Biolichini picks up big win over Dietrich
By BILL HART
Associate Sports Editor
In one of the most heavily anticipated bouts of the evening, top seed Tom "The Tulsa Bomber" Biolchini defeated Tom "How Ya Like Me Now?" Dietrich in a battle of two aggressive boxing styles in the 175-pound division.
Biolchini's agility, combined with an impressive reach, allowed him to press the battle to the gold corner early in the first round. Later on, fatigue set in and prevented Dietrich from taking advantage of opportunities early in the final round.
The off-campus senior will look for a third title against Sorin junior Josh "The Sandman" Thompson, who erred on the side of caution early before ending his fight against Steve "The Angry Pirate" Pfeiffer with a flurry of punches in the third. A comeback by Pfeiffer was only prevented by the sound of the final bell.
180-pound division
Top seed Joey "Soda Pop" Leniski didn't find the road to the finals any easier than the one to the semis, but he managed to pull out another split decision against Doug "Sauce Doggy Dog" Bartels.
The swift Bartels attempted to take control of the fight early and almost succeeded in getting a knockdown midway through the second round. But Leniski gathered enough momentum to mount a comeback in the third, highlighted by a flurry of punches just short of the closing bell.
"I didn't come out real strong," Leniski said. "So I had to first of all put my guard up when he charged me. I used my hook a lot more, which really made the difference in the match. I caught him with the hook, then came back with the power, and just got him off balance at times."
Leniski will face off against Mark Criniti, who upset second-seeded Tom "The Hitter" DeSplinter in a unanimous decision. Criniti overcame DeSplinter's reach by biding his time, using his agility to move to all corners of the ring before delivering well-placed blows.
190-pound division
Fans near the blue corner found themselves close to a brawl in one of the most hotly contested fights of the night, as Kevin "Hardcore" Brandl defeated Jason "It's Not Easy Being J Rod" Rodriguez in a split decision.
Both sides used the corner to their advantage in pummeling the opponent, but a third-round comeback by Rodriguez fell just short.
After earning the only bye of the division last night, senior Mike "Honey" Hammes started his top-seed defense on a shaky note, defeating Chris "The Sweet Scientist" Pearsall in a split decision. After spending most of the first round to feel his opponent out, Hammes depended on his left jab, while keeping his right close for defense. In the third, Hammes turned to his right to keep Pearsall off guard.
"It took a lot more out of me than I thought," Hammes said after the win. "I would have liked to get a first fight in, almost like a sparring fight, to get the nerves out and everything. Hopefully, I'll fight better in the finals than that."
200-pound division
While Hammes may have found the two-round wait to be a negative factor, junior captain and top seed Peter "Beat the Rap" Ryan had a different opinion. After reaching the semis on a bye and a walkover, the Keenan resident earned a decisive victory over Joe "It'll Take You a Month to" Healy.
Ryan took the offensive early, using his speed and reach to deny Healy a chance to get into his groove. Healy was knocked down twice in the third round, and the referee called the fight just seconds before the closing bell.
The last bout proved to be the shortest of the night. With a few deftly placed punches, off-campus law student Dan "Let Me" Adam knocked Alumni junior Jonathon "BGP" Pentzien to the canvas, astonishing the mostly Dawg crowd.
"I knew John was a real strong guy with a good reach," Adam said. "So once I saw his face open up I on his punch I just tried to stick him in the nose. I got a couple good ones in and he went down."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, March 1, 2000
