Ohio State Records History With Third-Consecutive Big Ten Championships Title – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
March 31, 2007
Results
Minneapolis, Minn. – For the first time in program history, the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes have captured three-consecutive Big Ten Championships. The 2007 Big Ten Champions won OSU’s third title in as many years Friday at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn., with a score of 217.75. Only one tenth of a point separated No. 1 from No. 2 in the Big Ten this year, as Penn State finished second with a 217.65. Host Minnesota rounded out the Top 3 scoring a 215.25.
Coming in fourth at the championships was Michigan with a 214.35 while Illinois ended the competition if fifth (211.9) and Iowa sixth (210.0).
“We knew we had a team that could win,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach said. “It was certainly a goal to win our third title in a row because no Ohio State team has ever done so. But just like last year we had to build and build in each rotation.”
Sophomore Eddie Hay (So., Butler, Pa./Butler Gymnastics) landed the team title for Ohio State when he scored a 9.8 on floor. In his first competition on the event since injuring his foot in February, Hay’s first-place finish helped secure the 2007 Buckeye squad’s spot in the record books as the first team to win three-consecutive conference titles.
“It was fun, but I didn’t think it would be that close,” Hay said. “I felt my foot on floor, but I just put it out of my mind.”
Ohio State started the league championships on pommel horse with a 33.45, the second-lowest Buckeye team total in 2007. The team started last in the standings by more than 2.5 points as the championships host Minnesota turned in a 36.05 on rings to grab the led. Senior co-captain Kristopher Kline (Westerville, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics) turned in the highest Buckeye score with a seventh-place 8.55. Nissen-Emery finalist Willie Ito (Sr., Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gymnastics) finished 10th and DJ Bucher (Jr., Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) finished 14th with an 8.5 and 8.35, respectively.
The team bounced back on rings with a 37.75 as five Buckeyes recorded scores above a 9.0. Avery’s squad moved into fourth in the running standings. Bucher, who won on rings three times in the regular season, again captured the event win as he tied his season-high a 9.65. In all, five gymnasts split first on the apparatus. The freshman duo of Shachar Tal (Fr., Rehovot, Irsrael/Maccabi Tel Aviv) and Tai Lee (Fr., Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro Gymnastics) stepped up for the team scoring a 9.45 and 9.35, respectively. With the 9.45, Tal matched his career-high to tie for 10th while Lee tied for 12th with his 9.35. 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jake Bateman (Kingsport, Tenn./Premier Gymnastics) ended in 16th with a 9.3 and Kline added a 9.25 for 19th. Penn State moved ahead the pack after two rotations with a 73.0.
On vault, Ohio State noted its second highest team total on the apparatus with a 35.5. Leading the Buckeyes was vault specialist Jimmy Wickham (Jr., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) in first with a season-high 9.45. In 2007, Wickham has led the squad on vault and has captured the event four times. Pejman Ebrahimi (Jr., Encino, Calif./LeClub Gymnastics) added a 9.05 for seventh and senior captains Kline and Nicholaus Searcy (Sr., Dublin, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics) both scored 8.5s. Searcy tied his season-high score on the event with an 8.5. After the third rotation, the Buckeyes owned a fourth-place score of 106.7. Penn State held steady in first with a 108.1. Following in second and third, respectively, were Michigan (107.85) and Minnesota (107.45).
Gaining momentum, the team tied its season high on parallel bars with a 37.1 and moved into second. The Scarlet and Gray held second with a 143.8 behind the Nittany Lions’ 144.7. Rounding out the Top 3 standings after four rotations was Minnesota with a 142.8. The team was again led by Bucher, ranked second in the nation on parallel bars as of March 26. Junior earned a 9.6, his second-highest mark of the season on the apparatus and finished second on the apparatus at the team championships. The seniors Searcy and Grant Osborne (Sr., Fort Collins, Colo./USOTC) also provided high marks for the Buckeye squad. Searcy recorded a fourth-place finish with a 9.45 while Osborne noted a career-best 9.3 to tie for seventh. Osborne’s score was .275 points above his previous high.
In the fifth rotation, the Buckeyes scored a 35.7 on high bar and compiled a 179.5 team total to remain in second place. In a difficult rotation for Ohio State, Buckeye seniors again stepped up for the team. Ito and Osborne scores led the team and the competition with a 9.35 and 9.15, respectively. Ito won for the fourth time this season on high bar and Osborne noted his second season high of the night with the 9.15 for third. In seventh, Lee had an 8.95 for the Buckeyes. Heading into the last rotation, the competition remained tight. The Gophers moved into the first spot with a 180.7 as Ohio State and Penn State followed closely behind with scores of 179.5 and 179.35, respectively.
The 2007 Ohio State team wrote itself into the program’s record book when it clinched its third Big Ten championships team title in as many years with a team total 217.75 after notching a solid 38.25 on floor. The Buckeyes propelled into first place when the team scored a season high 38.25 on floor to capture the win. Hay landed a career-best 9.8, the top individual score of the team championships on the event. Also scoring 9s for the Buckeyes were Wickham in third with a 9.65, Kline finished 10th (9.45), Osborne had a 9.3 (14th) and Lee scored a 9.0.
Lee finished the competition sixth in the all-around with a 51.55.
In all, nine Buckeyes will return to the 2007 Big Ten Individual Championships at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Top 8 gymnasts on each of the six events qualify to the league event finals. All four seniors qualified for the individual championships. Ito will compete on high bar, Kline on pommel horse, Osborne on both parallel bars and high bar and Searcy on parallel bars. Juniors Bucher, Ebrahimi and Wickham also finished in the Top 8 on their events to move on. Bucher is set to compete on rings and parallel bars, Ebrahimi qualified on vault and Wickham made both the floor and vault championships finals. Hay also will challenge the best in the Big Ten on floor while freshman Lee will compete on high bar.
UP NEXT FOR OHIO STATE
The nine Buckeyes qualified for the event championships will return to the Sports Pavilion at 8 p.m. EST Saturday.
