No. 1 Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Tops No. 3 Illinois, 213.350-206.900 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 3, 2006
The No. 1 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team defeated Big Ten foe Illinois, 213.350-206.900, Saturday at St. John Arena in front of a crowd of 775. The Buckeyes dominated the meet, winning five of six events including pommel horse (32.650), rings (34.600), vault (36.100), parallel bars (36.750) and high bar (37.250). With the win, Ohio State increased its record to 8-2-1 over the Fighting Illini in dual meet action dating back to 1995.
“It’s always nice to get a win against a top-team like Illinois,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “There were some good performances tonight. However, I did see areas we need to improve on.”
Ohio State captains Willie Ito (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gym) and Nicholaus Searcy (Jr., Dublin, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) lead the way for the team. Ito placed first on both parallel bars and high bar by tallying 9.700 on each event. The score on parallel bars was a career high. Searcy contributed an 8.950 on vault and a 9.200 on parallel bars.
On floor exercise, both sophomore Jimmy Wickham (Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) and freshman Eddie Hay (Butler, Pa./ Butler Gymnastics) earned scores of 9.150 to start the night for the Buckeyes.
Sophomore DJ Bucher (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) was the only gymnast to compete in the all-around tallying a 44.600. Bucher finished first on rings with a 9.200 and second on parallel bars with a 9.350.
The Buckeyes captured the vault totaling a team score of 36.100 to Illinois’ 35.850. Ohio State’s sophomore David Ortiz (Cincinnati, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) and Wickham turned in the two top scores with a 9.000 and a 9.200, respectively. Bucher, Ito and Searcy filled out the top-three spots on parallel bars. Ito won the event with a 9.700 and Bucher captured second with a 9.350. Searcy tied Illinois’ Adam Pummer for third with a score of 9.200.
The Buckeyes next travel to Las Vegas, Nev., February 3-4 to compete in the Winter Cup.
