The Winona Daily News from Winona, Minnesota • 9

Arizona, Kansas clear Final Four picture Pac 10 returns to finals as Arizona routs N. Carolina i 1 west nopona iir -H LahI ILw LRf BHjjjBriHii I -J t' -In'Skl I LH ILb llg'yfl FCr BKH ViiLv 'w, LLV wr Xjn Final Four since UCLA in 1960 and the first other than UCLA since Oregon State went in 1963. Ail-American forward Sean Elliott. Most Valuable Player of the regional, led Arizona with 24 points and teamed with frontcourt mates Tolbert and Anthony Cook in a collapsing 2-3 zone defense to shackle North Carolina All-American forward J.R. Reid Reid, 6-foot-9.

256-pounder who was averaging 18.3 points a game, made only one of four shots in the first half and finished with 10 points. Scott Williams led the Tar Heels with 13. North Carolina, which was looking for its 10th trip to the Final Four and eighth under Coach Dean Smith, finished 27-7 after its third regional championship loss in four years. Tolbert threw in an over-the-shoulder shot while being fouled by Reid and sank the free throw to give Arizona a 43-42 lead with 14:09 left. Reid rebounded his own missed shot and dropped in a basket to put North Carolina ahead 44-43 with 13:37 to play, but Arizona came back with eight straight points to go ahead for good.

Steve Kerr, who finished with 14 points, hit a 3-pointer to ignite the spurt with 13:23 remaining. Tolbert scored on a lean-in shot while being fouled by Williams and sank the SEATTLE The Pac is back in the NCAA Final Four, and finally it's not UCLA. Second-ranked Arizona, the most dominant Pacific-10 Conference team since the UCLA dynasty, rode the second-half heroics of Tom Tolbert to a 70-52 victory over No. 7 North Carolina Sunday for the West Regional championship. Tolbert scored It of his 21 points in the second half and made two critical three-point plays as Arizona held the Tar Heels to just two field goals in the final 13 minutes.

The loss was North Carolina's most lopsided in an NCAA tournament since 1968. Not since the Tar Heels were beaten 104-84 by Drake in the 1968 Final Four consolation game has North Carolina gone home so badly whipped. "This is a group of kids who started on Oct. 15 with nothing else in their mind but going to Kansas City, and they put up what they started to do," Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. The victory, Arizona's 15th straight, put the Wildcats, 35-2, in the national semifinals against No.

4 Oklahoma at Kansas City next Saturday. It will be Arizona's first trip to the Final Four but the second for Olson, who took Iowa in 1960. Olson, now one victory short of 300 for his 20-year career, becomes the eighth coach to guide two different teams to the Final Four. Arizona, which failed for the first time in the tournament to win by at least 20 points, becomes the first Pacific-10 Conference team in the free throw to make it 49-44, then to Please see WEST 1 0A Total team effort gets Associated Press Kansas past Kansas State AconrintpH Ptpcq BS Associated Press the ball as North Carolina's Rick Fox takes a stab at the ball during second half action in the West Regional, while Arizona's Sean Elliot (32, top left) and Manning (top right) celebrate their teams' respective berths in the NCAA Final Four. Kansas' Danny Manning (above) tries for a shot over Kansas State's Ron Meyer during the first half of Sunday's NCAA Midwest Regional final.

In Sunday's other regional final game, Arizona's Steve Kerr (bottom left) struggles to keep control of Midwest Regional WrestleMania IV does not pay off 7 gmf Don yL Nadeau KL a Sports PONTIAC, Mich. Danny Manning carried Kansas all season long, but on Sunday, Kansas' role players carried Manning into the Final Four again. And Manning had another chance on a team that wasn't supposed to have a chance. Manning, a senior and two-time Ail-American, scored 20 points as Kansas beat No. 20 Kansas State 71-58 for its second trip to the Final Four in three years.

Junior Scooter Barry added a career-high 15 points and defensive specialist Milt Newton scored 18, grabbed nine rebounds and had seven assists in the Midwest Regional championship game. "When I looked around the locker room, an awful lot of kids gave us an opportunity to go to Kansas City," Kansas Coach Larry Brown said. Kansas, 25-11 and the sixth seed in the region, will meet Duke, 28-6 and the champion of the East Regional, in Saturday's semifinals in Kansas City. The last time Kansas went to the Final Four it lost to Duke 71-76 in the semifinals in 1986. "We know what Danny's going to do, but we have to get some great performances from the other kids," said Brown, who also guided UCLA to the Final Four in 1980.

"Look at Milt's line in the boxscore, and he did a great job on Mitch Richmond. Scooter gets 15, and he's been reluctant to shoot." This will be Kansas' eighth trip to the Final Four, tying them for fourth on the all-time list. And they will be making it despite the season-long loss of starters Archie Marshall, out since an early-season knee injury, and Marvin Branch, who was academically ineligible. "I think the team gutted it out and everybody did the best they could because they knew we lost some great players," Brown said. "I think they did it for the seniors." Kansas played fifth-ranked Duke earlier this season, and the Blue Devils won 74-70 in overtime at Kansas.

The 1986 Final Four meeting was in Dallas. "We were disappointed earlier this season and devastated in Dallas," Brown said. The Jayhawks were able to overcome Kansas State's 3-2 zone which made it extremely tough for them to get the ball into Manning's hands. "They do a great job of packing it in, and my teammates stepped up and hit shots that opened things up," said Manning, who was named the most valuable player in the regional. Kansas State led by two at half-time and extended the lead to 36-29 with 18:10 to play before the Jayhawks mounted their charge behind their two seniors, Manning and Chris Piper Each made two field goals in 14-6 run that got Kansas the lead for good at 43-42 with 13:51 to play.

Keith Harris stole the ball from Richmond near halfcourt and went the rest of the way for a dunk. Lincoln Minor! followed that play with another steal, but his layup was blocked. "Those steals gave us confidence defensively," Brown said. "Even though we only got one hoop they might have slowed them down Please see MIDWEST 1 0A It cost $24.95 it was worth about two bits. They billed it as the most spectacular professional wrestling card of all times.

Fourteen of the world's greatest heavyweight wrestlers squaring off in a championship tournament, all vying for the World Wrestling Federation heavyweight championship. WrestleMania IV: "The Battle for the Belt." Thanks to the luxury of pay-per-view television, Winona residents were able to receive this gala extravaganza right in the luxury of their own homes. In fact, had it not been for that $24.95 price tag, I also would have had the luxury of turning it off after the first hour. Oh sure, the big names were all there Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ted "The Million Dollar Man" DiBiase, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Even Bob Uecker and Vanna White made their appearance at the Trump Plaza and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J.

to witness what was supposed to be the battle of the year, maybe even the century. And within that battle for the vacant heavyweight championship lay the real war Hogan, former WWF champion, against Andre the Giant, compatriart turned arch-enemy. squared off on NBC's "Saturday Night's Main Event," wrestling's first prime-time broadcast since the 1950s. And this time, it was Andre who came out on top, as an imposter referee awarded the title to Andre, who promptly sold it to the Millon Dollar Man. Hogan quickly screamed foul, demanding to have his belt back.

The WWF, however, put the title on hold, creating WrestleMania IV's "Battle for the Belt" to decide the new WWF champion. Hogan and Andre both received byes in the first round of the single elimination tournament. But, after suffering through six less-than-average heavyweight bouts, as well as a poorly contested 20-man "Battle Royal," the time had finally come. For Andre and Hogan, the clock had struck midnight. Unfortunately, five minutes and a couple of body slams later, it was all over.

And to think, I spent $24.95 for that! There were no bone-crushing head butts or spine-tingling body slams and there was no winner. Both Hogan and Andre were disqualified for using a steel folding chair, leaving the crowd in a frenzy and the WWF without a champion. But, after that match, who really cared who won the title. All the hype that had been built up about this event of near-epic proportion, this fight-to-the-finish clash between Hogan and Andre came crashing to the ground in a matter of five minutes. The professional wrestling world had just taken a chapter out of the National Football League's book.

Like the favored Broncos of Super Bowl XXII, WrestleMania IV was a bust. Oh sure, there were some entertaining moments in this four-hour torture trap. Uecker's never-ending search for Vanna White, and broadcaster Jesse "The Body" Ventura's one-liners geared toward "Mr. Baseball" and the Wheel of Fortune's letter turner, for example. "Hey Uecker," Ventura would say.

"I bet if Vanna had great she'd be less filling. Or, "I'm surprised they renewed your contract this year, Uecker. Afterall, they never did that in baseball." Ventura's constant needling of baseball's premier .200 hitter were worth a few laughs but not $24.95 worth. So, who did the WWF finally crown as the heavyweight champion of the world? Maybe next year you'll pay the $24.95 and find out for yourself. It was around that grudge match that the entire WrestleMania IV card was built.

And it was with that grudge match that the entire WrestleMania IV card and my $24.95 went down the tubes. Let's back up a few steps and set the stage for what would take place Sunday afternoon. At one point, Andre was Hulk's idol. Unfortunately, thanks to the corrupt mind of one Bobby Heenan, Andre turned on Hogan, demanding a title fight. Thus, WrestleMania III.

Hulk prevailed in that title match before a record indoor crowd of 93,173 at the Pontiac Silverdome, and a pay-per-view crowd of a record 620,000 homes but Andre argued that he was robbed of the belt by a referee's mistake. Andre demanded a rematch, and on Feb. 5, he got it, as the two Twins' Straker wants more Brewers hope for repeat performance from Brock balance into the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. "Dick Such told me to watch the way (fellow starter and 244-game winner) Bert Blyleven goes over the top with his curveball," Straker said. "I like the way Bert pitches.

He's spent 17 years in the big leagues and is willing to teach me things. I want to keep my arm up high, just like he does, and snap it down. Sometimes I still drop my arm and the ball spins instead of curves." Despite an occasional spinning curveball, Such has noticed Straker's improvement during spring training. "He's not just a fastball-change-up pitcher any more," the coach said. "This is going to make him an all-around better pitcher.

It'll get him through the sixth and seventh innings. It'll get him some more innings pitched." Even though Straker didn't last as long as he would have liked in most of his starts last season, he called 1987 "a dreanucome true." Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. Les wants more. As a rookie last season, righthander Les Straker started 26 games for the Minnesota Twins. But he pitched only 145 innings in those starts, an average of fewer than 5 innings per outing.

In three postseason starts, he lasted just 11 innings, although he did pitch six shutout innings in Game 3 of the World Series only to be removed. His only complete game in 1987 was a unique one 4 innings in a rain-shortened, 3-2 loss at Kansas City. You get the picture. Straker has simply never gone the distance. "Lester's problem was that he had a good fastball and a very good changeup and he could fool the batters one or two times around the order," Twins pitching coach Dick Such said.

"But then when they came up the third time, they knew what to expect." To rectify the situation, Such is working with Straker on an overhand curveball to keep batters off years. Brock's 13-homer season in 1987 was his lowest in his five full major seasons but his .299 average, 29 doubles and 85 RBI were major-league highs. Only an 0-for -3 performance against Boston's Roger Clemens on the final day of the season prevented him from reaching 300. But more importantly for the left-handed swinging Brock, he showed the Dodgers and the Brewers he could hit left-handed pitching, batting .295 against southpaws. "I think it was important that I proved it because of the rap I'd been getting when in L.A.," Brock said.

"I think the reason that it happened is that I was able to play every day. "I didn't start out hitting them well, because I hadn't seen them in so long. It took me time. It was something I hadn't done in a while. But the more you see, the more comfortable you feel against them." Associated Press CHANDLER, Ariz.

Greg Brock's reputation as a hitter who couldn't touch left-handed pitching took a beating last season when he made a smashing debut as the Milwaukee Brewers' first baseman. Brock spent four years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, facing endless comparisons to the legend he followed there Steve Garvey. So a trade to Milwaukee in December 1986 produced a switch of locales, leagues and philosophies that couldn't have come at a better time in frock's career. Brock even purchased an offseason home in the Milwaukee area, a move that perhaps symbolized his break with the past. "I enjoyed it," he said with a laugh.

"It did get a little cool in January." And in January, the 30-year-old Brock signed a new two-year contract with the Brewers, one calling for $1.3 million in guaranteed salary over the two Associated Press to prove he Minnesota Twins' pitcher Les Straker is trying deserves to be the Twins' No. 3 pitcher this year..