Ohio State Men Gymnasts Claim Two Individual Big Ten Event Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
March 25, 2006
Iowa City, Iowa – Seven Ohio Sate men gymnasts competed for individual event titles on the second day of competition at the 2006 Big Ten Championship Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa. Ohio State was the only team to win two event titles at the competition.
Sophomore DJ Bucher (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) won the pommel horse title and buckeye co-captain Willie Ito (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gymnastics) claimed the event win on high bar. This is the second year in a row the Buckeyes’ have finished in the top spot on high bar after Ronald Ferris claimed the title in 2005.
At the closing of the championships, Jake Bateman (Fr., Kingsport, Tenn./Premier Gymnastics) won the 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year award. Bateman’s honor is the first for an Ohio State gymnast since the 2000 season when former-Buckeye Raj Bhavsar earned the recognition.
“It was great,” Bateman said. “Just to know how many great gymnasts have passed through the Ohio State program it is an honor to receive the award.”
Ohio State head coach Miles Avery shared the 2006 Big Ten Coach of the Year award with Iowa head coach Tom Dunn. This is Avery’s second-consecutive coach of the year award and fourth in his Ohio State career.
In addition, the 2006 Big Ten All-Conference team and Big Ten Sportsman of the Year award were named. The two Ohio State event champions, Ito and Bucher, were named to the 2006 Big Ten All-Conference team.
For the Big Ten Sportsman of the Year award, a member from each of the six teams was nominated. Co-captain Nicholaus Searcy (Jr., Dublin, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) was honored by his teammates with the award for the Ohio State squad.
“The guys absolutely did an amazing job tonight,” Avery said. “I thought all our performers did their job and represented Ohio State well.”
The second night of competition started with Jimmy Wickham (So., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics), Eddie Hay (Fr., Butler, Pa./Butler Gymnastics), and Bateman on floor. Wickham was the final Buckeye competitor on the event and hit his routine with a 9.650 earning a second-place finish and tying his career-high set at the 2006 Windy City Invitational.
Hay scored more than .300 higher than his score during the team competition to earn a 9.625. Hay’s 9.625 placed him in third on the event. Bateman followed with an eighth-place finish (9.137).
Bucher and Ito both qualified for pommel horse after the team competition. Bucher won the event title with a 9.000. The win marks his second Big Ten individual championship after claiming parallel bars as a freshman in the 2005 championships. Ito scored an 8.000 for an eighth-place finish.
“I feel really good with the win,” Bucher said. “It was my goal to win pommel horse and it was nice to go out and hit the set.”
Pedro Pineda (So., Galloway, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics) was the lone Buckeye to compete on rings. Pineda earned a 9.050 for a ninth-place finish.
On vault, Bateman and Kristopher Kline (Jr., Westerville, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) qualified for the individual event championships. Bateman scored a 9.100 to finish in seventh place and Kline followed in eighth with an 8.650.
Next for the Buckeyes, Bateman and Ito performed on parallel bars. Ito scored an 8.950 and fourth-place finish. Teammate Bateman followed with an 8.912 to land a fifth-place finish.
Ito and David Ortiz (So., Cincinnati, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) represented Ohio State on the final event of the night. On high bar, Ito stuck his landing and scored a season-high 9.800 to win the 2006 Big Ten high bar championship and Ortiz swung into sixth-place scoring an 8.725.
“I feel relieved,” Ito said. “I was struggling with the routine and it was great to hit the set when it counted.”
The Buckeyes will finish their season at the 2006 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships at 8 p.m. (EST) April 6-8 in Norman, Oklahoma.
2006 Big Ten Event Championships
March 25, 2006
Carver-Hawkeye Arena
Iowa City, Iowa
| FLOOR | ||
| Wickham | 9.650 | (2) |
| Hay | 9.625 | (3) |
| Bateman | 9.137 | (8) |
| POMMEL HORSE | ||
| Bucher | 9.000 | (1) |
| Ito | 8.000 | (8) |
| RINGS | ||
| Pineda | 9.050 | (9) |
| VAULT | ||
| Bateman | 9.100 | (7) |
| Kline | 8.650 | (8) |
| PARALLEL BARS | ||
| Ito | 8.950 | (4) |
| Bateman | 8.912 | (5) |
| HIGH BAR | ||
| Ito | 9.800 | (1) |
| Ortiz | 8.725 | (6) |
