No. 2 Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Plays Host to No. 4 Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 22, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 2 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team welcomes No. 4 ranked and Big Ten rival Penn State at 7 p.m. Saturday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes (8-1; 5-0 Big Ten) remain undefeated in the Big Ten, but dropped its first non-conference meet to No. 1 Oklahoma, 216.550-215.900, last weekend.
The dual Saturday against Penn State (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten), doubles as a co-ed meet with the Ohio State and Penn State women’s gymnastics teams. This is the first and only competitive co-ed meet for the Buckeyes this season. The last time the Ohio State gymnastics teams held a co-ed was the Mixed Pairs Exhibition Dec. 4.
“I feel the team will compete very well on Saturday,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach said. “We are capable of winning, although Penn State can put up a good score, as we saw last weekend.”
NCAA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS HONORED
The members of the 1985, 1996 and 2001 NCCA Championship teams will be recognized for their contributions to the Ohio State men’s gymnastics program at the meet against Penn State.
OHIO STATE GYMNASTICS INVITES FACULTY, STAFF TO CO-ED
The men’s and women’s gymnastics teams are holding a Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night at the co-ed meet against Penn State. Faculty and staff tickets are $2 with a valid BuckID. Both Buckeye teams also will hold a post-match autograph session.
BEN AND SHARON LUCAS SERVE AS HONORARY CAPTAINS
Ohio State men’s gymnastics alumus Ben Lucas, who competed for the Buckeyes from 1970-74, and his wife, Sharon, will act as the honorary captains for the men’s team. Lucas was captain of the 1973 team and was a letterwinner from 1972-74. Both Ben and Sharon Lucas graduated with bachlor’s degrees from Ohio State. HAMM TWINS NAMED AS HONORARY COACHES
Morgan and Paul Hamm were named honorary coaches for Ohio State as the Buckeyes compete in their final home meet against the Nittany Lions. The Hamm brothers train under Avery at Ohio State’s Steelwood Athletic Training Facility.
The twins both competed for the U.S. men’s gymnastics Olympic team in Athens and contributed to the team’s silver medal win in 2004. Paul Hamm also won silver on high bar and became the first American man in Olympic history to win gold in the all-around competition.
HAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY PERFORMS NATIONAL ANTHEM
The Hawthorne Elementary choir will sing the National Anthem before the co-ed meet this Saturday. The choir will also perform Carmen Ohio at the end of the meet. Hawthorne Elementary is one of the local schools in Ohio State’s adopt-a-gymnast program.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 2 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team (8-1; 5-0 Big Ten) dropped its first contest of the season to No. 1 Oklahoma (9-0, 4-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), 216.550-215.900, Saturday in front of a crowd of 1,185 at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. No. 7 California (2-5, 1-4 MPSF) finished in third with a team total of 210.700.
The Buckeyes won three of six events. Ohio State won pommel horse (34.650), vault (37.150) and parallel bars (36.500). Oklahoma won floor (36.450), rings (38.000) and high bar (36.900).
“It was a very good meet,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “We (Ohio State and Oklahoma) definitely are the Top 2 teams in the country. We had opportunities to beat Oklahoma and it shows that we’re going to have to work and train hard to get ready for nationals.”
On floor, freshman Eddie Hay (Butler, Pa./Butler Gymnastics) led the Buckeyes with a first-place finish and career high 9.550.
Junior co-captain Willie Ito (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gymnastics) took third on pommel horse tallying an 8.950. Oklahoma’s Jamie Henderson won the event scoring a 9.150 and California’s Tim McNeil placed second with a 9.000.
DJ Bucher (So., Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) was the top finisher for Ohio State on rings with a 9.150. Oklahoma won the event by capturing first and second place. Jonathan Horton took first with a 9.850 and Jamie Henderson placed second with a 9.650. California’s Tyler Block rounded out the Top 3 with a 9.550 for third.
Jimmy Wickham (So., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) earned first place on vault and tallied a career high 9.650. The Buckeyes captured vault with six performances earning a 9.000 or above.
On parallel bars, Ohio State claimed first and third. Bucher won the event tallying a 9.550 and Ito took third with a 9.200. California’s McNeil earned second with a score of 9.250.
The high bar proved to be a challenge for most of the Buckeyes, although Ito earned a 9.600 to tie the Sooners’ Horton for first. The Golden Bears’ McNeil rounded out the Top 3 with a 9.350 finish on the event.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions enter this weekend undefeated posting an 8-0 overall and 1-0 Big Ten record. Penn State began its season with a 206.550-199.150 win over Army Jan. 7. In the match-up against Temple (Jan. 13), the Nittany Lions captured first and second place in every event but high bar to win 202.450-190.050. On Jan. 21, Penn State beat Big Ten foe Michigan (209.400-206.450) by outscoring the Wolverines on five of six events. At the West Point Open, the Nittany Lions won their ninth consecutive team title in West Point, N.Y. Last weekend, then-No. 8 Penn State defeated then-No. 4 Stanford with a season high, 216.800-216.750.
Sophomore Tommy Ramos (Guaynabo, P.R./San Antonio H.S.) won titles on rings, parallel bars and high bar at the West Point Open (Jan. 27-28). In the upset against Stanford, Ramos placed first on parallel bars (9.350) and second on rings (9.650).
Senior captain and All-American Chad Buczek (Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater Raynham H.S.) tied teammate Casey Sandy (Fr., Brampton, Ontario/Chinguacousy H.S.) on vault with a 9.150 to help support Penn State’s win over Army. At Penn State’s home opener, Buczek tallied a first-place event finish on floor against Temple, and added another the following week against Michigan scoring a 9.100 both times.
BUCKEYES VS NITTY LIONS
Ohio State holds a slight lead over Penn State, 17-15, in the all-time series. Under Avery’s leadership, the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are tied, 4-4, since 1998.
LOOK BACK- OSU VS. PENN STATE-2005
The then No. 2 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team defeated then-No. 4 Penn State, 222.075-215.5, Feb. 26 at the Recreation Building in University Park, Pa.
Ohio State outscored Penn State by more than a point (37.050-35.725) on floor. The Buckeyes swept the event with efforts from former Buckeyes Randy Monahan and Cody Trobaugh finishing in first (9.55) and second (9.35), respectfully, and then-sophomore Grant Osborne (Fort Collins, Colo./USOTC) tied for third with a score of 9.15.
The Buckeyes finished the next two events by claiming the Top 3 spots on pommel horse and rings. Ronald Ferris (Austintown, Ohio/Ohio Gym. Institute) was first on pommel horse (9.475), then-freshman DJ Bucher (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gym.) and Osborne finished second (9.300) and third (9.250), respectively. Bucher tied Trobaugh for second with a 9.600 after Monahan won with a 9.725.
Bucher won his third-consecutive parallel bars competition and his fifth total on the season, recording a 9.725 and then-sophomore Nicholaus Searcy (Dublin, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gym.) finished second (9.300).
Ohio State claimed the final rotation after then-sophomore Willie Ito (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gym.) captured first on high bar with a 9.800.
BIG TEN SQUADS IN THE RANKINGS
No. 2 Ohio State leads the Big Ten in GymInfo’s National Rankings with an average team score of 213.633. The Buckeyes lead the league on four of six events including floor (35.983), vault (36.667), parallel bars (36.333) and high bar (36.483). Ohio State ranks fourth in the league on pommel horse (33.767) and rings (35.150).
The Buckeyes have a total of seven individual Big Ten Top 5 marks in the national rankings. On floor, Hay holds the fourth spot averaging 9.317 and teammate, Wickham, trails close behind in fifth by averaging 9.233.
Wickham, also performing well on vault, holds second in the conference with a 9.433 average on the apparatus.
Two Buckeyes rank in the Top 5 on parallel bars. Bucher posts an average of 9.500 for second place and junior co-captain Nicholaus Searcy (Dublin, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) ties Illinois’ Adam Plummer for fourth with a 9.217 average score.
Ito holds the top spot in GymInfo’s National Rankings on high bar averaging a 9.633 after four weeks of competition. Ito’s closest competitor on the apparatus averages a 9.467. Sophomore David Ortiz (Cincinnati, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) averages a 9.283 on the event for a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten.
BUCKEYE NAMED TO U.S. NATIONAL TEAM
After outstanding performances on floor and vault Feb. 4, Ohio State’s Jimmy Wickham was named to the U.S. National Team at the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas. Wickham (So., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) was the only Buckeye to earn a spot on the national team after the Winter Cup Challenge. He topped competition on floor with a first-place finish (15.650). Wickham’s score of 15.650 was the highest score awarded on floor during the two-day challenge and .450 higher than the closest competitor.
With a two-day combined total of 32.450, Wickham is the U.S. National Champion on vault and is fourth on floor scoring 29.950.
“Jimmy was amazing,” Avery said. “After not performing well on floor on the first day of competition, he did what he needed to do on the second day in order to make the U.S. National Team.”
2006 CAPTAINS
Juniors Nic Searcy and Willie Ito were named as the Buckeyes 2006 captains during introductions at the exhibition.
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 travel up north to finish their 2006 regular season against Big Ten foe Michigan at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
