Sports briefs for April 13, 2005

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | 10:45 a.m.

Coastal Carolina hires fired Tennessee coach

Former Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson has accepted the job as head coach at Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C.

Peterson, fired after failing to make the NCAA tournament in four years with the Volunteers, was expected to be introduced Thursday, athletic spokesman John Martin said today.

Peterson replaces Pete Strickland, who was fired last month.

Peterson went 61-59 in four seasons with the Volunteers, losing twice in the opening round of the NIT.

Convention center hosts major event

The Las Vegas Convention Center will host the 2005 Las Vegas/ASICS United States National Wrestling Championships on April 27-30.

More than 3,000 athletes are expected to compete in the tournament, which will include the U.S. Freestyle Nationals, the U.S. Greco-Roman Nationals, and the U.S. Women's Nationals. The tournament will also feature the FILA Junior Greco-Roman and Freestyle Nationals for the first time, while it will also host the Western Junior Regionals.

The top seven place winners at the U.S. Nationals will qualify for the World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa, on June 18-19, which will determine the 2005 U.S. World Championship teams.

Coria, Nadal advance

Defending champion Guillermo Coria of Argentina beat Thierry Ascione 6-2, 6-1 today to advance to the third round at the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco. Coria, the 2004 French Open runner-up, won in just over an hour. He next faces Spain's Alberto Martin, who beat Jean-Rene Lisnard of France 6-1, 6-2. Spain's 18-year-old Rafael Nadal dominated Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-0, 6-3.

Rebel Invite canceled

UNLV women's track and field announced that it is canceling the Rebel Invite, which was scheduled for May 7 at Myron Partridge Stadium and Sheila Tarr Smith Field.

Crew chief fined

Robby Gordon's crew chief was fined $5,000 by NASCAR for a rule violation last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. NASCAR said Robert Temple was penalized after inspectors found an unapproved deck lid on Gordon's Chevrolet.

-- Sun wire services