Wrestling Club places three at meet

The Southern Illinois Wrestling Club finished with three solid individual showings at Lindenwood Community College Nov. 7-8.

The club, competing in its inaugural season and comprised of students from SIUC and John A. Logan College, had three places out of 150 participants from 20 schools at the competition.

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Joe Wattenberg finished second in the 190-pound division, Glen Wortham placed fourth at 136 pounds, and Rick Barrington earned fourth at Heavyweight.

The team competes at the St. Louis Open Friday and Saturday and is looking for more team members. For more information, contact coach Kirby Keith at 529-3272.

Three volleyball Salukis named all-conference

The SIUC volleyball team placed three members of its squad on the 1997 Missouri Valley Conference All-Conference team Tuesday.

Middle blocker Laura Pier and outside hitter Marlo Moreland were named to the five-member second team, while setter Debbie Barr was one of eight players named honorable mention.

Pier, a junior from Michigan City, Ind., finished in the top 10 in the conference in hitting percentage, block average and kill average. Moreland, a junior from Lancaster, Texas, led the Salukis in kills, while Barr, a sophomore from Muncie, Ind., led the conference in assist average.

Marisa Brickley was named the conference’s Player of the Year, while Kendra Haselhorst earned Newcomer of the Year honors. Both players helped lead Illinois State University to a conference-best 17-1 record.

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Esiason to replace Blake as Bengals’ starter

The Cincinnati Bengals decided to make a change at quarterback Wednesday, as head coach Bruce Coslet has given the starting role for Sunday’s game against Jacksonville to veteran Boomer Esiason.

That decision ends Jeff Blake’s AFC-leading 52-game starting streak. Coslet had been under media and fan pressure to make the move ever since Esiason replaced Blake Nov. 9 against the Colts and led the 3-8 Bengals to a 28-13 win with two touchdown passes.

The Bengals are coming off a 20-3 setback in Pittsburgh last week, where Blake completed 15 of 21 passes but lost three fumbles and failed to produce a touchdown.

Starting for the Bengals is a familiar role for Esiason, although he has not done so in five years. He went 76-92 as a starter for Cincinnati in an earlier nine-year stint with the team.

Louisville may fire Cooper soon

University of Louisville football coach Ron Cooper still has his job, for now.

It was thought his stay with the Cardinals would end Tuesday when he met with Cardinals Athletic Director Tom Jurich to discuss the 1-10 season that just ended. But Jurich says he needs more time to make a decision.

I had some real hard questions about the state of the program, Jurich told the Lexington Herald-Leader Wednesday. And Ron is a very bright guy, and he knows something went wrong. We are going to talk again, and then I will make a decision.

Jurich, who took over the athletic department a month ago, said that decision could come today or later this week.

Cooper told reporters after the three-hour meeting that their discussion covered recruiting, overall philosophy, staff and the environment around the program.

In his three years at Louisville, Cooper is 13-20. He has two years left on his five-year contract. It includes a buyout that would cost the school about $310,000.