No. 1 Men’s Gymnastics Ready to Face No. 8 Michigan State – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 19, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After beginning the season with a win at the Windy City Invitational, the Ohio State men’s gymnastics team travels to Michigan State for a dual meet Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Windy City Invitational
The No. 1 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team (6-0 overall) opened the season by placing first out of seven Top 15 teams at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago, Ill. Saturday, Jan. 15. The Buckeyes compiled a team score of 225.725 to edge out defending national champion and then No. 1-ranked Michigan (224.900) for the meet title. Illinois (then-No. 4 tied) placed third with a team score of 223.450, followed by Iowa (No. 7), Minnesota (No. 15), Michigan State (No. 11) and Illinois-Chicago (No. 14).
Buckeye Standouts in Chicago
The Buckeyes claimed four of the top seven spots in the all-around, with Jamie Natalie winning the title with a score of 56.375. 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 placed third in the all-around and claimed the pommel horse title with a score of 9.750. Michael Morgan was sixth in the all-around, while Jay Nardelli was seventh in the all-around and placed first in the vault.
Scouting the Spartans
No. 8 Michigan State finished sixth at the Windy City Invitational with a team score of 218.800. The squad was led by freshman Brad Golden, who placed third on the vault in the meet, and sophomore Jon Plante, who notched a seventh-place finish on the pommel horse and took fifth on the parallel bars. The Spartans return 10 letter-winners from the 1999 squad which finished fifth at the Big Ten Championships and qualified for the NCAA Eastern Regional, where they finished sixth.
MSU Head Coach Rick Atkinson
After serving two seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State, Rick Atkinson is in his 12th season at the helm for the Spartans. The Iowa State graduate had a career record of 88-74 entering the 2000 season. As a collegian, Atkinson was a two-time All-American in the floor exercise and served as a team captain his senior season.
The Series
Ohio State leads the series between the teams 26-23-1. Last season the Buckeyes finished ahead of the Spartans in every meeting, including a 226.250-223.600 defeat of MSU at home Jan. 23. Ohio State also defeated Michigan State at the Windy City Invitational, the Big Ten Championship and the NCAA East Regional.
The Team Rankings
After beginning the season ranked second by the College Gymnastics Association in its preseason poll, Ohio State moved to No. 1 in the GymInfo rankings as of Jan. 17. The poll is currently based on each team or individual high score in each event. As a team the Buckeyes are ranked in the top five in each event, with a No. 1 ranking in the high bar (38.350), No. 2 on the still rings (38.400), No. 3 in the floor exercise (38.150) and the parallel bars (37.000) and No. 5 on the vault (37.100).
Nationally Ranked Buckeyes
In addition to being ranked nationally as a team, many of the Buckeyes are ranked individually as well. In rankings based on each gymnast’s highest score, Jamie Natalie is ranked No. 1 in horizontal bar (9.295), while teammate Mitch Claman (9.575) is No. 8. Daren Lynch is rated No. 4 on the parallel bars with a score of 9.600 and Nardelli is No. 6 on the vault (9.600). Natalie and Bhavsar are tied for third on the still rings with a score of 9.800. Bhavsar is also ranked on the pommel horse, ranking No. 2 with a high score of 9.750. In floor exercise, Natalie is tied for No.5 (9.750) and Morgan is tied for No. 8 (9.650). Finally, Natalie is No. 5 in the all-around (56.375), followed by Bhavsar at No. 6 with a score of 56.000.
Career Highs for Natalie
En route to winning the all-around title at the Windy City Invitational, Natalie set career-highs in the floor exercise (9.750) and the still rings (9.800), while tying his career-best on the horizontal bar (9.925).
The Coach
Miles Avery is in his third season as the head coach of the Buckeyes. In just his second season at the helm, he led OSU to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships. Before being named head coach, Avery had been an assistant coach at OSU for nine years. In addition to coaching at the collegiate level, Avery has also been on the coaching staff for many international competitions, including the 1998 Goodwill Games, the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1994 World Championship.
Back in the Swing of Things
After missing all of last season because of a left wrist injury, Morgan seems to be returning to the All-American form he displayed his junior season (1998). He placed sixth in the all-around at the Windy City Invitational (55.225), tied for fourth on the pommel horse (9.350), tied for seventh on the floor exercise (9.650) and tied for ninth on the horizontal bar (9.400).
Ready for Collegiate Competition
Freshman Raj Bhavsar, who has already competed in the United States Senior Gymnastics Championships, seemed more than ready for collegiate competition at the Windy City Invitational. In his first meet as a Buckeye, Bhavsar placed third in the all-around (56.000) and claimed the pommel horse title with a score of 9.750.
The 2000 Captains
Daren Lynch and Jay Nardelli were chosen as captains for this year’s squad in a vote by the team.
Lynch earned All-America honors last season after placing fifth on the vault at the NCAA Championships. He has been an academic All-American, an academic all-Big Ten selection and an OSU scholar-athlete honoree.
Nardelli is an OSU scholar-athlete and has been an academic all-Big Ten honoree. He set career highs on the pommel horse, still rings and all-around last season at the NCAA regional.
Tough Competition at Home
The Buckeyes next home competition will be in St. John Arena, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. when they host nationally-ranked Big Ten opponents Michigan (No. 3) and Illinois (No. 2). The team finishes its home schedule with a quad-meet, hosting Big Ten foes Iowa (No. 5) and Minnesota (No. 7) as well as Brigham Young, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
The Streak
The Buckeyes have qualified for the NCAA Championships 19 consecutive years, a streak that more than quadruples that of any other NCAA Division I university in men’s gymnastics.
Recapping the 1999 Season
After starting last season slowly because of injuries, the Buckeyes regrouped to win the NCAA Eastern Regional and reach the NCAA Championships, where the squad finished second to Michigan. Five Buckeyes earned a total of six All-American awards and the Buckeyes also garnered two Big Ten titles. Doug Stibel led the squad after placing second on the parallel bars and sixth on the floor exercise at the NCAA Championships. Tim Elsner, who won the conference title on the floor exercise, and Jamie Natalie, who was fifth in the all-around, joined Stibel, the Big Ten horizontal bar champion, on the all-Big Ten squad.
Hosting Champions
After making historic St. John Arena its permanent home last season, the men’s gymnastics team will have the honor of hosting the 2001 NCAA Championships in the facility. The National Qualifier will be held April 5, with the National Finals April 6-7. The 13,276-seat venue will give many Columbus residents the opportunity to see top-level NCAA men’s gymnastics.
Academic Standouts
The Buckeyes were ranked eighth by the College Gymnastics Association in its National Academic Top 20 men’s gymnastics teams for 1999. The squad had a combined team grade point average of 3.034. Leading the way for the Buckeyes academically were Mike Canales, Tim Elsner, Daren Lynch, Jay Nardelli, Jamie Natalie and Judd Shaffer, who each earned academic all-Big Ten honors. In addition to the players listed above, Adam Elliott, Ben Falkner, Earnest Nelson and Matt Smith assisted the group effort by receiving OSU scholar-athlete accolades.
A New OSU Coach
Former Ohio State All-American Peter Landry has joined the team’s staff as an assistant coach after completing his eligibility last season. Landry was a member of the team from 1996-99 and was a member of the Buckeyes’ 1996 NCAA Championship squad. As a team captain last season, he was one of eight finalists for the prestigious Nissen Award, given to the outstanding senior collegiate gymnast in the country. Landry will oversee the entire recruiting process for the Buckeyes.
More Buckeyes Coaching Buckeyes
Five current Buckeyes were coached by former OSU gymnasts prior to coming to Ohio State: Jamie Natalie was coached by Thad Abbott (1993) at Prestige Gymnastics in Delaware, Earnest Nelson by Jim Knopp (90-93) of Flippers in Texas, Matthew Smith by Jason Mazzurco (91-94) at USA Gymnastics World in Utah, Ben Falkner by Peter Bastien (91-94) at the Ellis School of Gymnastics in Massachusetts and Dick Huntwork by Mike Serra (1988) at Hocking Valley Gymnastics in Ohio.
The U.S. National Team
Ohio State has a proud tradition of not only sending representatives to the Olympic Games, but of having those athletes perform extremely well for their country. In the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta Blaine Wilson and Kip Simons were members of the U.S. squad that finished fifth. Simons was a two-time World Championships team member and was a member of the gold-medal Pan American Games team in 1995.
Wilson, the only U.S. gymnast to claim four-consecutive national titles, is one of the United States’ top medal hopefuls at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Ohio State has been represented recently at the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships by a number of different gymnasts. Last summer current Buckeyes Natalie, Nardelli and Bhavsar all competed in the senior event, while Evans and Huntwork competed in the junior division. Former Buckeye Doug Stibel was named to the U.S. National Team after finishing in the top 14 at the championships.
