No. 1 Men’s Gymnastics Hosts Last Home Meet of The Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 16, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Buckeyes end their home season with a quad-meet against No. 6 Brigham Young, No. 7 Iowa and No. 11 Minnesota Saturday night in St. John Arena at 7 p.m. Ohio State is undefeated (10-0) this season and currently holds the No. 1 ranking in the country.
Buckeyes Ranked First
In the coaches poll released by GymInfo (Feb. 14), the Buckeyes took over the top spot, replacing Michigan at No. 1. The Wolverines are ranked second. Penn State follows in the third spot, with Oklahoma fourth and Illinois in fifth.
In the rankings based on scores, the Buckeyes lead the nation on the high bar and rank second on both the parallel bars and as a team. The squad is tied for second on the vault, are third in both the floor exercise and the still rings and rank eight on the pommel horse. The rankings are based on an average of each team’s top two scores, which can include only one home score.
Victorious at Home – Again
The Buckeyes extended their home winning streak to 11 meets with their win over Michigan and Illinois. Ohio State has not lost at home since 1994.
The Brigham Young Cougars
Brigham Young is currently ranked sixth in the country in the coaches’ poll. In the Cougar’s last time out, the squad defeated Stanford with a team score of 226.375. The squad is led by defending NCAA vault champion Guard Young, who ranks second in the country in the all-around. Cortney Bramwell, the defending champion on the still rings, leads the nation in that event with a two-score average of 9.912. He has won 11-consecutive meets on that event. BYU is tied with OSU for team vault score. Brigham Young, a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, placed fifth at the NCAA Championships last season.
Mako Sakamoto is in his 14th year at the helm for the Cougars. Since his arrival at BYU, he has led the Cougars to one Western Athletic Conference championship, four West Regional appearances, a fifth-place national finish last season and a sixth-place performance at the NCAA Championships in 1992. This is the first time Brigham Young has competed in Columbus. Ohio State won the only previous dual match between the squads.
The Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes are currently ranked No. 7 in the GymInfo coaches poll. The squad ranks fourth in the nation in the high bar and in team score. Leading the way for Iowa is Don Jackson, who ranks third in the country on the pommel horse, and Shane de Freitas, who is seventh on the high bar.
Tom Dunn is in his 20th season as the head coach of the Hawkeyes. Entering this season he had a record at Iowa of 153-57-2, as he has led the Hawkeyes to 14 Top 10 finishes in the NCAA Championships and has competed in the national meet 14 of the past 16 seasons. The Hawkeyes last claimed the Big Ten Championship in 1998.
OSU leads the series between the teams, 18-16. Last season the squads only met in the Big Ten championship, where the Hawkeyes finished in second place, one spot ahead of OSU.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers are currently ranked No. 11 in the GymInfo rankings. The last time out, UM lost to Michigan State, 222.900-227.550. Against MSU, freshman Clay Strother set a school record with a 9.950 on the floor exercise. He leads the nation with a 9.90 average on the event. Lindsey Fang ranks fifth (tied) in the nation with a 9.985 average on the pommel horse.
Fred Roethlisberger is in his 29th year as the head coach of the Gophers. He has led the squad to 11 Big Ten titles (four in the ’70s, three in the ’80s and four in the ’90s) and has coached a total of 20 All-Americans during his tenure. His gymnasts have captured 48 individual Big Ten crowns.
Minnesota leads the series between the squads, 15-13. Last season the Buckeyes topped the Gophers each time they met, including a dual meet win in Minneapolis, Minn.
They Meet Again
The Buckeyes faced Iowa and Minnesota earlier this season at the season-opening Windy City Invitational. Ohio State won the meet, while Iowa was fourth and Minnesota finished fifth.
Natalie at The Winter Cup
Jamie Natalie finished the meet in eighth place (53.650) and for the second year in a row was the highest-placing NCAA gymnast in the event. His score of 9.650 on the floor exercise was the top score on that event in the finals. Natalie had ended the preliminary rounds in 20th place. He narrowly missed earning a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team, as the top three gymnasts placing in the top 10 that are not current members of the team were added to that squad’s roster. Natalie was the fourth gymnast in the top 10 not already on the national team’s roster.
Other Buckeyes at Winter Cup
Raj Bhavsar competed in the all-around finals at the event. Bhavsar placed 28th in the finals after coming out of the preliminaries in 15th place. Former Buckeye and current U.S. National Team member Doug Stibel was 33rd in the finals and tied for third place on the high bar in the individual event finals on Friday night. Michael Evans and Dick Huntwork also competed in the meet but did not advance to the final round.
Ohio State’s 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.
Buckeyes Rank in the Top 10
Jamie Natalie leads the national in both the parallel bars and the all-around and ranks second on the high bar. He is also tied for fourth on the floor exercise and ranks fifth on the still rings.
Other Buckeyes also rank in the Top 10 in the country. Michael Morgan is third in the floor exercise and fifth in the all-around, while Daren Lynch ranks No. 3 in the vault. Raj Bhavsar ranks fourth on the still rings and is eighth on the parallel bars.
Last Home Meet for Morgan
Senior Michael Morgan will be competing for OSU in St. John Arena for the last time in his career on Saturday. He was a member of the 1996 national championship team and earned All-America and all-Big Ten honors as a junior in 1998. He missed last season because of a right wrist injury.
Big Ten Honors Already
The Buckeyes have claimed Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors every week they have been eligible this season. Natalie has been honored twice this season (Jan. 19 and Jan .26), winning the award following his all-around performances at the Windy City Invitational and at Michigan State. Bhavsar won the following week (Feb. 2) after leading the Buckeyes to a win over Oklahoma, as he claimed two meet titles and set season and career highs in all five events he competed in. Morgan was the most recent Buckeye to be honored as he won this week’s award (Feb. 9). He put together a career high in the all-around to lead Ohio State to wins over Michigan and Illinois.
Former Gym Mates Meet Up
In the quad meet, Bhavsar will compete against three gymnasts that trained with him at Cypress Academy in Houston, Texas. Iowa’s freshman class of Nathan Blair, Ryan Meeks and Cameron Schick all trained under Bill Foster at the gym along with Bhavsar.
Scoring Well as a Team
Against Michigan and Illinois, the Buckeyes were able to turn in season best performances on the parallel bars, the high bar and overall. The team’s season-high scores on the floor exercise and the pommel horse, both recorded against Oklahoma, have already topped last season’s high scores on those events.
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.
Improving in Earnest
Sophomore Earnest Nelson has improved his score on the high bar almost every time out this season. He began the season scoring a 9.45 and improved to a 9.55 the next week before struggling against Oklahoma and receiving an 8.650. He put together his career-high performance when the Buckeyes needed it most, scoring a 9.675 to help OSU come back to win over Michigan and Illinois.
Getting Mitch Involved
After not competing for the Buckeyes during his first two years at Ohio State, Mitch Claman has been entered in every meet this season. He has competed on both the still rings and the high bar, scoring a career-best 9.350 on the rings against Oklahoma and a 9.575 on the high bar to open the season at the Windy City Invitational.
More Career Highs
After recording career highs on every event he competed in against Oklahoma, Bhavsar topped his scores on both the parallel bars (9.775) and the high bar (9.550) at home last weekend.
Lynch on the Vault
Daren Lynch, who was an All-American on the vault last season, looks to be returning to that same form this year. He currently is third in the country in the event with a two-score average of 9.750. He set his career high earlier this season, scoring a 9.800 against Michigan State.
Nearing the End
Next weekend’s dual meet at Penn State marks the last regular season competition for the Buckeyes. The Big Ten Tournament will be March 17-18 in East Lansing, Mich., followed by the NCAA Championships March 30-April 1 in Iowa City, Iowa.
Strong on the Still Rings
Jamie Natalie has scored a 9.800 on the still rings in three of the Buckeyes’ four meets this season. Prior to this year, his career-high was a 9.650. He ranks fifth in the nation with a 9.800 average.
Even Stronger on the Bars
Natalie is also having a standout year on both the parallel bars and the high bar. He ranks first in the nation on the parallel bars and is No. 2 on the high bar. Natalie recorded his season high and tied his career high with a 9.925 on the high bar at the Windy City Invitational, while he has scored a 9.925 on the parallel bars twice this season. His career high on the event is 9.950, which also stands as the school record.
A Tough Conference
All seven of the schools in the Big Ten are ranked in the top 15 in the coaches poll. Ohio State is No. 1, followed by Michigan, No. 2. Penn State, No. 3, Illinois, fifth, Iowa, seventh, Michigan State, 10th and Minnesota, 11th.
