Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Wins Windy City Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 16, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 2 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team opened the season by placing first out of seven Top 15 teams at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago, Ill. on Saturday. The Buckeyes compiled a team score of 225.725 to edge out defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Michigan (224.900) for the meet title. No. 4 (tied) Illinois placed third with a team score of 223.450, followed by No. 7 Iowa, No. 15 Minnesota, No. 11 Michigan State and No. 14 Illinois-Chicago.
“This was a good win to start the season,” OSU head coach Miles Avery said. “This allowed us to do some routines in a real meet situation. Now we have to get back in the gym to work on winnning the Big Ten title and the national title.”
The Buckeyes claimed four of the top seven spots in the all-around, with junior Jamie Natalie (Hockessin, Del.) winning the title with a score of 56.375. Natalie set career-highs in the floor exercise (9.750) and the still rings (9.800), while tying his career-best in the horizontal bar (9.925). He won the meet title on the horizontal bar while tying for second on the still rings and fourth in the floor exercise.
In his first collegiate competition, freshman Raj Bhavsar (Houston, Texas) placed third in the all-around (56.000) and claimed the pommel horse title with a score of 9.750. Michael Morgan (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) was sixth (55.225) in the all-around, while Jay Nardelli (Jr., Centerville, Va.) was seventh in the all-around (54.750) and placed first in the vault (9.600).
The Buckeyes travel to East Lansing, Mich. to face the Spartans in a dual meet Saturday at 7 p.m.
Windy City Invitational Chicago, Ill., Jan. 15, 2000 1. Ohio State 225.725 2. Michigan 224.900 3. Illinois 223.450 4. Iowa 221.175 5. Minnesota 219.325 6. Michigan State 218.800 7. Ill.-Chicago 217.075
All-Around 1. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State 56.375 3. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State 56.000 — 6. Michael Morgan, Ohio State 55.225 7. Jay Nardelli, Ohio State 54.750
Floor Exercise 1. Justin Toman, Michigan 9.850 — 4. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State 9.750 7. Michael Morgan, Ohio State 9.650 18. Michael Evans, Ohio State 9.400 21. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State 9.350 31. Dick Huntwork, Ohio State 9.200 35. Jay Nardelli, Ohio State 9.150
Pommel Horse 1. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State 9.750 — 4. Michael Morgan, Ohio State 9.475 18. Dick Huntwork, Ohio State 8.850 23. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State 8.650 29. Michael Evans, Ohio State 8.550 24. Jay Nardelli, Ohio State 8.450
Still Rings 1. Scott Vetere, Michigan 9.850 2. K. Zimmerman, Michigan 9.800 Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State 9.800 Jamie Natalie, Ohio State 9.800 — 9. Jay Nardelli, Ohio State 9.500 13. Rahsaan Williams, Ohio State 9.300 18. Mitch Claman, Ohio State 9.200 Michael Morgan, Ohio State 9.200
Vault 1. Jay Nardelli, Ohio State 9.600 — 6. Earnest Nelson, Ohio State 9.350 16. Daren Lynch, Ohio State 9.150 28. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State 9.000 33. Michael Morgan, Ohio State 8.900 38. Michael Evans, Ohio State 8.700
Parallel Bars 1. Scott Vetere, Michigan 9.675 2. Daren Lynch, Ohio State 9.600 — 9. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State 9.250 12. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State 9.100 14. Dick Huntwork, Ohio State 9.050 32. Jay Nardelli, Ohio State 8.650 33. Michael Morgan, Ohio State 8.600
Horizontal Bar 1. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State 9.925 — 5. Mitch Claman, Ohio State 9.575 7. Earnest Nelson, Ohio State 9.450 9. Michael Morgan, Ohio State 9.400 Jay Nardelli, Ohio State 9.400 30. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State 8.700
