No. 3 Men’s Gymnastics travels to Oklahoma to face No. 7 Sooners – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 25, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes look to continue their undefeated season (7-0) as they travel to Norman, Okla. to face the No. 7 Sooners Saturday at 7 p.m.
Last Week against MSU
The then-No. 1 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team won its first dual meet of the season, topping then-No. 8 Michigan State easily, 228.275-221.925. The Buckeyes claimed every event except the pommel horse and had team season-bests in four of six events.
Natalie Shines Again
At Michigan State, Jamie Natalie once again led the Buckeyes as he claimed the all-around title (58.175), placed first on the still rings (9.800), the parallel bars (9.925) and the high bar (9.850) and finished second in the pommel horse with a career-high 9.900.
Lynch Back to Form on the Vault
Daren Lynch seems to be getting back into the All-America form he displayed last season on the vault. After scoring a 9.150 to open the season at the Windy City Invitational, he improved to a career-high 9.800 at Michigan State, which is the second-best score in the country thus far this season.
Standout Freshmen
Three of Ohio State’s four freshmen finished in the top three in at least one event against Michigan State. Michael Evans and Dick Huntwork tied for first on the floor exercise (9.650), while Raj Bhavsar placed second on the parallel bars (9.650), third in the all-around (55.550) and tied for third on the horizontal bar (9.250).
The Team Rankings The Buckeyes are currently third in the country in rankings released Jan. 24 by GymInfo. The rankings are based on each team or individual score thus far this season. Ohio State’s score of 228.275 is behind only Michigan (228.825) and Penn State (228.375). The squad ranks first in the high bar (38.350), parallel bars (38.725) and the vault (38.450). The Buckeyes are third in the still rings (38.400), fourth in the floor exercise (38.150) and 10th in the pommel horse.
Nationally Ranked Individual Buckeyes
Natalie leads the Buckeyes and much of the nation in individual rankings. He rates first in three events (all-around, parallel bars and high bar) and is tied for No. 3 on the pommel horse, No. 4 (tied) in the still rings and No. 7 (tied) on the floor exercise. His high score of 58.175 is over a full point ahead of Leo Oka of Illinois (57.000), who ranks second.
In addition to Natalie, other Buckeyes also rank in the top 10 in the country. Lynch is No. 2 on the vault (9.800) and No. 9 (tied) on the parallel bars, while Bhavsar is tied for No. 4 in the still rings, No. 6 (tied) on the parallel bars and No. 9 in the all-around. Jay Nardelli is tied for No. 9 on the parallel bars and No. 10 (tied) in the vault.
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.
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.
Scouting the Sooners
Oklahoma is currently ranked No. 7 in the country after compiling a team score of 222.875 to finish one-tenth of a point behind meet champion Nebraska at the Rocky Mountain Open Jan. 22 in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Sooners are tied for No. 2 in the pommel horse (38.600) and rank seventh on three events: the vault (37.600), the parallel bars (37.025) and the high bar (37.200).
Individually, freshman Daniel Furney led the squad last weekend, placing third in the all-around competition (55.675) and tying for first on the high bar (9.70) in the individual finals. Steve Van Etten, an All-American in the floor exercise last season, is back for his junior year.
OU Head Coach Mark Williams
Mark Williams is in his first season as interim head coach for the Sooners after serving as an assistant coach for 12 years under former head coach Greg Buwick. As a collegian, Williams was an All-American on the 1978 Nebraska squad and was a member of the Cornhuskers’ national championship teams in 1979 and 1980. In addition to his duties at Oklahoma, Williams serves as the vice president for the U.S. Men’s Elite Coaches Association, is a member of the Men’s Program Committee for USA Gymnastics and represents the Elite Coaches Association on the U.S. Gymnastics Board of Directors.
A Tough Conference
All seven of the schools in the Big Ten are ranked in the top 12 in the nation. Michigan is No. 1, followed by Penn State, second, Ohio State, third, Iowa, fourth, Illinois, fifth, Michigan State, 10th, and Minnesota, 12th.
The Series
The Buckeyes lead the all-time series between the schools, 9-4. Last season Ohio State edged the Sooners, 227.100-226.225, in Columbus on Feb. 20.
Natalie Continues to Impress
Natalie’s all-around score of 58.175 against Michigan State was the highest score in the country over the weekend by almost two points.
Ahead of Last Season
Through the second meet of last season, also against Michigan State, the Buckeyes’ top score was 226.250. They have already exceeded that score this season, scoring 228.275 at MSU, a score 2.5 points higher than at the season-opening Windy City Invitational.
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. 1) and Illinois (No. 5). The team finishes its home schedule with a quad-meet, hosting Big Ten foes Iowa (No. 4) and Minnesota (No. 12) as well as Brigham Young (No. 11), Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
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.
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.
