No. 2 Ohio State Looks To Defend Its Big Ten Title – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
March 21, 2002
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%^$%^$Columbus, Ohio –No. 2 Ohio State travels to Minneapolis, Minn., to compete in the 2002 Big Ten Championships.%^$
%^$The competition will be held at the Sports Pavilion on the Minnesota campus at 8 p.m. (EST) Friday and Saturday. The team and all-around finals will be Friday, with the individual event finals Saturday.%^$
%^$According to Avery
%^$Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said his team has been focusing on hitting its routines during their week off, which should prove to be what they need to defend their Big Ten title.%^$
%^$”This past week we really focused on execution,” Avery said. “We lowered the number of physical routines the guys had to do and just focused on getting complete, clean, routines.”%^$
%^$The Defenders
%^$The Buckeyes enter the meet as the team to beat as the defending conference champions. Last season, the squad claimed its first Big Ten title since 1997.%^$
%^$Recapping the 2001 Championships
%^$Ohio State peaked at just the right time to win the 2001 Big Ten Championship in State College, Pa. The Buckeyes pulled away from Michigan and Penn State during the final rotation to claim the title with a score of 217.275, their highest output of the season at that point. Jamie Natalie and Raj Bhavsar battled each other for supremacy throughout the meet and finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the all-around. Natalie took the all-around and high bar titles, while Bhavsar claimed first on parallel bar. Natalie took second behind Bhavsar on parallel bars and tied for fourth on floor exercise. Bhavsar placed third on both floor exercise and pommel horse. Daren Lynch placed third on rings with a 9.550 to lead the team in that event.%^$
%^$Natalie won high bar again during the individual event finals. He also tied with Bhavsar for second on parallel bars and placed third on pommel horse. Bhavsar also tied with Nelson for third on vault. Nelson took fourth on high bar as well.%^$
%^$OSU’s Big Ten Championship History
%^$The Buckeyes are shooting for the ninth Big Ten title in program history. The squad has claimed championships in two consecutive years twice – in 1993 and 94 and in 1996 and 97. Ohio State also placed first in the conference in 1983 (co-champions), 1985, 1987 and 2001.%^$
%^$Individually
%^$The Buckeyes have claimed 51 individual Big Ten titles, including at least one every year since 1991. Blaine Wilson, a three-time conference gymnast of the year, leads the way with 11 titles.%^$
%^$Big ten dominance
%^$OSU is joined in the Top 10 by the five other Big Ten teams: No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 6 Iowa and No. 8 Michigan.%^$
%^$Rankings 101
%^$The national rankings system 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.%^$
%^$Battle Of The Freshmen
%^$The Big Ten championships will feature the future of Big Ten gymnastics with a number of standout freshmen in the competition. Among them are OSU freshman Randy Monahan and Guillermo Alvarez of Minnesota, who will be facing off for the third time this season.%^$
%^$Alvarez is ranked fifth nationally in the all-around (52.862) while Monahan is ranked 18th with a two-score average of 51.375.%^$
%^$The first meeting between the duo was the opening meet of the season for both schools, Jan. 12 at the Windy City Invitational, as Alvarez edged OSU’s Monahan, 51.00-49.90.%^$
%^$The second meeting was March 9, as Minnesota traveled to Columbus to compete against Iowa and the Buckeyes. Monahan won the second meeting by scoring a 52.850 to Alavarez’s 50.900.%^$
%^$At The Helm
%^$Miles Avery, the 2001 National Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year, is in his fifth season at the helm of the Buckeyes.%^$
%^$Avery was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes for nine seasons before he was named head coach in 1998. In his tenure, the Buckeyes have extended their streak of NCAA appearances to 21.%^$
%^$Huntworkin’ the Floor
%^$OSU junior Dick Huntwork, who is coming off a career-high 9.875 on floor exercise (March 9), is ranked fourth nationally in floor exercise (9.375).%^$
%^$Scouting Minnesota
%^$Host Minnesota is led by senior Clay Strother, who is ranked second nationally in the all-around (54.025), fifth in parallel bar (9.000), first in pommel horse (9.600), fourth in vault (9.412) and fifth in floor exercise (9.350).%^$
%^$Freshman Guillermo Alvarez is holding his own, ranking fifth in all-around (52.862) and third in floor exercise (9.400).%^$
%^$Scouting Iowa
%^$Senior Don Jackson is ranked second in the pommel horse (9.525) and sophomore Eric Block ranks sixth on parallel bars (8.950).%^$
%^$Sophomore Justin Leavitt is ranked fifth nationally in high bar (9.325) and is ninth in all-around (53.375).%^$
%^$Scouting Illinois
%^$Sophomore Scott Wetterling leads the Illini ranking second nationally in high bar (9.425), sixth in vault (9.350) and sixth in all-around (52.775).%^$
%^$Fellow sophomore Bob Rogers is the top ranked gymnast in high bar (9.550).%^$
%^$J.G. Ketchen is having a consistent final season as a Illini ranking sixth in parallel bars (8.950) and in high bar (9.225) and seventh in rings (9.387).%^$
%^$Scouting Michigan
%^$The Wolverines are led by a trio of juniors, Conan Parzuchowski, Kris Zimmerman and Jamie Hertza. Parzuchowski ranks eighth nationally in rings (9.325) while Zimmerman ranks eighth on parallel bars. Hertza ranks tenth on pommel horse (9.325).%^$
%^$Scouting Penn State
%^$No. 3 Penn State features one of the best gymnasts in the country in junior Kevin Donahue. Donahue has been named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week three times this season and currently is ranked number third in all-around with a two-score average of 53.975.%^$
%^$Donahue ranks second nationally in the floor exercise (9.587), third in parallel bars (9.075) and fourth in high bar (9.375). Fellow teammate Kevin Tan is ranked second nationally in still rings (9.725).%^$
%^$Last Time Out
%^$The No. 2 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team , (217.225) defeated No.5 Iowa (213.600) and No. 6 Minnesota (213.325) on Senior Night in St. John Arena March 9. The Buckeyes were led by junior Raj Bhavsar, who won the all-around competition for the third consecutive week with a score of 56.200, the highest all-around score posted in the nation this season.%^$
%^$Bhavsar also finished first in rings (9.600) and parallel bars (9.450). Fellow junior Dick Huntwork finished on top in the floor exercise competition with a 9.875. Sophomore Jamey Houle won high bar with a score of 9.150.%^$
%^$The future of Big Ten gymnastics was on display as two of the top freshmen in the nation, Ohio State’s Randy Monahan and Minnesota’s Guillermo Alvarez, competed head-to-head. Monahan won the battle on the strength of his 52.850 score in all-around, while Alvarez finished the competition with a 50.900.%^$
%^$Ohio State head coach Miles Avery said he was disappointed with his team’s performance, but they are still on course to achieve their season goals.%^$
%^$”I don’t think we achieved what we set out to do here tonight,” Avery said. “I think this performance would have been enough to win the Big Ten Championships, obviously we have bigger fish to fry later, but we cannot have this type of performance at the NCAAs.”%^$
%^$Once, Twice, Three Times for Bhavsar
%^$Ohio State men’s gymnast Raj Bhavsar has been named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the week ending March 11, the conference announced. The accolade was the third-consecutive for Bhavsar.%^$
%^$Bhavsar received the award after racking up the highest all-around score in the country this season, posting a 56.200 to win the event against No. 5 Iowa and No. 6 Minnesota. His all-around score is the highest score posted since the new points system was implemented at the start of the 2001 season. The Buckeye junior earned his third-straight all-around crown while also finishing first in rings (9.600) and parallel bars (9.450) and producing a career-best 9.850 on floor exercise to place second.%^$
%^$Up Next
%^$The Buckeyes will travel to Norman, Okla., to defend their NCAA title at the NCAA Championships April 4, 5 and 6. It will mark the 22nd consecutive time the squad has qualified for the NCAA championships.%^$
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The Rankings (as of March 18)%^$1. Penn State 215.775%^$2. Ohio State 215.537%^$3. Oklahoma 215.150%^$4. Illinois 214.212%^$5. Minnesota 213.425%^$6. Iowa 213.162%^$7. California 211.987%^$8. Michigan 210.675%^$9. UMass 210.375%^$10. Stanford 208.587%^$11. Temple 208.550%^$12. William & Mary 207.275%^$13. Nebraska 206.125%^$14. Santa Barbara 205.537%^$15. Army 204.125%^$16. Illinois-Chicago 203.850%^$17. Air Force Academy 201.887%^$18. Navy 201.525%^$19. Springfield 197.875%^$20. Southern Conn. 192.375
