2003-04 Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
The 2004 men’s gymnastics team is primed for an outstanding and successful season. After finishing second in both the Big Ten and NCAA championships last season, the Buckeyes are comprised of some of the top gymnasts in the country. All-Americans Randy Monahan and Kerry Adderly look to lead the team to Big Ten and national championships, while Jamey Houle and Cody Trobaugh’s consistent routines will help OSU remain a solid national competitor.
Houle spent the early part of the summer competing in the U.S. Gymnastics championships, refining his techniques and skills and according to head coach Miles Avery is unquestionably the leader of this year’s team. Trobaugh completed the 2003 season just shy of All-America status, finishing eighth on both floor and rings at the NCAA Championships.
Freshmen who will provide an immediate impact include Willie Ito, Kristopher Kline and Grant Osborne. All three competed at the Junior Olympic National Championships this past summer. Ito and Osborne finished the year as two of the top junior gymnasts in the country, with Ito the junior national champion on the high bar and parallel bars in 2003. Osborne claimed the all-around title in 2002, while Ito placed second in the all-around in 2003.
Kline earning the title of best male gymnast in the state of Ohio in 2003 rounds out the talented freshman class at OSU.
After falling short of their goals to win the Big Ten and NCAA championships, this highly talented squad will have to be at its best to secure both titles.
“This team is one of the more talented teams I’ve had, so there is no reason why we should not have a great opportunity to get to those two championships.” Ohio State head coach Miles Avery said. But it’s sport and anything can happen on any given day. We will certainly be good enough to do it, now we just have to go out there and do it.” FLOOR
Predicted to be the best event for Ohio State, floor features the return of All-Americans Houle and Adderly. Monahan, who finished third in the 2003 Big Ten Championships has been outstanding for the Buckeyes. Trobaugh also ended the 2003 season on a high note, finishing eighth in the 2003 NCAA Championships.
Other Buckeyes thought to make major impacts this season include sophomore Ronald Ferris and freshman Kline.
POMMEL HORSE
With the return of most of the team, this is Ohio State’s deepest event. As a freshman, Willie Ito is talented enough to earn a spot on the All-American team and with the improvement of veterans Monahan, Houle, Eric Van Sickle, and Ferris, Avery is not pressured to look for competitors to step up and perform well when the time calls for it.
All three freshmen, as well as red-shirt freshman Jahir Johnson should make an immediate impact for the Buckeyes on pommel horse as well.
RINGS
This event may cause Ohio State some problems, as it is the one event where the team lacks depth. Thought to be still one of the best teams in the country with its top five performers returning in Adderly, Monahan, Shepard Trobaugh and Van Sickle there is a concern about who can fill the void outside the dominant participants.
Last season Adderly, Monahan and Trobaugh posted career highs on rings proving the Buckeyes’ exceptional skill on the apparatus. Both Trobaugh and Monahan were ring finalists at the NCAA Championships, while Adderly and Shepard recorded season highs on rings in 2003 against Michigan to help propel OSU to a team season high 38.250.
VAULTING
Considered one of the best teams in the country, Adderly, Trobaugh, Ferris and Monahan will have a huge impact on vaulting success. Shepard and Searcy have also improved tremendously over the summer, further adding to the Buckeye arsenal. Although freshmen will see limited action on this event, Ito and Kline are two newcomers predicted to break into the vaulting line-up during the season. During the Big Ten championships, the Buckeyes finished the competition second, while in the NCAA championships, OSU posted a third-place effort.
PARALLEL BARS
Considered a preeminent event for Ohio State, Adderly, Monahan, Houle and Trobaugh will be the backbone of the parallel bars squad. Also, Ferris will have a major impact, as he was a finalist in both the Big Ten and the 2003 NCAA Championships.
Parallel bars specialist Nicholaus Searcy had a tremendous summer improving his parallel bars routine and will aid the Buckeyes in widening the gap against other teams on the event. Of this freshman class two freshmen also will contribute to Buckeye parallel bars success. Ito, the 2003 Junior National Champion, will be a key factor on the parallel bars as well as Osborne.
HIGH BAR
Another extremely talented event for OSU, most of the team on high bar returns for the 2004 season, including All-American Monahan. With the addition of Junior National Champion Ito, Avery is looking for Ito to compete with Monahan as the top performer on the event.
“This kid is tremendously talented and we expect he is going to push Randy Monahan, who is an All-American on high bar, for our top guy. Even as a freshman he is that talented.”
The improvement over the summer of Adderly, Ferris, Shepard, Houle and Trobaugh has not gone unnoticed by Avery. He is hopeful high bar will be the Buckeyes best event of the year.
Others who will make an impact on this event are Osborne and Kline.
ALL AROUND
All-around performances look to be a strong event for the Buckeyes, especially with the return of junior Randy Monahan, who finished fourth in the 2003 NCAA Championships to earn All-American accolades. With the three competitors who finished ahead of him no longer competing on the collegiate level, Monahan is considered one of the frontrunners in all-around competition. Monahan had a productive summer improving his routines.
Adderly, Trobaugh, Ferris, Grant Osborne and Ito also will strive for all-around success, as both Osborne and Ito were 2002 and 2003 Junior National Champions.
DEPTH
Following their redshirt seasons of a year ago, redshirt-sophomore Tim Saxton and redshirt-freshmen Matthew Dwork and Nicholaus Searcy are expected to compete in certain events and provide depth in others. Once added to the Buckeye rotation, they will help keep the team solid, fresh and healthy.
2004 SCHEDULE
Nearly a carbon copy of years past, the schedule this year will prove to be as tough as always. But the Buckeyes look forward to the tough competition to prove they are deserving of their No. 1 preseason ranking. OSU garnered nine of 14 first-place votes in the preseason poll, but Avery knows rankings are most important after the NCAA championships.
“Obviously it’s much more important to be first at the end of the season than in the preseason,” Avery said. “Hopefully on April 3 (the day of the NCAA finals) we’ll be No. 1. We’ll stay grounded with that thought.”
The Big Ten is the best gymnastics conference in the nation and with the Windy City Invitational approaching, the Buckeyes are looking forward to seeing most of their Big Ten competition and gauging where they stand among some of the top teams in the country.
Always competing against the best, OSU values the tough competition and expects great challenges from Michigan and Illinois within the Big Ten. Nationally, Ohio State is prepared to hold its own against the likes of California, Stanford and Oklahoma, the 2003 national champions.
