No. 2 Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Takes First at Windy City Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 3, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 2 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team came back from last place after the second rotation to win the Windy City Invitational with a score of 211.65 Saturday at the UIC Physical Education Building in Chicago.
Illinois, which tied for second with Ohio State in the GymInfo preseason coaches poll, claimed second place at the invite with a score of 210.50 and No. 6 Michigan came in third with a score of 207.40. Big Ten rivals Iowa and Minnesota rounded out the Top 5, as they placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ohio State turned in an uncharacteristically poor performance on pommel horse during the first rotation and started the meet in last place. The Buckeyes slowly rallied to win the invite by turning in multiple Top 3 routines.
“We battled back,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “To see them come back from the hole they were in is promising. I hope this is a testament to the character of the team and carries through to the end of the season. I am proud of their response and I think it comes from the captains’ leadership.”
Ohio State regained control and won rings in the second rotation, but still remained in last place in the competition. Freshman Jake Bateman (Kingsport, Tenn./Premier Athletics) led the Buckeyes on rings with a 9.1 to place first. Sophomore DJ Bucher (So., Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) finished third with a score of 9.05.
Bucher was first on parallel bars with a 9.6 in the third rotation followed by Justin Spring from Illinois and Jake Lee of Minnesota. Ohio State junior Nicholaus Searcy (Dublin, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) took fourth scoring 9.05.
Ohio State junior Willie Ito (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gym) tallied 9.6 on high bar. Tom Buese of Iowa trailed, scoring a 9.3 and Justin Spring of Illinois scored a 9.25 for third.
Sophomore Jimmy Wickham (Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) was the only Buckeye to place on vault capturing third with a 9.3.
On floor exercise, Wickham scored a career high 9.65 to win first and freshman Eddie Hay (Butler, Pa./ Butler Gymnastics) earned a career high 9.25 for a fifth place finish.
In the all-around, Bucher finished second to Michael Reavis of Iowa tallying 53.00 points, just .05 behind Reavis’ first- place score of 53.05. In third place was Lee with a 52.9.
Up next Ohio State welcomes Illinois to St. John Arena for their home opener at 7 p.m. Jan. 28.
