2000 Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/1/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
The Ohio State University men’s gymnastics team pulled together and finished second at the NCAA Championships last year, despite starting the season hampered by injuries.%^$
%^$Although the Buckeyes had a complete rotation by the championships, they were lacking the depth needed on each event to win the title.%^$
%^$This season, head coach Miles Avery has corrected that problem by signing three of the top freshman prospects in the country. The incoming trio, along with a strong group of returnees, look to return to the NCAA Championships to compete for the national title.%^$
%^$”I think at nationals last year, Michigan, the champion, was mentally and physically prepared,” Avery said. “They had the depth to win the national title that we were lacking. With the addition of this freshman class, added to the nucleus we already have, I think we’ll have that depth this year. We will definitely be in the hunt for a national title.”%^$
%^$Led By Veterans
%^$The Buckeyes will depend on a veteran core of gymnasts to lead the squad. Michael Morgan (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio, all-around) returns after a wrist injury kept him out of competition last season. Ohio State will rely upon the 1998 All-American to provide leadership and solid scores after depending on him for support from the sidelines last year.%^$
%^$”If Michael can compete at the same All-American level he did two years ago, he should be the backbone of this team,” Avery said.%^$
%^$Joining Morgan at the forefront will be the junior class comprised of Jamie Natalie, Daren Lynch and Jay Nardelli. Natalie (Jr., Hockessin, Del., all-around) had a standout year last season, racking up numerous wins and coming in seventh at the prestigious Winter Cup Challenge as the highest-placing collegiate gymnast. He finished the collegiate season on a high note by coming in second on the pommel horse and earning the All-America nod at the NCAA Championships. Over the summer Natalie was a member of the U.S. National team, competing at the World University Games in Spain and at the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Avery expects Natalie to continue to improve this season.%^$
%^$”Jamie certainly has proven himself to be one of the best gymnasts in the country, not just in collegiate athletics,” Avery said. “He’s done extremely well for himself the past two years and I expect nothing less of him this junior year. He certainly could be the top guy on this team.”%^$
%^$Lynch (Jr., Londonderry, N.H., all-around), who earned All-America honors after placing fifth on the vault last year, improved over the summer and will be counted on to provide high scores in 2000. He proved to be a clutch performer for the Buckeyes in 1999, landing dismounts and sticking landings when they were most important and becoming more consistent each week.%^$
%^$”Daren had a very good summer,” Avery said. “He has the type of talent where he could be a three or four event all-American this year and that’s what we expect he’s going to be able to do this year based on his improvement over the summer.”%^$
%^$Nardelli (Jr., Centreville, Va., all-around) showed consistency as the season drew to a close last year, setting a career best on the floor exercise at the NCAA Championships and improving on nearly all of his career bests throughout the course of the season. He competed at the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships over the summer, gaining valuable national experience.%^$
%^$”Jay was one of the heralded freshman prospects when he was coming in but he didn’t prove that he deserved those accolades until now,” Avery said. “He qualified for the U.S. Championships this summer, which shows his maturity and his improvement. He wasn’t one of our top NCAA athletes and now through summer training he’s made himself one of the top gymnasts in the country. He should be and will be expected to be one of the top gymnasts in the NCAA this season.”%^$
%^$After suffering a knee injury right before the NCAA Championships last season, junior Rahsaan Williams (Jr., Falls Church, Va., all-around) is looking to make an impact on the competition this year. Avery looks for him to perform well for the Buckeyes every meet.%^$
%^$”Rahsaan should be one of the best gymnasts on rings in the country,” Avery said. “We look for him to be an all-American on rings this year and to be one of our top guys on rings in the gym.”%^$
%^$The sophomore and junior classes, comprised of Earnest Nelson (So., Rowlett, Texas, all-around), Adam Elliott (So., Erlanger, Ky., all-around), Judd Shaffer (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., all-around) and Ben Falkner (So., Norwell, Mass., all-around), will be expected to lend a hand to the team’s consistency. Both Nelson and Elliott steadily improved as the season progressed last year, with Elliott setting a career high at the NCAA Championships on the pommel horse. After seeing limited action last season, Shaffer and Falkner should see some competition time, as will juniors Mitch Claman (Jr., La Palma, Calif, all-around) and Matt Smith (Jr., Salt Lake City, Utah, all-around). Freshman Ryan Schwartzkopf (Columbus, Ind., pommel horse) will add much needed depth to the Buckeye pommel horse squad.%^$
%^$Freshmen Superstars
%^$Avery has cornered the market on the prep talent this season with Raj Bhavsar, Michael Evans and Dick Huntwork joining the squad. The freshmen trio comprises the best recruiting class in the country, as each gymnast already has competed on the national level at the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Avery hopes this experience will translate into collegiate success for the group.%^$
%^$Bhavsar, from Houston, Texas, is a three-time junior national champion and qualified for the John Hancock U.S. Championship as a senior gymnast before starting college. As a senior in high school, Bhavsar competed for the United States at the 1999 Pan American games, a feat that even four-time national champion and former Buckeye Blaine Wilson couldn’t pull off.%^$
%^$”I think that with Raj already competing in the senior ranks he will get stronger and he’s going to get a lot better,” Avery said. “There’s no telling what he can do.”%^$
%^$Evans, also from Houston, Texas, placed second at the 1999 John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships in the junior division, while Huntwork, of Pickerington, Ohio, finished seventh.%^$
%^$”I’m hoping that when Michael comes here he will step into the senior ranks and prove himself as Raj did,” Avery said. “He should be able to step in with the seniors and swing with the big boys.%^$
%^$”In terms of looking at Dick, I think his potential is still out there to be realized. He is extremely talented, but he has a little bigger step to take to get up to the same senior rank status of Raj and Michael. One thing about Dick, though, is he is homegrown Buckeye talent. He was the top recruit in the state of Ohio, growing up in nearby Pickerington.”%^$
%^$While the freshmen are talented, they will have to fill the void left by graduating seniors Michael Canales, Tim Elsner, Peter Landry and Doug Stibel. That senior class, part of the national championship team in 1996, left with a stellar 26-2 dual record overall and was undefeated (12-0) at home.%^$
%^$Big Ten Competition
%^$While the Buckeyes will have a strong team, they have to compete against other tough Big Ten conference teams, including Michigan, the national champion last year. The Big Ten consistently had several teams ranked in the national Top 10 last year, with six conference teams finishing in the Top 10 at the end of the season.%^$
%^$”I expect the Big Ten to be a very challenging conference,” Avery said. “You may look like you can win everything and finish fourth in our meets because the conference is just that talented.”%^$
%^$National Team
%^$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 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.%^$
%^$Wilson, the only U.S. gymnast to claim four-consecutive national titles, is one of the United States’ top medal hopefuls at the 2000 Games in Sydney.%^$
%^$Ohio State has been represented recently at the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships by a number of different gymnasts. Last summer current Buckeyes Jamie Natalie, Jay Nardelli and Raj Bhavsar all competed in the senior event while Michael Evans and Dick Huntwork competed in the junior division. Doug Stibel, who completed his eligibility at OSU last season, was named to the U.S. National Team after finishing in the top 14 at the Championships.%^$
%^$The Outlook
%^$If everyone on the roster stays healthy this season, this could be another standout year for the Buckeyes. With the added depth of the freshman class and the returnees’ improvement over the summer, Avery will look for his squad to compete for the national title once again.%^$
%^$To get to an unprecedented 20th-consecutive NCAA Championship, however, the Buckeyes must first get through the competition of the regular season, the Big Ten Championships and an NCAA Qualifier. With the skill level of the 2000 team, the Buckeyes seem prepared for the challenge.
