No. 3 Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Back in Action at Michigan Saturday – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
March 8, 2006
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 3 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team meets No. 8 and Big Ten foe Michigan at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Buckeyes enter the duel meet toting a 6-0 record in the Big Ten after a bye last week.
“We are thinking toward both the Big Ten and NCAA championships,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “We want to go to Michigan and win, but our focus is on the Big Ten championships in two weeks.”
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR APRIL 6-8
Tickets for the 2006 NCAA men’s gymnastics championships (April 6-8), hosted by the University of Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center, are available for sale through the OU Athletics Ticket Office and Soonersports.com. Fans can purchase tickets for a single session or a package that includes all four sessions of the championship.
All-session ticket prices for adults and youth are $25 and $20, respectively. Group tickets are also available for all-sessions at $15. A group consists of 10 or more people of any age.
The NCAA Championships kick off April 6, with two qualifying sessions. The first session will begin at 2 p.m. (EST) and session two will start at 8 p.m. (EST). The team finals will be held at 8 p.m. (EST) on Friday, April 7, and the event finals will begin at 8 p.m. (EST) Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
At its last duel, then-No. 2 Ohio State outscored then-No. 4 Penn State, 216.300-209.050, Feb. 25 at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes captured five of six events on their way to recording a season-high team total of 216.300.
In the first rotation, Eddie Hay (Fr., Butler, Pa./Butler Gymnastics) earned a career high 9.750 to capture first on floor. Jimmy Wickham (So., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) scored a 9.600 to place second. Freshman Jake Bateman (Kingsport, Tenn./Premier Gymnastics) added a career high 9.150 to help Ohio State notch a season high 37.150 on the event.
The Buckeyes won pommel horse and recorded a season-high team score of 34.950. Ohio State swept the event with a first-place score of 9.200 by sophomore DJ Bucher (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics). Juniors Grant Osborne (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins) and Kristopher Kline (Westerville, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) rounded out the Top 3. Osborne finished second with an 8.800 and Kline finished third with an 8.700.
On rings, Bateman led Ohio State with a career high 9.200. Kline and sophomore Pedro Pineda (Galloway, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) followed each scoring a 9.000.
Ohio State won vault in the fourth rotation with a score of 36.950. Wickham won the event, posting a career high 9.700, and Bateman finished third with a 9.350.
Co-captain Nicholaus Searcy (Jr., Dublin, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center) led the Buckeyes on parallel bars. Searcy won the event tallying a 9.200. Bateman finished second with a 9.100 and Mike Marino (So., Ellington, Conn./Tim Daggett’s Gold Medal Gymnastics) tied Penn State’s Shaun Antonio with an 8.800 for third. The 8.800 is career record for Marino. The team won parallel bars with a combined score of 35.800.
In the final rotation, Ohio State captured high bar with a team total 35.900. Co-captain Willie Ito (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gymnastics) tied the Nittany Lions’ Tommy Ramos with a 9.450 for first on the event and Osborne scored a 9.100 to place second.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
The Wolverines began their 2006 season by placing third for the fifth consecutive year at the Windy City Invitational (Jan. 14). Michigan, then-ranked No. 6, scored 207.400 to trail Ohio State (211.650) and Illinois (210.500). At the home-opener, then-No. 4 ranked Michigan dropped a duel meet to then-No. 8 Penn State (Jan. 21), 209.400-206.450, in Cliff Keen Arena. The Michigan team captured floor, vault and high bar at the meet.
Although the Wolverines posted seven Top 5 event finishes against Oklahoma, Michigan fell to then-No. 2 Oklahoma on the road by a score of 216.200-203.900 (Jan. 27). The following week, five Michigan gymnasts traveled to Las Vegas to compete for spots on the U.S. National Team at the Winter Cup Challenge. The five representing the Wolverines were Gerry Signorelli (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo./Mitchell H.S.), Ralph Rosso (Fr., Morganville, N.J./ St. John Vianney H.S.), Luke Bottke (Sr., Saginaw, Mich./Heritage H.S.), Joe Catrambone (Fr., Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic H.S.), Aaron Rakes (Jr., Lexington, Ky./Dunbar H.S.) and Andrew Elkind (Jr., Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East).
Michigan stepped back in action with a win against Big Ten rival Minnesota (Feb. 11). At the meet, Michigan won four of six events and notched a season-high score of 213.800. The Blue suffered two Big Ten losses to then-No. 3 ranked Illinois (211.850) and then-No. 6 Iowa (209.600) on Feb. 18 with a score of 196.100 in Iowa City, Iowa. At the Aquafina Pacific Coast Collegiate Classic Feb. 25 at the Oakland Convention Center, Michigan placed fourth of seven teams with a 208.600. Last weekend, then-No. 7 Michigan fell to then-No. 3 Stanford, 217.150-207.500 in Palo Alto, Calif.
Signorelli was Michigan’s highest scorer on floor (9.350) and high bar (9.100) at the Windy City Invitational. In the meet against Penn State (Jan. 21), Signorelli placed second in the all-around with a score of 51.000. He led Michigan at the Winter Cup Challenge by placing sixth in the all-around on the first night of competition and ninth in the event finals. The senior tied for both second on floor (9.100) and first on high bar (9.500) in Big Ten competition against Minnesota (Feb. 11). Signorelli placed fourth in the all-around at Pacific Coast Collegiate Classic (Feb. 25). In the loss against Stanford (March 4), Signorelli earned third (48.250) in the all-around.
Senior Andrew DiGiore (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School) tied for first place on vault with a score of 9.350 at the Penn State duel (Jan. 21). In the loss to Oklahoma (Jan. 27), the Michigan vault specialist won the event with a season-high score of 9.550. He grabbed first on vault by posting a 9.400 at the Minnesota duel (Feb. 11). DiGiore earned another 9.400 in the tri-meet against Illinois and Iowa (Feb. 18) for a second-place finish on vault.
Joe Catrambone (Fr., Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic H.S.) earned a 9.150 for second place on rings and a 9.550 on high bar for first at Michigan’s home opener against Penn State (Jan. 21). At the home win against Minnesota, Catrambone earned first on rings (9.300) and tied for first on high bar (9.500). Last weekend, the freshman placed fifth with a 9.15 on rings against Stanford.
BUCKEYES VS. WOLVERINES
Ohio State edges Michigan in the all-time series record, 37-33. Under Ohio State head coach Miles Avery, the Buckeyes split the series 2-2 with the Wolverines in duel meets and hold a 2-0 record over the Big Ten foes when competing in tri-meets.
LOOK BACK – OSU VS. MICHIGAN – 2005
The then-No. 1 Ohio State men’s gymnastics outscored Michigan, 226.900-218.300, March 13 at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The 226.900 set a NCAA team score record surpassing Oklahoma’s previous mark of 222.675 set March 6, 2004.
At the duel, Willie Ito (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gymnastics) captured pommel horse with a career-high mark of 9.900. DJ Bucher (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) followed his teammate with a second-place finish on pommel horse with a 9.700 and claimed the parallel bars title with a score of 9.800.
Former-Buckeye Randy Monahan led the way for the Buckeyes with a win in the all-around (56.550) including two first-place finishes on rings (9.850) and floor (9.650).
BIG TEN SQUADS IN THE RANKINGS
No. 3 Ohio State remains undefeated in the Big Ten (6-0) and tops the league with a team average of 215.183 in the GymInfo National Rankings. Illinois and Penn State round out the league in second (213.317) and third (213.250), respectively. On floor, the Buckeyes drop behind Michigan (36.700) and Illinois (36.567) with a team average of 36.400. Ohio State also holds third place on pommel horse (34.533) behind Penn State with 35.117 and Iowa with 34.583 in first and second, respectively. On rings, Penn State leads the league with 37.267, Michigan holds second place with a 35.933 and Illinois averages a 35.833 for third place. With a team average of 35.467, Ohio State claims the eighth spot on the apparatus.
The Buckeyes remain on top on vault, parallel bars and high bar. The team’s average score on vault is a 36.950. Iowa and Illinois follow right behind in second (36.833) and third (36.667). On parallel bars, Ohio State leads the Big Ten in national rankings with an average of 36.350. The second and third place teams are Illinois (36.083) and Penn State (35.800). Ohio State’s high bar team 36.550 average leads the conference. In second place is Illinois with a 36.367 and in third is Iowa with a 35.950.
The Buckeyes note six individual Big Ten Top 5 marks in the national rankings. On floor, Eddie Hay holds second spot averaging a 9.517 and teammate Jimmy Wickham trails close behind in third with a 9.467 average.
Wickham tops the league and the nation on vault with a 9.567. On parallel bars, DJ Bucher’s average score of 9.500 earns him second place in both the Big Ten and the nation. Nicholaus Searcy holds the fifth spot on the apparatus with a season average 9.250. Willie Ito earns the No. 1 spot in the conference on high bar (9.633).
NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES
The 2005 Big Ten Champions will take a week off to prepare for the 2006 conference championships. Big Ten Championships action will be held March 24-25 in Iowa City, Iowa.
