Wrestlers overcome injuries at Duals By Jon Schwartz Daily Sports Writer It's funny how quickly things can change. Going into this weekend's Virginia Duals, attended by five representatives of Amateur Wrestling News' top 20, the No. 7 Michigan wrestling team was favored to win. By the end, coach Joe McFarland was thrilled to escape with a third-place showing. The trouble started before the Wolverines even left for the meet. At the team's last competition, the Midlands Championships, 133-pounder Joe Warren injured his leg. As one of the team's veteran leaders, and a recently-named representative to the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, Warren's injury was sure to affect the team. But when the Wolverines got down to Hampton, Va., the troubles got worse. After making it through the first day of competition with relatively few setbacks against Air Force and Indiana, Michigan's problems started early on Saturday. Going against No. 16 Northern Iowa, the unthinkable happened when 174-pound Otto Olson, ranked first in his class and Michigan's other member of the NWCA All-Star Classic, went down with a knee injury against Northern Iowa's Randy Pugh. While a healthy Olson could not have salvaged the round for the Wolverines, a 25-16 loss to Northern Iowa, the tournament's runner-up to No. 12 Edinboro, his injury certainly made things more difficult. In the consolation and third-place rounds, Olson's absence was evident. While Michigan won both matches, it was disconcerting for the Wolverines to be without their captain. "We couldn't wrestle him in the last two matches," McFarland said. "We were giving them six points." Also, with Warren's absence added to the mix, the coach could barely rest during the two-day tournament. He was constantly having to move his men around and put people in weight classes where they might not have belonged. But considering the injuries, McFarland was very pleased with the outcome. "With the kind of competition that we faced, our guys showed a lot of character," McFarland said. "All the guys did great." The two most obvious examples were 184-pound Andy Hrovat and heavyweight Matt Brink. "Both of those guys had a nice tournament," McFarland said. "They were both moving well and being aggressive." For Hrovat, the undefeated performance locked up the 184-pound spot, for which he had been competing all season with Joe DeGain. DeGain will compete in the 197-pound class, a move that the coach described as the "best thing for the team." Brink also went through the Duals without losing, including a major decision in the first round. But with the Big Ten season looming in two weeks, the team must address its biggest problem - having its two stars cheering on the sidelines. Olson will have an MRI taken this week, but is extremely doubtful for the two meets this weekend, home against Pennsylvania and at Central Michigan. Warren, who spent the weekend rehabbing his leg instead of joining the team, may be ready but that is still unknown. "We've got to get healthy," McFarland said. "It's tough right now. You don't expect injuries, but they do happen." Originally on page 3B in the 1-10-2000 issue of the Daily.