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January 21, 2011

Kevin WaldronSTAFF WRITER

WRESTLING, FROM PAGE 1

Mens basketball team bounces back

The mens basketball team

went through a slump overwinter break losing playersand games. The Vikings arenow looking to bounce back

by building on positives andnew players according to headcoach Dennis Schaefer.

The Vikings lost five oftheir last six games duringDec. and Jan. after a quickstart to the season in Nov.

Schaefer said, We fin-ished December really positivewith a strong win over BuenaVista. So far in January wehave played well but we haveplayed really inconsistently.

The men are now 11-6for the season and 2-4 in con-ference play according to theGrand View athletic website.For the Vikings to continue towin games they need to get the

ball to the hoop and continueto fight said coach Schaefer.

We have been in posi-tions to win games but havenot been able to make bas-

kets, Schaefer said. The keyto being a good team is bat-tling through adversity.

Schaefer said it is difficultto be perfect when you have a

30 or 32 game schedule. A teamwill have its highs and lows.The Vikings may have run intosome of the best teams in theleague over break. Schaefersaid, The league, I think, is as

balanced as I have seen it in 13years as head coach.

Some other problems theteam came across over breakis, losing Allen Clark, juniorguard, due to academic rea-sons and Corey Bain, juniorguard, after injuring his finger.

However, despite the set backs over winter break theteam now looks to get back on

track according Schaefer.Schaefer said, We are

looking to improve making baskets in practice, shooting

more, and trying to get a betteroffensive flow.

The team has also madesome adjustments by adding

freshmen to the varsity lineup. Kody Ingle freshmen,guard and Chad Malloy fresh-men guard, are stepping upand making plays on the courtaccording to head coach.

Ingle is a transfer studentfrom Creighton University.His reasoning for transferringis personal but is looking toexpand his basketball careerhere at Grand View.

Ingle said, I dont feellike I am replacing anyone.I am just trying to fill a roleon the team. I am still gettingused to playing with everyone

in practice but we can only keep getting better with therest of the season.

Schaefer said, Wheneveryou have guys missing fromyour line up it takes awhile tohave kids come up and rede-fine their roles.

The team is looking to itsleaders, Kevin Smith, juniorpost and Jamel LeBranch,senior guard. Coach feels thatsmith has a strong presenceon the boards and LeBranchdoes a great job leading forthe team.

In Dec. Smith was selectedas the MCC player of the Weekfor mens basketball. It wasSmiths second MCC weeklyhonor of the season accordingto the Grand View website.

Schaefer still has highhopes for the rest of the season.

But the only expectationis to work hard and try get bet-ter everyday, Schaefer said.

Winning the MCC con-ference is still not out of therealm of possibilities accord-ing Schaefer. However, hesaid they would have to do agreat job with the rest of the

season and have to have somehelp with other teams getting

knocked off.JODI JURIK/CONTIBUTOR

Chad Malloy, freshmen guard, throws the ball over a William Penn player at the game on Wednesday, Jan.12. The team won 81-68 and have a record of 11-6. They have a conference record of 2-4.

individual is ranked, the morepoints their team receives.

The Vikings are withouta wrestler at 157 pounds and

throughout the season havebeen forced to bump an athleteup a weight class, from 149pounds, just to save a forfeit.

As a young team, thething we struggle with isdepth, Mitchell said. Whenyou have a weight class whereyou have to bump someoneup, it shows and thats whatwere dealing with.

Even with a hole in theline-up, the Vikings havemaintained high ranking byhaving two weight classeswith two Viking wrestlersranked in each.

At 133 pounds, we havetwo of the best guys in thenation, Mitchell said. But ina dual meet we can only useone of those guys. Thats whyI think we are a better tourna-ment team than a dual team.

The Viking wrestling teamhas 10 ranked individuals, thesecond most for any NAIAteam. Although national rec-ognition is nice, Mitchell saidthe team doesnt look too farinto them.

Although seniors MattBurns and Glenn Rhees havewon national titles while wear-ing a Viking singlet, neitherwrestler entered the tourna-ment as the top seed. Rhees iscurrently ranked No. 2 at 174pounds and Burns sits at No.4 in the 149 lb weight class.Both wrestlers said they plan

on repeating as national cham-pions in their final season andrankings wont hold them backfrom doing so.

The Vikings depth hasallowed them to successful-ly shuffle wrestlers between

weight classes in winter break dual victories over No. 13 Morningside and No. 15 Lindsey Wilson, KY.The Vikings lone loss in theLindsey Wilson dual came at157 pounds.

However, the shuffle isharder to execute over higherranked opponents with depth.Especially teams who have fullsized 157 lb athletes in theirline-up. This proved true forthe Vikings with tough lossesagainst No. 5 Cambellsville,KY, No. 7 Lindenwood, MOand No. 8 McKendree, IL.

Wrestling team prepares for national tournament

Weight(lbs)Place

Omi Acosta

Glenn Rhees

Travis Evans

Matt Burns

Nick Coffman

Alex Peitz

Jeff Rau

Tommy Perez

Derek Nightser

Ty Knowler

2nd

2nd

4th

4th

6th

8th

8th

8th

8th

12th

133

174

133

149

141

125

141

184

197

165

National

Wrestler

Rankings

Coaches Poll