No. 1 Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Plays Host to No. 3 Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 26, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 1 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team welcomes No. 3 ranked and Big Ten rival Illinois at 7 p.m. Saturday to St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The meet marks the Buckeyes’ (5-0; 4-0 Big Ten) home opener and second-consecutive meet against Illinois (5-1; 4-1 Big Ten).
“Illinois is a good team,” Ohio State head coach Miles Avery said. “They are one of the toughest competitors in the Big Ten and nation. The Ohio State team has improved over the past two weeks. If we have an incredible improvement on pommel horse we will win this dual meet.”
BUCKEYES TRAIN WITH NATIONAL TEAM
Last week Ohio State head coach Miles Avery traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo., with sophomore DJ Bucher (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) and former Buckeye and current volunteer coach Raj Bhavsar to train with the U.S. National Team.
LAST TIME OUT
Ohio State finished first of six teams and topped Illinois in Chicago at the Windy City Invitational, 211.650-210.500, Jan. 14. The Buckeyes came back from last past after the second rotation to win the title. The team surpassed its team record of 37.35 on parallel bars by scoring a 37.75 at the invite.
Four first-place individual finishes lifted Ohio State from last place including sophomore Jimmy Wickham’s (Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) career-high 9.650 on floor exercise, freshman Jake Bateman’s (Kingsport, Tenn./Premier Athletics) 9.100 on rings, sophomore DJ Bucher’s (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) 9.600 on parallel bars and junior captain Willie Ito’s (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gym) 9.600 on high bar.
In the all-around, Bucher finished second to Michael Reavis of Iowa tallying 53.000 points, just .05 behind Reavis’ first- place score of 53.050. In third place was Jake Lee of Minnesota with a 52.900.
BIG TEN SQUADS IN THE RANKINGS
After two weeks of competition, all six Big Ten men’s teams placed in the Top 10 in GymInfo’s national rankings. Ohio State leads the pack with 211.650. Following the Buckeyes are No. 3 Illinois (208.900), No. 5 Iowa (207.025), No. 6 Michigan (206.925), No. 7 Penn State (206.167) and No. 9 Minnesota (202.775).
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
The Fighting Illini defeated Minnesota last weekend 207.300- 201.650 in their first home meet. Senior Adam Pummer (Allentown, Pa.) led the Fighting Illini to the win capturing first place on three events – floor exercise, parallel bars and high bar.
Six-time All-American Pummer currently holds the No. 3 spot on parallel bars (9.050) in the GymInfo men’s national rankings behind No. 1 DJ Bucher (9.600) of Ohio State and No. 2 Illinois teammate Spring (9.450). Pummer’s three-first place finishes from last weekend raised his career total to 26.
Senior Justin Spring (Burke, Va.) leads the Fighting Illini on parallel bars and high bar this season scoring 9.450 and 9.250, respectively. The seven-time All-American and 2005 U.S. National high bar and NCAA parallel bars champion did not compete against Minnesota because he was training with the U.S. National Team in Colorado Springs, Colo.
BUCKEYES VS. FIGHTING ILLINI
Ohio State trails Illinois, 22-39-1, in the all-time series. The Buckeyes hold a 7-0-1 advantage over the Fighting Illini in dual meet action, dating back to 1995. The last time OSU dropped a dual meet to Illinois was in 1986.
LOOK BACK- OSU VS. ILLINOIS 2005
The then No. 1 Buckeyes tied No.2 Illinois, 223.400-223.400 at a dual meet in Champaign, Ill., Jan. 30, 2005. It marked Ohio State’s first tie in a dual meet since 1949 against Michigan State.
“I am pleased with our overall performance,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “Our guys did a good job tonight.”
The Buckeyes set four then-team season records, including an OSU all-time record on rings, scoring a 38.55. Ohio State compiled a then-season-best 37.05 on floor, 37.1 on vault and 36.9 on parallel bars.
Individually, three Buckeyes finished or tied for first on three events. DJ Bucher held the top spot on rings, tallying a career-high 9.85. Ito claimed pommel horse with a then-career-best 9.675 and former Buckeye and 2005 co-captain Randy Monahan (Elizabethtown, Pa./Central Pa. Academy of Gym.) scored a 9.7 on high bar to tie for first with Illinois’ Justin Spring.
2005 CAPTAINS
Juniors Nic Searcy and Willie Ito were named as the Buckeyes 2006 captains during introductions at the team’s exhibition meet Jan. 9.
Searcy earned the team’s Most Improved Award following efforts during the 2005 season and finished fourth on parallel bars (9.225) at the 2005 Big Ten Individual Event Championships. Ito competed in all 11 Buckeye meets, including the NCAA Championships, and recorded a career high 9.9 on pommel horse and high bar in 2005.
NEXT UP FOR OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes next compete in the Winter Cup Challenge Feb. 3-4. Members of the Ohio State squad will travel to Las Vegas, Nev.
