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Men search for win

In many sports, the University of Minnesota is not seen as much of a threat to the mighty Wolverines. Michigan's open display of the Little Brown Jug symbolizes football domination.

However, the Michigan men's gymnastics team tells a different story. Michigan is looking for their first win of the season when they take on the defending Big Ten champion Golden Gophers Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cliff Keen arena. This will be the first home meet of Michigan's young season.

Minnesota is currently ranked sixth in the country and fourth in the Big Ten. Coach Fred Roethlisberger's Golden Gophers are coming off a 225.45-219.25 loss to No. 4 Iowa. Minnesota brings in stars Heath Wall (all-around), Andrew Weaver and Chris Harrington. Wall scored a 9.85 on the rings in winning that event against the Hawkeyes and posted a 53.95 in the all-around. Weaver put up a 9.5 on the high bars to place second in the Iowa meet. Harrington showed his versatility in scoring a 9.65 on the floor exercise and a 9.85 on the rings in winning both events. The Gophers will be keyed up and looking to rebound from the loss to Iowa.

The 16th-ranked Wolverines will try to build on last Saturday's solid effort against the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes. Michigan stayed with the Buckeyes for most of the meet, but ended up falling 228.925-209.750. The Wolverines posted team season-highs on the still rings (35.7) as well as the high bar (36.7).

The Wolverines were led by Flavio Martins who posted season-bests on the pommel horse, still bars and the all around. Martins finished third in the all-around, missing second by 1.5 points. He was Michigan's top scorer in the meet.

"Minnesota is always strong, especially their vaulting team. They won the Big Ten last year and we expect a tough competition on Sunday," Martins said.

Martins also indicated that Michigan will attempt to improve on the pommel horse against the Gophers. The horse has been a weakness for the Wolverines this year. Martins said he is looking to give his all-around score a boost this weekend.

Captain Chris Onuska also achieved season-bests on the still rings and high bar. The senior from Manalapan, N.J., scored a fourth-place finish in the all-around against the Buckeyes. Onuska is coming back from an Achilles tendon injury that sidelined him for the last month of the 1995 season. He is regaining the form that has made him one of Michigan's top tumblers, as evidenced by his top-15 ranking on the pommel horse. Onuska is on track to become just the 41st gymnast in school history to win letters all four years.

Teammate and fellow senior Kris Klinger will become a four-year letter winner as well. Klinger is coming off his season-best performance on the parallel bars against the Buckeyes. He is one of three Wolverines who have a high national ranking in an individual event. Klinger hopes to improve on his No. 15 rank on the high bar.

Another gymnast who has earned national respect is sophomore Tim Lauring. Lauring is ranked 16th in the vault and hopes to improve on his impressive performance against Illinois-Chicago. If the Wolverines are to cause an upset on Sunday, though, they will need to keep improving on their previous meets.