. ,•1975 Westminster tries to block a shot by vicious Cub Jim Davis, during a home game on December 4. Wrestlers Need Support by John Roach The Behrend wrestling team has had more than its share of injuries. "The most severe of our injuries came to sophomore Alir Carter, who suffered a shoulder separation," said Head Coach Ed Onorato. "Other minor injuries such as Kevin Yendell's bout with the flu and Brad Sickler's bad ankles have kept our overall team performance sub-par up to this point, but after Christmas vacation we should be at full strength. The mediocre record of 2-3 this season is not surprising to anyone. Cleveland, Indiana are two major powerhouses in anyone's book." This year's squad, according to Coach Onorato, is the finest squad he has ever coached. The returning lettermen include three boys who competed in the Nationals last year: Ashley (Ash) Swift, Alir Carter, and Brian Voliant. Other returning let termen include last year's Eastway Bowling Lanes 4110 Buffalo Road . Open Bowling ken. Thru Fri. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tues. evening 9:00p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Ph. 899-9855 scholar-athlete award winner we have some guys out there that Kevin Yendell; Alan Volkman, just won't quit. What we do need last . year's most improved is more publicity about our wrestler: and a late starter last matches and more fan support." season, Jim Tracy. The District 18 tourney will be "There are some pleasant held at Indiana this year on surprises from the younger February 28 through March 1. boys," said Coach Onorato. The Nationals will be held the "Eddie •Darr, who has replaced next weekend in Sioux City, the injured Carter, and Scott March 5,6, 7. Behrend can go all Swift, Ashley's younger brother, the way this year. So get out and have wrestled exceptionally well support the Cubs on the mats this so far." season. The next match will be "The schedule this season is January 8 at home 7:30 p.m. probably the toughest ever in the against Youngstown. history of wrestling at Behrend," HOPE TO SEE YOU said the head mentor, "but I feel THERE! !!! The Kid Comes Next you'll be back for the other four Idle Class' Chaplin films. But if you missed January 22 "City Lights" this one, don't let the other go by. February 5 "The Gold Rush" They will be shown every other and "Pay Day" Wednesday evening at 7 and 9 February 1 p.m. in the Reed Lecture Hall. Dictator" Here is the schedule: January 8 "The Kid and "The Don't Miss Them! Win First Three G6mes COL Start Strongly by Jay Schonthaler Sports Editor With but six games gone on their schedule, the Behrend basketball team has already done an entire season's work. Looking back to last year, the Cubs had just three wins to show for the whole year. After their first three times out this season, they had matched that total. And they did- it in dramatic fashion, too, with close, -come-from -: --behind wins versus Roberts Wesleyan; Thiel, and West minster. The Cubs dropped their next two games against California . State, 81-72 and defense-minded Fredonia State. After jumping off to a 3-0 record, the Cubs. raised a. few eyebrows ;around ::the Erie - area, and while head coach. Roger Sweeting certainly did not play down. the importance of those wins, neither was he totally surprised by his team's quick start. Sweeting, who chalked up "The Great his 100th career win with the victory over Wesleyan, admitted, "I thought we had a chance to be 3-0 at this point. I wouldn't have been willing to put money on it, but, yes, I thought we had a chance." Of those first three games, the victory over Westminster proved to be the most noteworthy. Westminster consistently fields a highly representative squad each year and this one is no exception. For example, they feature a 6' 7" center who played his freshman ball at Jacksonville, the NCAA runnerup a few years back, before transferring to West minister. Their entire front line kept l3ehrend away from the boards most of the night. Even after Behretid'had"gcnie"ah&id after trailing most of the game, it was mot until Mark Chesko began pulling down some late game rebounds and Rusty Cunningham came through with several clutch four shots, that the Cubs managed to put the game away for good. Behrend met their initial defeat at California State and as coach Sweeting pointed out "California State is a much improved team over last year." However, the coach was disappointed at the conditions under which the game was played. The Behrend team bus rolled in five minutes before the scheduled game time after inclement weather stretched the trip to five hours. "I told the team before the game that good teams overcome a situation like this," said Coach Sweeting "and it doesn't mean that we aren't a good team. We just weren't mentally prepared to play." That was evidenced by the fact that Behrend then went out and shot 29 per cent from the floor in the first half and promptly found themselves down by 25 points at halftime. After regrouping themselves they staged a strong comeback bid in the final 20 minutes, outscoring California State by 17 points and shooting at a 51. per cent clip. It wasn't enough, of course, as , the huge point difference was too much to make up. Of the difficult bus trip on the way down, Coach Sweeting concluded "I'm sure it had a detrimental effect on the out come." One aspect of their game that the Cub head coach wants 'some improvement in is the shooting. "I make a blanket statement at the beginning of each year that to beat good teams you have to shoot 45 per cent." Thus far, the Cubs have been below that figure in most contests. This lack - of consistent shOotink' hurt the team in the Fredonia :game. "We shot poorly but that's probably a tribute to their defense. I think their' defense is tougher than ever." As for their own defense, Behrend will employ a full-court, harassing style only sparingly. "We don't have good team quickness and it's really a gamble to play pressure defen se." the coach emphasized. Statistically, playmaker Larry McAlleer led the team in scoring after four games with 56 points. "He's scored in double figures in all of our games and he's been a steadying influence. The rest of the people have been up or down, hot or cold. I guess you have to expect that, though, when you play a lot of young players," Sweeting remarked. Among the other Cubs, Jack Gordon has tossed in 41 points, Eddie Evans, 38, Mark Chesko and Larry Szoszorek, 31 each. Jim Davis has contributed 30 points, Jon Kennedy,' 28, and Rusty Cunningham, 24. In addition, the rebounding is paced by Davis, Kennedy, and Chesko with 30, 29 and 25 respectively. Pew Throe
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