Bison get their own Super Bowl against Nebraska-Omaha

The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota

01/26/1996

Bison get their own Super Bowl against Nebraska-Omaha
Column by Jeff Kolpack

It's a big weekend for Bison coach Bucky Maughan. His beloved home-town Pittsburgh Steelers are in the Super Bowl and his Bison are wrestling the Dallas Cowboys of the North Central Conference.

The labeling of the latter, of course, depends on who you talk to. For example, Bison senior Mike McCormick isn't real fond of Nebraska-Omaha.

"They're always so cocky when we wrestle them," McCormick said. "They're one of those teams you want to kick the crap out of. We finally get them at home." The Bison-Mavericks match could very well be the Super Bowl of the NCC. This dual should have been scheduled the last weekend before the conference meet.

It has all the makings of combat. Put it this way: Their national rankings -- NDSU is second and Omaha is third -- are much closer than their systems.

The Bison recruit high school seniors. The Mavericks recruit primarily junior college transfers. In the past, the Bison wrestle for action while the Mavericks used a "take out" method. That's where you take your opponent to the edge of the circle and shoot for a takedown from there. If you miss, you're out of bounds.

"I don't like that style," Maughan said. "I don't let my kids do it. Everyone wants to win but I want people to come and watch exciting, aggressive wrestling. The kind where you go for the pin." The kind that McCormick is known for. "Straight and center," he said.

That's better than hot and cold, the words Maughan uses to describe the 177-pound McCormick. If he was a baseball player, the coach said, he would either hit a home run or strike out.

"I'm trying to show him that I do have a happy medium," McCormick said.

In mid-November, at the Ryan Kaufman Open in Omaha, McCormick, a returning All-American who placed fourth at nationals last year, struck out against Corry Royal. That was one of McCormick's five losses on the season.

"I wasn't in the best of shape," McCormick said. "I got kind of gassed." What about the rematch? "He's going to need at least the point spread the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting," McCormick said. "I hope I have a tough match." Royal is ranked second nationally and McCormick is third. It's just one of a number of pivotal matches on Saturday that may go a long way toward any NCC title trophy.

In the last 14 years, either NDSU or Omaha has won the conference crown. The Bison own 12 of those, but Omaha is the defending champion.

The Mavericks have three wrestlers with at least 20 wins and Royal isn't one of them. Look for key matches at 126, 134 and 190. For the Bison, those spots belong to Jeff Kapusta, George Thompson and Ryan Wolters -- three major strengths of the team.

But most of all, look for a lot of spice.

"When they beat us, it's everything to them," McCormick said. "When we beat them, it's like we should have beaten them by more. Now is the time to buckle down and take care of business. Both of us are in the top three in the nation and the adrenaline gets going." Said Maughan: "This is the first real big match that means anything. This one has conference ramifications."