No. 4 Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Meets No. 10 Temple for Home Opener – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 30, 2007
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Columbus, Ohio – The No. 4 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team (4-2 overall; 1-0 Big Ten) will compete against, Ohio State head coach Miles Avery’s alma mater, No. 10 Temple in its home opener at 7 p.m. in St. John Arena. The outing marks only the second dual all-time between the two programs in which Ohio State leads 1-0.
“I have a lot of respect for Fred Turoff and what he has done at Temple,” Avery said. “At Temple, he was a mentor to me as a gymnast and gave me my start in coaching. For our guys this week, we look to continue to do a better job and hit a greater percentage of routines, so we are ready for the Winter Cup Challenge.”
At the meet, the Buckeyes also will welcome students from 11 local elementary schools participating in the men’s Adopt-a-Gymnasts program. In its second year, the program continues to connect Ohio State men’s gymnasts with Columbus-area youths. The gymnasts are involved in reading, science and math activities at the participating schools. More information on the program can be found at www.geocities.com/osu.adoptagymnast.
A LOOK BACK AT ILLINOIS
The No. 4 men’s gymnastics team (4-2; 1-0 Big Ten) grabbed its first conference win over No. 5 Illinois, 214.7-211.05 Saturday at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill. In their first Big Ten win, the Buckeyes finished ahead of the Illini on four events and turned in first-place routines on all events but vault. The team swept the top three finishes on rings and parallel bars to note season-high scores of 37.65 and 37.05, respectively. DJ Bucher led the Buckeyes on both events and also earned a first-place finish on pommel horse. Sophomore Eddie Hay scored a 9.55 for first and junior David Ortiz added the team’s fifth individual event win on high bar with a 9.25.
BUCHER’S BACK
Junior DJ Bucher captured event titles on all three events he competed on last weekend to secure the team’s win over conference rival Illinois. Bucher, in his first meet of the 2007 season, grabbed the individual event wins on pommel horse, rings and parallel bars to bring his career first-place finishes to 20. On pommel horse, the Mason, Ohio, native scored a 9.0, .45 tenths of a point above the competition. In addition, he claimed the rings title with a 9.65 and finished the night with a 9.7 win on parallel bars. Bucher swings into first on rings and parallel bars and third on pommel horse in the GymInfo national rankings.
The last time Bucher claimed three title wins was at the 2005 NCAA Championships where he became the only Buckeye in history to garner All-America accolades on three events (pommel horse, rings and parallel bars) as a freshman. As a sophomore, Bucher won the 2006 Big Ten pommel horse championship title with a 9.0 (March 25) and again earned All-America status on the apparatus in April despite suffering from a knee injury.
BIG TEN SQUADS IN THE RANKINGS
After three weeks of competition, Ohio State ranks fourth in the nation with a team total average of 212.1. The Top 2 spots are held by Big Ten programs. In first is Michigan with an average score of 217.383 followed by No. 2 Penn State (213.042) and No. 3 Oklahoma (212.85). In the Big Ten, the Buckeyes rank third among their conference challengers following No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Penn State. Rounding out the league rankings are No. 4 Illinois (207.25), No. 5 Minnesota (205.317) and No. 6 Iowa (202.5).
Individually, the Buckeyes have team members in the nation’s Top 3 on four of six events. DJ Bucher ranks first in the nation on rings (9.65) and parallel bars (9.7). The junior also holds third on pommel horse (9.0). Senior Nicholaus Searcy follows behind Bucher on parallel bars and holds second (9.6). On rings, freshman Tai Lee’s 9.45 average holds the third spot and junior David Ortiz owns third in the nation with a 9.15 average on high bar.
AVERY WELCOMES FORMER COACH
Ohio State head coach Miles Avery welcomes Temple head coach Fred Turoff to St. John Arena for only the second dual all-time between the two programs. Under Turoff, Avery was a four-time letterwinner, three-time most valuable gymnast and two-year captain at Temple. Ohio State won the first contest March 20, 1999.
TRACKING THE OWLS
Temple (7-3 overall) finished third at the 16th annual West Point Open Invitational Saturday. The squad faced Penn State for the second time this season, Army and Team Gattaca (squad of former NCAA gymnasts and club age gymnasts). The Owls ended the invitation in third with a 199.5 behind Penn State and Team Gattaca. Sophomore John Vogtman scored a team-high 8.55 on pommel horse and teammate Sterling Kramer followed with an 8.5. Vogtman again led the Owls with an 8.75 on rings.
In its home opener, Temple earned a second-place finish in a quad-meet against Penn State, William & Mary and James Madison Jan. 21. The Nittany Lions posted a wide margin over the Owls, 210.205-198.6, for first at McGonigle Hall. Junior Luke Vexler led Temple with a 9.0 on floor and on pommel with an 8.3.
UP NEXT FOR OHIO STATE
The coaching staff and nine Buckeyes will travel to Las Vegas for the 2007 Winter Cup Challenge Feb. 8-10. The men’s program is sending the most representatives (11) to the USA Gymnastics competition this year, including all four Ohio State seniors. Willie Ito, Kristopher Kline, Grant Osborne and Nicholaus Searcy will be joined by juniors DJ Bucher and Jimmy Wickham, sophomores Jake Bateman and Eddie Hay and freshman Tai Lee at the Winter Cup. At the challenge, two pools of 42 gymnasts will vie for a limited number of spots on the U.S. Senior National Team. In addition to the student-athletes, former Buckeyes Blaine Wilson and Randy Monahan will compete at the national meet as well.
