer, graduate assistant for intramurals, said in an e-mail. “There was no barrier for out of play other than the lines on the floor.” \nKammeyer said that although the current dasher boards aren’t “the most impressive system,” it was the best option for a room that wasn’t initially designed for such play. \nSophomore Scott Hubiak has been playing intramural indoor soccer for the last two years. He plays for the Division II team El Conquistadors. An avid soccer player all his life, Hubiak enjoys intramural indoor soccer for many reasons.\n“I like getting to play for competition,” he said. “Just getting exercise and getting to play again.”\nHis teammate, sophomore Christina Jelski, also played in high school and finds indoor soccer to be a great physical challenge as well as a fun social atmosphere.\n“I like that you can hang out with your friends,” Jelski said. “It’s really relaxed but you kind of get to compete. It’s a good mix of both.”\nAlthough Hubiak and Jelski both enjoy playing indoor soccer intramurals, they agree that outdoor soccer is more fun.\n“I like outdoor soccer because it’s a bigger field.” Hubiak said.\nEven though the indoor arena isn’t nearly as large as Woodlawn Field, participants still get a workout running to defend an opponent or scramble to get a loose ball. Playing the ball off the Plexiglas also creates an added challenge. \nWoodlawn Field is set to reopen on March 19, and many of these players will find themselves playing pickup games with friends or competitive games with RecSport’s outdoor soccer intramural league, which begins after spring break. In the meantime, these soccer fanatics will have to make do with the indoor conditions.\n“It’s a lot different playing indoors,” Jelski said. “But it’s still fun.”
(02/28/07 5:00am)
IU has developed a reputation for being strong from behind the three-point line this season, and several students plan to show this reputation extends past the basketball team’s roster.\nDuring the halftime periods of the intramural basketball championship games in Assembly Hall, the Intramural Sports Council will host the 3-point shootout championships.\nThe first round of the shootout was held Feb. 20 in the Wildermuth gymnasium. Participants were given five balls to shoot, four of which were worth one point and the last being worth three points. The top six males and females were chosen to continue on to the championship rounds. \nThe ISC works closely with RecSports, is a division of the Student Recreational Sports Association and is “the voice of intramural participants,” according to the Web site. \n“The ISC is kind of like the governing body of intramural sports,” Graduate Assistant for Intramurals Eric Kammeyer said. “If you had an idea for a new sport, you would bring a proposal to them.”\nThe ISC decided to create the 3-point shootout two years ago with the hope of adding more diversity to the programs offered by intramurals. \n“On the means of being diverse, I am talking about giving more students a chance to compete in something they could excel in,” ISC president Matt Stoltz said. “Some students are not talented in organized basketball, but many like to play for fun and are good shooters. This gives them a chance to shine.”\nThe 3-point shootout was originally scheduled to take place on Feb. 13 but was pushed back a week due to several intramural games being postponed as well as the IU men’s basketball game against Purdue. Despite the scheduling difficulties and inclement weather, about 85 participants showed up to the shootout. This number was down from roughly 120 participants last year. \nKammeyer believes the weather may have encouraged some participants to stay home. \nTwelve students advanced to the finals in Assembly Hall. One of those participants is senior Kendra Lower, who played intramural basketball and participated in the 3-point shootout last year. She was also a three-year varsity player on her high school’s basketball team. This is the second year Lower will be advancing to the championship round. \n“I shot (at) Assembly Hall last year, and it was really exciting,” Lower said. “It seems a lot bigger when you are actually on the court playing.”\nThe shootouts will take place at the halftimes of the six intramural championship games on March 4 and 5. The winners of the men’s and women’s shootouts will each win a basketball signed by IU basketball coach Kelvin Sampson as well as a RecSports T-shirt. \n“The 3-point shootout is improving in its second year,” Stoltz said. “Last year the winners only got a T-shirt that showed they were an intramural champion.”
(02/19/07 5:00am)
This weekend signaled the end of the regular season for the IU wrestling team with a pair of crucial road matches. IU defeated No. 22 Michigan State on Friday 23-15 before losing to No. 9 Wisconsin 21-13 on Sunday.\nDuring Friday’s match at MSU, No. 9 Angel Escobedo scored a major victory against No. 7 Franklin Gomez in the final 10 seconds of the third period after a back-and-forth battle for the lead. Down by one, Escobedo managed to post a reversal and near fall to seal the win for the Hoosiers 11-7. \nAlong with the victories came a few losses, including a match in which IU freshman Trevor Perry suffered his first conference loss of the season, against John Murphy in the 174-pound weight class. Perry, who is now 7-1 on the season, scored the first points of the match but was unable to keep the lead as Murphy won 8-4.\nTop-ranked Spartan Nick Simmons jumped up a weight class this weekend to fill in for his injured brother, leaving sophomore Andrae Hernandez to take on Clint Frutiger in the 133-pound weight class. Hernandez dominated the match with a 16-1 technical fall, while Simmons went on to defeat Hoosier sophomore Scott Kelly by a disqualification in the 141 pound class.\nSunday’s match against Wisconsin started off with three straight losses for the Hoosiers. IU’s first win came during the fourth match of the day when junior Brandon Becker took down No. 5 Craig Henning. \nNot thrown off by his first conference loss of the season Friday, Perry jumped back into competition by taking down Wisconsin’s Mike Felling to begin the Hoosiers’ run at the upset. Perry’s victory brought the Hoosiers within eight points, and a consecutive victory by teammate junior Marc Bennett brought them within five with three matches remaining.\n“It felt good to get that win,” Perry said. “It was good to dig myself out of that hole and wrestle better than I did Friday.”\nDespite a strong resurgence, IU lost two of the remaining three matches, bringing the final score to 21-13. Escobedo won the last match of the day to close out his season.\n“I’m really excited about my performance,” Escobedo said. “I just hope to go on and take a Big Ten title and hopefully a national title.”\nNext up for the Hoosiers is the Big Ten tournament, which begins March 3 in East Lansing, Mich.\nAlthough the last match of the season was a loss, IU coach Duane Goldman is optimistic about the postseason.\n“We’ve got a lot of training to do,” he said. “Hopefully, we can qualify as many guys as we can and head to nationals.”
(02/16/07 5:00am)
The IU wrestling team usually ends practice with scrimmages in which coach Duane Goldman simply tells the squad to wrestle. These scrimmages are sometimes sluggish after hours of practice and lifting. \nThere was no such sluggishness this week. \nThere was intensity in the Hoosiers' eyes and growing aggression. There were cheap shots. They pushed one another up against the walls and pulled at their headgear. During sprinting suicides, they shouted words of encouragement and patted each other's backs when they crossed the line.\nIt's the end of the regular season, and the team knows there is no better time to push the limits. \nThis weekend, the No. 18 Hoosiers look to close out their regular season with major wins and boost their tournament seeding with two road matches against ranked opponents. IU will take on No. 22 Michigan State on Friday and No. 9 Wisconsin on Sunday. \nLast weekend the Hoosiers won two key matches against Michigan and then-No. 12 Northwestern. The team hopes to carry this momentum into the upcoming weekend. \n"We pulled off two solid wins last weekend, and I'd like for our team and myself just to keep going," freshman Trevor Perry said. "(We need to) pick up these next two wins, hopefully, and work hard this week and make it happen."\nPerry is currently 6-0 in conference play and hopes it will be 8-0 this weekend. \nMSU recently lost 33-9 to No. 10 Iowa. Spartan Nick Simmons is ranked No. 2 in the 133-pound weight class after winning by an injury default versus Iowa. He will face IU sophomore Andrae Hernandez, who is ranked No. 20. \nPerhaps the most intriguing matchup will be between MSU's No. 6 Franklin Gomez and IU freshman Angel Escobedo, ranked No. 9 . Escobedo is 28-4 on the year with his most recent victory coming with 13 seconds left in the period versus Brandon Precin of Northwestern. \nSunday's match against Wisconsin may prove to be more of a challenge for the IU wrestlers. Wisconsin is coming off a late-round loss to No. 7 Illinois, who took the lead and the win during the last match of the day. Wisconsin has six members of its team ranked in the top 20 of their weight classes, while IU has five. \nHoosier and No. 7 Brandon Becker is scheduled to take on No. 3 Craig Henning of Wisconsin. Despite the rankings, Becker is optimistic about the outcome. \n"I've wrestled him already this year and beat him," Becker said. "But it's a good match every time." \nGoldman knows just as well as the team how important this weekend is. He is also aware of the difficulty of the task at hand. \n"MSU and Wisconsin are both real tough places to go into," Goldman said. "We just have to do what we can do and hopefully the guys won't hold back and they'll wrestle up to their potential." \nAlthough road games can be tough, the Hoosiers know there are some benefits to it as well. \n"Being on the road is always a little tough with the away crowds and away referees," Perry said. "But it makes winning away a lot better"
(02/02/07 4:56am)
This weekend might be one of the toughest yet for the IU wrestling team. \nRecoiling after their first two losses of the season, the Hoosiers are set to take on No. 1 Minnesota tonight followed by North Carolina State on Saturday. Both will take place at the University Gym.\nThe Hoosiers dropped both of their duals last weekend, falling to Illinois and Ohio State to put them at 10-2 for the season and 1-2 in the Big Ten.\nMinnesota is 14-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Big Ten, with several of its team members holding records for winning streaks. Cole Konrad, Dustin Schlatter, and Manuel Rivera are ranked in the top five for the longest winning streaks among active Division I wrestlers. The Gophers most recently defeated Purdue 32-9.\nCoach Duane Goldman is looking forward to the meet, and thinks it will \nbe hard work for the team as a whole \nand for individual players.\n"We look for those individual victories and hope that that adds up to something good," he said. "But we need to focus on those individual match ups and try to improve our seeds for the Big Ten tournament."\nMany of the Hoosiers are going up against highly-ranked opponents. Freshman Matt Coughlin is set to face Schlatter, who is ranked first nationally in 149-pound weight class and has an unbeaten streak of 54 matches. \n"I've got nothing to lose," Coughlin said. "I just got to go out there and wrestle my match and, you know, I'll be coming after him."\nSenior Josh Buuck also has his work cut out of him as he faces top-ranked Konrad in the heavyweight class.\n"He's a big guy. I've wrestled him before. I know that he's very aggressive." Buuck said. "I'm a little bit smaller, a little bit quicker. I just got to try not to let him get his weight on me and go after him the best I can."\nThis weekend is also one of the rare occasions where the team will have back-to-back weigh-ins.\n"It'll be a good challenge for us with Minnesota one day and NC State the next," Goldman said. "It will be something new for our guys so we'll see how it goes."\nAlthough they are facing two opponents this weekend, Goldman is taking one at a time.\n"We aren't even going in against NC State yet," he said. "We still have to go in against Minnesota. We'll see how we come out of Minnesota to see how we go into NC State"
(01/31/07 4:37am)
During intramural basketball season, the courts at the Wildermuth Intramural Center become jam-packed with sweaty male players shooting free throws, playing man-to-man defense and violently vying for rebounds.\nWhile observing the madness, one may catch a glimpse of something else: long, flowing pony tails, hairless legs and backs, and sports bras.\nDespite the abundance of men, there are several coed and all-female teams that also light up the scoreboards.\nThis season there are four teams registered to sororities in the women's leagues. There are 10 teams in the Division I category and 14 teams in the Division II category, according to the RecSports Web site.\nWomen's intramural and athletic programs are hardly new to the University. Director of Recreational Sports Kathy Bayless cites a report dating women's involvement back to the late 19th century, which puts IU as one of the front-runners in higher-education institutions to construct a women's gymnasium.\n"In 1890 the administration made a special effort to provide the necessary facilities and equipment for all female students to use and for the promotion of the Department of Physical Training for Women," she said in an e-mail interview. "In 1896-97, the expanding program moved to Mitchell Hall. The space afforded by the move made possible the offering of basketball in 1901-02 as the first athletic activity in the program."\nAfter more than a century, it is a program that is still going strong.\nSenior Liz Kauffmann, captain of the Division I team Club Soccer Ladies, has been playing all four years of her college career. She plays for both the all-female club soccer team as well as a coed team. Two years ago her club soccer team won the women's title, and they hope for a repeat this year.\nSince club soccer is a fall sport, the women use intramural basketball as a way to stay in shape as well as for something fun to do together as a team. \nBecause she plays both female and co-ed teams, Kauffmann has experienced both worlds that intramural sports offer. \n"Guarding guys is a lot more physical," she said. "It's kind of fun."\nDespite the lop-sided ratio of men's to women's teams, Kauffmann believes both divisions get treated equally and have just as much competition. \n"The competition gets pretty intense," Kauffmann said. "I really \nlike that."\n"There are teams with people who played in high school and are fairly talented," said senior Ali McCormick, captain of the Kappa Alpha Theta team, "and there are teams with people whom have never played. Both the male and female intramural basketball field has both good and bad teams."\nMcCormick has also been involved in intramural sports her entire career as a student at IU. She played basketball in high school and started participating in intramural sports when she realized how much she missed the game. She is also the current athletic chair at Theta.\nIntramural graduate assistant Eric Kammeyer said women's participation in intramural sports has been very steady the last few years, hovering around 30 teams per season.\nKammeyer said there were 61 coed teams last year. This year's number is 48, according to RecSports.
(01/19/07 4:24am)
During their strenuous endurance exercises, IU wrestling coach Duane Goldman often tells his players, "There is no time to get weak!" There's no better advice to give to the No. 13 Hoosier wrestling squad as it heads into its first match of conference play this weekend against Purdue.\nComing off a dominating win at Eastern Illinois last weekend, the Hoosiers (9-0) are eager to square off against their rival and keep their momentum going. \n"Coming from the state of Indiana I know how big of a rivalry it is," freshman Angel Escobedo said. "It's a real big rivalry and I can't wait."\nAlthough some members of the team are excited about going head-to-head with the Boilermakers, Goldman sees this match as just another obstacle in IU's season.\n"Every competition we have we need to be ready for," Goldman said. "We need to prepare as always … This isn't the beginning or end of our season. We have a lot of things left to do."\nFreshman Matt Coughlin is optimistic and ready to tackle this list of remaining tasks. Coughlin has beaten six top-20 ranked opponents this season and hopes to add a seventh when he takes on Purdue senior Jake Patacsil -- who is ranked 11th nationally -- in the 149 pound weight class.\n"I've scouted this kid a little bit," Coughlin said. "I know what I need to work on this week and I've been doing it."\nPatacsil has recently eclipsed the 100-career victory mark, the 12th player to do so in Purdue's history. He also placed 12th at the Midlands Championship. Coughlin, however, isn't letting Patacsil's recent results faze him.\n"It's just another match," Coughlin says. "Most guys you wrestle are going to be real tough … you just got to go out there with the same mindset."\nAnother player who is up to the challenge this weekend is freshman Nate Everhart. Everhart's only losses at the Midlands Championship were against ranked opponents. This weekend he will face No. 14 Nathan Moore. Since he is a freshman, he sees many of his matches as learning experiences to get him ready for his future wrestling career.\n"I'm getting experience wrestling against ranked wrestlers," Everhart says. "It's the same training, I just got to go out there prepared to wrestle harder."\nAs a freshman, this is also his first time facing Purdue at home.\n"I can't wait to see all the fans," Everhart said. "To get that big rivalry going … it's going to be intense"
(01/17/07 5:12am)
It's that time of year again. The time when thousands of students go head-to-head on the basketball court in the Assembly Hall spotlight to have their biggest fans cheer them on. \nIt's not quite March Madness, and the players aren't Kelvin Sampson's crew, but much of the excitement is still there and, for some, there's still a lot on the line. It's intramural basketball season. \nThe IU intramural basketball program, the nation's largest collegiate intramural basketball program, starts Friday at Wildermuth Gymnasium. At the end of January, the IU Division of Recreational Sports will be hosting a regional conference with attendees from several surrounding states where they will discuss the popularity and success of the program at IU. \n"People can't believe that we attract this many participants" said Eric Kammeyer, a graduate assistant for RecSports. "They want to know how we do it."\nBasketball is the most popular intramural sport offered at IU, with 440 to 450 teams in the program this year. \nBesides the thousands of competitors, more than 100 officials will be in charge of regulating the games. The officials were required to take two weeks of training and to officiate two practice games in preparation for season tipoff. \nBecause of the immense popularity, the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building tends to be crowded during the three-week span of the intramural season, which officially begins Jan. 19. \n"Nearly 30 percent of facility visits take place in January and February," said Chris Geary, director of research for RecSports. "We typically have over 400 teams playing intramural basketball at the HPER Building in January and February. That level of student involvement in intramural sports definitely has an impact on facility usage." \nThe teams are categorized into 12 divisions by sex, fraternity/sorority teams and undergraduate/graduate programs. All championship games are played at Assembly Hall. The male, female and coed teams are also divided up into two or three divisions, based on the level of competitiveness. \nBut not all athletes are out on a quest for basketball immortality. \n"We try to publicize that it isn't as competitive as you think," Kammeyer said. "Anyone can come out and play. You don't have to be good to enjoy playing." \nThe intramural program also offers a 3-point shootout. Last year, more than 100 people participated, with the top eight males and six females shooting it out during the half time of the championship game at Assembly Hall. The shootout is a way to get participants involved even if they aren't on teams, Kammeyer said. Registration for the 3-point shootout takes place Jan. 24. \nEight out of the 10 courts in Wildermuth are used for intramural play, which can aggravate many noncompetitors wishing to play basketball. But it is still the most efficient way to conduct such a tournament, Kammeyer said. \nEven with some drawbacks, RecSports officials believe Wildermuth provides the perfect atmosphere.\n"It's not the most fan-friendly environment," said Kammeyer, "But that is the atmosphere everyone likes because it's packed and exciting." \nGames begin Friday at the HPER Building, and the championship games and 3-point shootout are March 4 and 5 at Assembly Hall.
(12/01/06 4:45am)
The Hoosier wrestling team will compete at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Invitational in Primm, Nev., starting Friday. The CKLV tournament is in its 25th year, and IU is one of 49 teams scheduled to participate in the two-day affair. \nThe wrestling matches will be held at Star of the Desert Arena, a 6,500-seat facility that regularly hosts concerts, boxing bouts and rodeos. Considered an important tournament of the early season, the CKLV is an opportunity for the Hoosiers to see how they match up with teams around the country.\nCoach Duane Goldman said he's looking forward to this tournament and predicts IU is ranked in the top 20 going into it. Although he has high hopes, Goldman knows the team faces challenges.\n"We have a lot of young guys," Goldman said. "And for a lot of them, it's going to be the biggest tournament they've ever been in."\nDespite its inexperience, Goldman believes the team is doing well. Many of the team veterans have competed on a large stage before, and the younger members are learning, he said.\n"We have some real talented young freshmen," Goldman said. "We have a lot to go out there and shoot for."\nSome of this talent has been evident in freshmen Angel Escobedo and Trevor Perry. Escobedo was recently named Big Ten Co-Wrestler of the Week after his 5-0 performance last weekend at the Hoosier Duals. But knowing that he's doing well against Big Ten teams isn't enough for Escobedo.\n"I'm excited to go out there and wrestle with great competition, see where I'm at in the nation," Escobedo said.\nFor Perry, this is his first time competing on a grand scale. \n"I'm excited for it. It's going to be great competition," Perry said. "As a freshman coming in, everyone's a challenge. No one knows me. Everyone else has got a name already."\nThe CKLV tournament begins at 9 a.m. Friday and concludes Saturday evening.
(11/20/06 9:50pm)
During only its second tournament of the season, the Hoosier wrestling team added a few more wins to their record this weekend at the Missouri Open. \nIn one of the more exciting matches of the night, No. 2-seeded sophomore Andrae Hernandez (133 pounds) overcame three opponents to eventually face the No. 1 seed Matt Keller from University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Keller is ranked fifth nationally, according to themat.com, and Hernandez fought him into overtime before he was defeated, taking second place. \nFreshman Kurt Kinser went on to take second place in the 149-pound weight class after pinning nationally-ranked Josh Wagner of the host Missouri during his first dual of the day. Freshman Nathan Everhart was forced to settle with fourth place after giving up a medical forfeit during the match to determine third place. Senior Josh Buuck and junior Dave Herman were named co-champions in the heavyweight division. \nThe freshmen and sophomores proved just as skillful as their older counterparts, bringing home five players who placed third or higher during the freshman/sophomore counterpart to the Missouri Open. Nick Walpole placed first in the 141-pound weight class, while Nick Avery and Kyle Samuels each took second in the 174 and 157-pound weight classes. Justin Kuhn and Elijah Cook each took third. \nCoach Duane Goldman said that many starters sat out this weekend so that they would have a chance to get healthy and prepare for upcoming regular season meets. \n"This weekend was a good tournament," Goldman said. "It provided an opportunity to get some matches under our belt and for the team to get healthy and prepare the starters for the tough competitions coming up." \nNext weekend, IU will host the Hoosier Duals at the University Gym, which will draw competition from Bucknell, Ohio, Oregon, Appalachian State and University of the Cumberlands.
(11/09/06 4:20am)
In only its second year of existence, the IU Curling Club already notices an increased interest in the unconventional sport.\nThe club is the brainchild of junior Ryan Brown. Growing up in a curling family, Brown experienced the game at a young age and eventually shared his love of the sport with his long-time friend and fraternity brother, junior David Krasny, now the vice president of the club.\nThey began organizing the club two years ago, with Krasny taking care of the business aspect.\n"(Brown) knows how to play. I get things organized," Krasny said. \nLast year, IU's team progressed to the medal round of the Big Ten Tournament. The team hopes to bring the championship to Bloomington this year and continue to be a contender in the club curling circuit.\nCurling is a sport played on ice, with four members to a team. The goal of the game is to slide "stones" down a 146-foot-long alley, getting the stones as close as possible to the center of the target. Two members of the team "sweep" a path in front of the stones to create friction and melt the ice, causing the stone to slide farther.\nPractices are held at the Indiana/World Skating Academy in Indianapolis. The team carpools to practices weekly, and the I/WSA offers a few club teams that are open for students to join. The team also competes at this arena against other club teams, including teams from Butler, Ball State and Purdue. \nBecause of Brown's influence, Krasny has taken up playing on the team and hopes to recruit more members this year. There are six players on the team currently, but the club already had a call-out meeting last week and plans to have more meetings after it gets more equipment.\n"(The next meeting) is going to be specifically (for those interested) to be taken to Indianapolis to try the game for free," Krasny said. "We feel this will be the best way to recruit, as people will have the chance to try something new and decide for themselves if it is something they would be interested in."\nBrown and Krasny are looking for people of all ages for the co-ed team.\n"Curling is for everyone from 8 to 80," Brown said.\nBecause curling isn't a widespread sport, the founders understand many do not know how to play, but they said the lack of knowledge isn't important.\n"You can learn everything you need to know about the game in half an hour to an hour," Brown said.\nKrasny said he is a prime example.\n"The first day I was slipping and falling on the ice, the next I was playing," Krasny said. "It's an easy game to pick up but hard to master."\nThe faculty adviser to the group, business professor Steven Kreft, said he agrees.\n"The nice thing is I think it can be fun at a beginner level and challenging at an expert level, so it appeals to all," he said in an e-mail.\nKreft became involved with the club after having Krasny as a student in his G202: Business and Economic Strategy in the Public Arena class last spring.\n"We were talking before class one day, and he mentioned the idea of a curling club," Kreft said. "I don't think he knew I was a curling fan, but I am happy he talked to me."\nAs much as the team loves to win, Brown acknowledges it's not everything -- even losing can have its benefits.\n"Curling is a very social sport," Brown said. "After a game, the teams will go to a pub where the winning team will buy the losers a round -- so it's not always so bad to lose"