Five Buckeye Gymnasts Qualify for the 2007 NCAA Individual Event Finals – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
April 14, 2007
Results
University Park, Pa. – Ohio State men’s gymnastics advanced five gymnasts to the 2007 NCAA Individual Event Finals following competition Friday evening at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. At the championships, the Top 10 individual gymnasts on each of the six events from Friday night advance to the individual finals at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The battle between Penn State and Oklahoma for first place in the team championship went down to the last event. Penn State posted a 38.45 on rings to secure its first NCAA team championship title since 2004 with a 221.0 team total. Second place went to Oklahoma with a 220.2 and Stanford rounded out the nation’s Top 3 with a 218.45. Michigan was edged out of third place by a mere .05 points. The Wolverines finished with a 218.4 in fourth while Illinois took fifth (217.3) and Minnesota sixth with a 217.15.
“We have five guys that can compete to be All-Americans and national champions tomorrow night,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach said.
In the all-around, Oklahoma’s Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons captured the title with a score of 55.75 while teammate Jonathan Horton finished tied for second with Illinois’s Wesley Haagensen with a 55.0.
Senior Grant Osborne (Fort Collins, Colo./USOTC) was the first Buckeye to compete as the individual competitors began the evening on floor. Osborne did not complete his full floor routine after a hard fall and was scored a 6.1. Classmate Kristopher Kline (Westerville, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics) hit a solid routine scoring a 9.3, nearing his career-high 9.45, in his first event of the evening and finished tied for 25th.
After a bye in the second rotation, both Osborne and Kline represented Ohio State on the pommel horse during the third rotation. Osborne returned to the competition with a score of 8.6 on pommel horse to tie the Sooner’s Horton for 21st-place while Kline finished with a 6.3. DJ Bucher (Jr., Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) and Tai Lee (Fr., Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro Gymnastics) turned in two first-rate performances on rings. Bucher, who has won the event four times this season, stuck his dismount and earned a 9.6. His 9.6 score was just shy of his season-high 9.65. Bucher ended the competition tied for ninth and advanced to the event finals. Lee also turned in a strong set as he scored a 9.4 and split a five-way tie for 19th. Since becoming a Buckeye, the freshman standout has earned marks of 9.35 or higher on rings, including a personal-best 9.75 at Oklahoma (March 3).
On vault, Jimmy Wickham (Jr., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) had a 9.2 for third while Pejman Ebrahimi (Jr., Encino, Calif./LeClub Gymnastics) scored a 9.05 to tie for eighth. As both Buckeyes finished in the Top 10, the two Ohio State gymnasts will vie for the vault national championship title at the meet Saturday.
In his only event of the evening, senior Willie Ito (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Coast Gymnastics) finished the competition with a 9.4 on parallel bars and qualified for the event finals in ninth place. On his second event of the evening, Bucher was the last competitor on the event and noted a third-place finish with a 9.5. Sophomore Jake Bateman (Kingsport, Tenn./Premier Gymnastics) started the rotation with an 8.3 on parallel bars before moving on to high bar where he tied his career-best with a 9.4 in the seventh and final rotation of the evening. As the only Ohio State gymnast to stay on the bar at the Thursday night team qualifying, the sophomore had another impressive showing on the event finishing tied for seventh with Penn State’s Tommy Ramos.
In all, the Buckeye squad will look it its five individual event qualifiers to gain All-America or event champion status at the 2007 NCAA Individual Event Finals Saturday.
