No. 6 Men’s Gymnasts Take On No. 12 Nebraska – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 27, 2002
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Columbus, Ohio–No. 6 Ohio State (4-4) will travel to Lincoln, Neb., to face the No. 12 Cornhuskers (2-7) at 3 p.m. Sunday
Ohio State head coach Miles Avery said his team has circled March 3 as a pivotal meet for many reasons.
“It is on the road and it is out west, so I want to show the judges a good product because they are some of the judges that will be judging at the NCAA Championship,” Avery said.
“The judges have only seen Nebraska, so I want to show them a good product from the east.”
It’s Been a While
The OSU squad will be going on the road for the first time in over a month Sunday. The last time the Buckeyes competed away from St. John Arena was its dual against Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 2).
Buckeye Trio
For the first time this season the Buckeyes will have three student-athletes competing in the all-around competition: Randy Monahan, Raj Bhavsar and Dick Huntwork.
It will mark the first meet of the season that Huntwork will be in the all-around. Head coach Miles Avery said he is looking forward to having multiple performers in the all-around.
“Having a lot of student-athletes in the all-around is not very common anymore mainly because gymnastics is so difficult,” Avery said.
“We are going to have three all-arounders and I’m excited about that.”
Rankings 101
The national rankings system changed its rankings formula from the two score average that could include no more than one home score in the formula. The new formula takes a team’s top three scores, which must include two road scores and one home score. The highest score of the three is dropped and then the other two scores are averaged.
Big Ten Dominance
OSU is joined in the Top 10 by five other Big Ten teams: No. 2 Illinois, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Iowa, No. 8 Michigan and No. 10 Minnesota.
At The Helm
Miles Avery, the 2001 National Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year, is in for his fifth season at the helm of the Buckeyes.
Avery was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes for nine seasons before he was named head coach in 1998. In his tenure, the Buckeyes have extended their streak of NCAA appearances to 21.
Scouting Nebraska
Nebraska will compete twice this weekend as it travels to Minneapolis, Minn., to take on No. 10 Minnesota Friday and they will return home to face OSU Sunday.
The Cornhuskers enter the weekend coming off a loss to No. 1 Oklahoma at home Feb. 23, 211.550-206.600. The Huskers were led by sophomore Steven Freidman, who won the all-around competition (51.65). Freidman also had third place finishes in parallel bars, floor exercise and pommel horse.
Junior Ryan Sneed helped the Husker cause by taking the only event title for the Huskers with his 9.300 in vault.
Huskers Nationally
Senior Grant Clinton is ranked fourth nationally in still rings with a two-score average of 9.400. Clinton also is tied for eighth in the nation, with fellow teammate, Ryan Sneed in vault a two score average of 9.225.
Last Time Out vs. Nebraska
OSU and Nebraska have not faced each other in a dual meet since March 8, 1998 as the Huskers downed the Buckeyes, 230.675-230.175.
It was the highest team total for the Buckeyes in the 1998 regular season.
Last Time Out
The No. 4 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team upset No. 3 Penn State, 216.325-216.225, Feb. 23 in St. John Arena. The Buckeyes were led by junior Raj Bhavsar, who won the all-around competition. Bhavsar posted a 54.350 to defeat PSU’s Kevin Donohue who was the No. 1 ranked gymnast in the nation in the all-around entering the weekend. Bhavsar’s score is one of the highest scores posted in the country this season and is the highest by any Buckeye this year.
Bhavsar also finished first in vault (9.300) and high bar (9.400) and tied for first in parallel bars (9.100). Fellow junior Ryan Schwartzkopf finished on top in the pommel horse competition with a season-high 9.600.
OSU trailed the entire meet until the final rotation, which had the Buckeyes on high bar and PSU on parallel bars. Entering the final rotation, OSU was trailing the Nittany Lions by 2.250. PSU faltered with a team score of 34.500 while OSU had a strong performance and finished the rotation with a 36.850. The Buckeyes were powered by the one-two -three finish on high bar by Bhavsar, Mitch Claman (9.250) and Randy Monahan (9.200), respectively.
Buckeye head coach Miles Avery said he was happier with his team’s performance this week after losing its first home meet Feb. 15.
“Last week I was disappointed in our performance, but this week we preformed much better,” Avery said. “I still have my doubts about our mental focus.”
Bhvsar Big Ten Gymnast of the Week
The Big Ten Conference announced Monday Ohio State junior Raj Bhavsar was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the week of Feb. 18. Bhavsar help lead the then No. 4 Buckeyes to a win over No. 3 Penn State Feb. 23, 216.325-216.225, in OSU’s only meet of the week.
Bhavsar won three individual events, high bar, parallel bars and vault, as well as the all-around competition. The Buckeyes came from behind to capture the meet in the final rotation with the help of Bhasvar’s 9.400 in high bar. Bhavsar also defeated the nation’s leading all-arounder in Penn State’s Kevin Donohue with his 54.350, which is one of the highest all-around scores in the country. It was Bhavsar’s first all-around competition of the regular season.
The Rookie
Freshman Randy Monahan continues to impress the Buckeye fans as he finished third in the all-around competition Feb. 23. He edged out the nation’s No. 1 ranked all-rounder, PSU’s Kevin Donohue, 52.700-52.650.
Head coach Miles Avery said he is pleased with they way Monahan is competing at the collegiate level, because at the junior level gymnasts compete individually.
“I certainly hoped he would become the gymnast he is turning out to be,” Avery said.
“I am really pleased with how he is handling the pressure of competing in the NCAA, because most freshmen are not used to competing to help their team win.”
Buckeyes Help U.S. Win Silver
Ohio State men’s gymnast Raj Bhavsar (Jr., Houston, Texas) was part of the U.S. team that earned the silver medal at the 2001 World Gymnastics Championships in Ghent, Belgium, Oct. 31. It is the first silver medal ever won by the United States. Ohio State head coach Miles Avery is an assistant coach for the U.S. squad.
Belarus won the gold medal with a score of 169.622, followed by the U.S. with a total of 166.845. Ukraine was third (165.483), followed by France (165.283). Defending Olympic champion China (165.26) was fifth.
The last time the United States won a medal at the world championships was in 1979, when the squad earned bronze in Fort Worth, Texas.
The U.S. team included Bhavsar, Paul Hamm, Stephen McCain, Brett McClure, Sean Townsend and Guard Young. In all, teams from 40 nations competed in the event, which included a qualification round and the finals.
Bhavsar placed 21st in the all-around qualifier (out of 268 gymnasts), posting a score of 53.836. He did not compete in the all-around finals.
“This feels absolutely great,” Bhavsar said. “This has been a superb year for me, winning NCAA’s and then this. I love team meets. Just knowing that we made history here today is unbelievable. It hasn’t even sunken in yet. Bring on the next one in 2003.”
