Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Takes No. 1 Seed Into 2007 NCAA Championships April 12-14 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
April 9, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 12
1 p.m. NCAA Qualifier Session I
Ohio State, Stanford, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Army
Rec Hall, University Park, Pa.
7 p.m. NCAA Qualifier Session II
Oklahoma, Penn State, Minnesota, California, Temple, Nebraska
Rec Hall, University Park, Pa.
Friday, April 13
7 p.m. NCAA Team Championships
Rec Hall, University Park, Pa.
Saturday, April 14
7 p.m. NCAA Individual Event Finals
Rec Hall, University Park, Pa.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Coming off of its third-consecutive conference championship win, the Ohio State men’s gymnastics team (12-4 overall) will compete at the 65th annual NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships, Thursday-Saturday, at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. The No. 1-seeded Buckeyes will compete in the first of two qualifying sessions at 1 p.m. Thursday. The Top 3 teams from each qualifying round will move on to the team finals at 7 p.m. Friday.
The 2007 NCAA Team and All-Around Finals will be televised at 2 p.m. April 17 on ESPN2 and the individual event championships will be televised on CN8 (The Comcast Network) at 5:30 p.m. April 15.
“Our guys are ready to go,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “Hopefully, the Big Ten championships focused them and they will be able to go in and win a national championship. It’s just important for us to stay healthy and rested this week.” Last year, the Buckeyes missed qualifying for the team championships for the first time in 25 years. The squad looks to get back on track in 2007 and continue the program’s tradition as one of the nation’s premier teams. Ohio State has claimed NCAA titles in 1985, 1996 and 2001. In nine seasons, Avery has produced one national championship team and four national runner-up squads.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR APRIL 12-14
Tickets for the 2007 NCAA men’s gymnastics championships (April 12-14), hosted by Penn State at Rec Hall, are available for sale through the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office and www.GoPSUsports.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 $28 and $16, respectively. Single session tickets for Thursday are $8 (adult) and $5 (youth) while single day tickets for Friday and Saturday sessions are $12 (adult) and $6 (youth). Groups of 10 or more are eligible for a single session discount of $3.
The NCAA Championships kick off April 12, with two qualifying sessions. The first session will begin at 1 p.m. and session two will start at 7 p.m. The team finals will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 13, and the event finals will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday.
ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES THE VICTOR
For the first time in program history, the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes captured three-consecutive Big Ten Championships. The 2007 Big Ten Champions won OSU’s third title in as many years March 30 at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn., with a score of 217.75, only one tenth of a point over Penn State (217.65). In front of a home crowd, Minnesota rounded out the Top 3 scoring a 215.25. The bottom half of the standings found Michigan in fourth 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 had ever done so. But just like last year we had to build and build in each rotation.”
Sophomore Eddie Hay 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. Previously, Ohio State had won back-to-back Big Ten championships four times including, 1993 and ’94, ’96 and ’97, 2001 and ’02, as well as, in ’05 and ’06.
ALL-BIG TEN BUCKEYES
At the conclusion of the league individual championships, three Buckeyes were voted to the 2007 All-Big Ten team. For the third year in a row, DJ Bucher was named to the team, along with teammates Eddie Hay and Tai Lee.
Both Bucher and Hay won individual titles March 31. Bucher earned his second-career Big Ten crown on parallel bars scoring a 9.675 to bring his tally of conference titles to three. The Mason, Ohio, native was Big Ten champion on parallel bars (9.737) as a freshman and pommel horse champion as a sophomore with a 9.0.
Hay again stole the spotlight on floor winning the event championship with a personal-best 9.825. The 2007 Big Ten Champion on floor was only .05 points shy of tying the individual Buckeye record. The OSU program-high of 9.875 was noted by former Buckeye Dick Huntwork in 2002.
AVERY PICKS UP THIRD-STRAIGHT BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR HONOR
In Minnesota, Miles Avery won his third-consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year accolade, an honor he shared with Minnesota head coach Mike Burns. Avery is the only Big Ten coach to record three-straight conference honors since the inception of the award in 1988. He noted the award outright in 2005 and shared the laurel with Tom Dunn of Iowa in 2006.
Since the award was first presented in 1988, a Buckeye coach has received the laurel nine times, the most for any conference program. Peter Kormann earned the award in 1993, ’94, ’96, and ’97 and Avery was tabbed coach of the year in 2001, ’02, ’05, ’06 and `07.
FIRST-SEEDED BUCKEYES VIE FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BIRTH
After the conference championships weekend, Ohio State earned the No. 1 seed at the national championship qualifier. The NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Committee announced April 3 the Top 12 teams selected to compete in the two national qualifying rounds Thursday at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. The Buckeyes will compete in the first session at 1 p.m. Thursday and will start the competition on vault.
The committee’s selection was based on the national qualifying average (NQA). The NQA is an average complied by dropping the highest of each team’s Top 4 regular-season scores, counting no more than two home meets. The conference championships meet score is counted twice and added to the three remaining regular-season scores and averaged to compute the NQA.
Ohio State edged two-time defending champion Oklahoma for the No. 1 seed with a team average of 217.22. Oklahoma heads to State College with a No. 2 seed and NQA of 217.18. Penn State, who will host the national championships, enters the qualifying round at No. 3 with a 216.59.
All six Big Ten programs were selected to the 65th annual NCAA championships qualifying round. The Top 3 teams from both qualifying sessions will advance to the team finals April 13. In addition, the Top 3 all-around competitors and the Top 3 individuals on each event, not already qualified on a team or in the all-around competition, will compete in the individual finals session.
The Buckeyes rank nationally in the Top 6 on all six events including a first-place average on parallel bars (37.02) and No. 2 ranking on both pommel horse (34.66) and rings (37.71). Ohio State is third on both floor (37.4) and high bar (35.91) and holds sixth on vault with a 35.27 average.
2007 NCAA National Qualifiers
| Seed | Team | Qualifying Score |
| No. 1 | Ohio State | 217.22 |
| No. 2 | Oklahoma | 217.18 |
| No. 3 | Penn State | 216.59 |
| No. 4 | Stanford | 216.00 |
| No. 5 | Michigan | 215.82 |
| No. 6 | Minnesota | 213.86 |
| No. 7 | California | 212.78 |
| No. 8 | Illinois | 212.17 |
| No. 9 | Iowa | 208.51 |
| No. 10 | Temple | 205.18 |
| No. 11 | Nebraska | 204.14 |
| No. 12 | Army | 200.98 |
SIX BUCKEYES IN THE NATION’S TOP 5
Individually, six Ohio State gymnasts own top averages on all six events and in the all-around. Juniors DJ Bucher and Jimmy Wickham hold the No. 1 spot in the nation’s individual rankings on parallel bars and vault, respectively. Heading into the NCAA championships, Bucher holds Top 10 averages on all three of his events (pommel horse, rings and parallel bars). The 2007 Big Ten Champion on parallel bars owns a 9.605 for first on the apparatus, ranks third on rings with a 9.6 and 10th on pommel horse (8.75). Success for the Buckeyes continues as Wickham ranks in the nation’s Top 3 on both of his events. The junior holds first on vault with a 9.3 and also owns a 9.59 average on floor for third. Teammate Pejman Ebrahimi notes the eighth highest vault average with an 8.925.
Nissen-Emery Award finalist Willie Ito is the only OSU gymnast to crack the Top 10 on high bar. He ranks third in the nation on the event with a 9.31 average and also holds seventh on pommel horse (8.85). Classmate Nicholaus Searcy moved up the rankings to No. 3 on parallel bars with a 9.43 while freshman standout Tai Lee owns the fifth-highest average in the all-around with a 51.58. The only other freshman all-arounder ranked in the nation’s Top 10 is Andre Berry of Minnesota, the 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, in eighth (50.95).
CONFERENCE RANKINGS ROUNDUP
The Big Ten Conference squads enter the national championships with Ohio State leading the pack. In first, the Buckeyes own a 217.22 and are followed by No. 2 Penn State (216.59). After the league championships, Michigan owns third in the conference with a 215.82. Minnesota (213.86), Illinois (212.17) and Iowa (208.51) round out the bottom half of the six team rankings in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
ALL-AROUND CALIBER – ITO NAMED NISSEN-EMERY AWARD FINALIST
Willie Ito was named to a field of eight seniors for the Nissen-Emery Award by the College Gymnastics Association. Each year, the Nissen-Emery Award is presented to the nation’s outstanding senior male collegiate gymnast. The winner will be announced at the NCAA/CGA banquet April 11 at the Mt. Nittany Club in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa., and marks the start of the NCAA championship weekend. Ito is the first Buckeye finalist since volunteer assistant coach Randy Monahan was nominated in 2005.
Ito has helped the Scarlet and Gray win three conference titles in 2005, ’06 and ’07 and is a 2007 Academic All-Big Ten recipient and two-time OSU Scholar-Athlete. The Buckeye, is the current OSU record-holder on pommel horse after scoring a 9.9 twice as a sophomore against Nebraska (Feb. 18, 2005) and Michigan (March 13, 2005).
Ito, a 2006 All-American and Big Ten Champion on high bar, has been named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week three times in his career and has tabbed 27 first-place finishes. Ito garnered two of his three conference accolades as a junior. This season, Ito earned his third career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week accolade Feb. 27. For the honor, the Buckeye tallied two first-place finishes vs. No. 2 Penn State (Feb. 24).
In the GymInfo national rankings, Ito holds the third highest average on high bar (9.31), is seventh on pommel horse (8.85). As a senior, he has continued to produce for Ohio State with seven individual event wins. In 2007, Ito has won on high bar four times, parallel bars twice and pommel horse once. At the Big Ten team championships, Ito captured his fourth high bar win with a 9.35 on the apparatus. Against California (March 10), Ito set season-highs on pommel horse with a 9.2 and parallel bars with a 9.75 and scored a 9.45 on high bar. His season-high 9.65 on high bar came against Oklahoma (March 3).
2007 NISSEN-EMERY AWARD FINALISTS
ATHLETE – UNIVERSITY
Jack Bouchard – Iowa
Brain Carr – Oklahoma
Matt Cohen – Penn State
Peter Derman – Stanford
Willie Ito – Ohio State
Justin Laury – Michigan
Jake Lee – Minnesota
Tim Morrison – UIC
OSU NISSEN-EMERY AWARD WINNERS
YEAR – BUCKEYE
2001 – Jamie Natalie
1997 – Blaine Wilson
1994 – Kip Simons
1990 – Mike Racanelli
VIEW FROM THE TOP
In 2007, a Buckeye has won or shared a first-place finish with a teammate 42 times. Of the 42 individual first-place finishes, 38 have been outright out of a possible 63 events. Junior DJ Bucher leads the team with 12 individual wins this season. Tied with seven first-place finishes apiece, Willie Ito and Jimmy Wickham have tallied the second-highest individual wins for a Buckeye. This season, Bucher earned top marks on all three of his events twice. The gymnast won pommel horse, rings and parallel bars at Illinois Jan 27, his first competition of the year, and again completed the feat vs. Michigan March 17.
The Buckeyes have been impressive on parallel bars securing individual wins on the apparatus at every meet this season except for the Big Ten team championships March 30. Bucher finished second with a 9.6 behind Derek Helsby of Penn State with a 9.65 at the team competition, but came back to win the conference championship title March 31 with a 9.675.
FIRST-PLACE EVENT FINISHES
| EVENT | NUMBER OF FIRST-PLACE FINISHES |
| Floor | 7 |
| Pommel Horse | 5 |
| Rings | 8 |
| Vault | 6 |
| Parallel Bars | 8 |
| High Bar | 7 |
| All-Around | 1 |
ALL-AMERICAN NODS
Coach Miles Avery has coached 17 All-Americans and seven NCAA individual event and all-around champions since taking the helm in 1998. Since Don Perry first earned All-America status on the trampoline in 1954, Ohio State has had 107 gymnasts collect the honor. Currently, DJ Bucher owns the most nods as a four-time All-American. In 2005, Bucher became the only Buckeye to garner All-America accolades on three events as a freshman on pommel horse (9.212), rings (9.562) and parallel bars (9.637). The gymnast added his fourth honor last year finishing seventh on pommel horse.
Willie Ito and Jimmy Wickham earned their first All-America laurels in 2006 on high bar (3rd) and vault (2nd), respectively.
In Ohio State history, former Buckeyes Mike Racanelli (1987-90) and Blaine Wilson (1994-97) tallied 10 individual honors each in only three seasons.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Ohio State gymnasts have earned 23 NCAA individual championships for the university’s program. Former-student athlete and Olympian Blaine Wilson leads the Buckeyes after garnering six national championships in two seasons.
2005 NCAA High Bar Champion Ronald Ferris was the last Ohio State gymnast to win an individual championship.
OHIO STATE NCAA HISTORY
The Buckeyes last won the national title in 2001 at home in St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio, with a season-high score of 218.125. Three members of the 2001 squad notched individual event championship titles as well. Jamie Natalie won the all-around, Daren Lynch won on vault and Raj Bhavsar won on parallel bars.
With a 232.150 team score, Ohio State won the 1996 NCAA Championship. Former-Buckeye Blaine Wilson captured the all-around, rings and parallel bars titles. Teammate Drew Durbin earned a national championship title on pommel horse.
In 1985, Ohio State earned the program’s first national championship, accumulating 285.350 points. Noah and Seth Riskin were named co-champions on parallel bars at the event finals.
2006 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN REVIEW
For the first time in 25 years, Ohio State failed to qualify for the NCAA championships April 6, 2006. The Buckeyes finished in fourth with a team total of 211.7 at the first session of the 2006 NCAA Qualifier at Lloyd Noble Arena on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. The team’s fourth-place finish knocked the Buckeyes out of contention for the 2006 NCAA team championship.
The Top 3 teams to move on to the team finals from the first qualifying session were Stanford (215.9), Penn State (213.2) and Iowa (212.425).
“We didn’t have enough,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “It was our goal not to finish fourth. It is very disappointing to break the streak of qualifying for 25-consecutive NCAA championships, but hopefully this will be a motivator for the young team for the 2007 season.”
2006 BUCKEYE ALL-AMERICAN TRIO
Three of five Ohio State gymnasts qualified for the individual finals picked up All-America status at the 2006 NCAA Individual Event Finals April 8. Bucher, Ito and Wickham garnered All-American honors on pommel horse (7th), high bar (3rd) and vault (2nd), respectively.
Then-sophomore DJ Bucher earned his second-consecutive All-America nod on pommel horse after he finished seventh with an 8.825 to become a four-time All-American. As the lone Buckeye on vault, Jimmy Wickham was the final participant on the event and landed a 9.487 to finish second and grabbed his first All-America award. Willie Ito, with a score of 9.687, placed third on high bar to earn his first All-America nod.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Miles Avery noted his 100th win with the March 17 victory over Michigan. His all-time meet record now stands at 105-29-1 as the team heads into the 2007 NCAA Championships.
OHIO STATE CONTROLS HOME FLOOR
Miles Avery’s squad closed out Big Ten action with a 2-1 record after dealing then-No. 1 Michigan its first dual loss of 2007 with a season-high team score, 220.5-215.85. The Buckeyes won all events but floor at the meet and noted season highs on pommel horse (36.35), vault (36.3), parallel bars (37.1) and high bar (37.3).
Ohio State received a big performance from junior DJ Bucher as he captured first on all three of his events (pommel horse, rings and parallel bars) for the second time this season. Following the meet, Bucher was named the NCAA Division I National Gymnast of the Week by the College Gymnastics Association and the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week. At the conference challenge, the Buckeye came in first on pommel horse (9.3), rings (9.5) and parallel bars (9.65).
The Buckeyes recorded a 2-0 record at St. John Arena this season. The squad noted two of its Top 3 team scores in front of its home crowd, including a season-high 220.5 vs. the Wolverines. The score was Ohio State’s highest since the 2005 NCAA Championships (225.450). At the 2007 home opener, Avery’s team defeated his alma mater Temple Feb. 3, 216.35-198.55, and noted its third highest team total.
THREE BUCKEYE TEAMS OWN TOP RANKING PRIOR TO CHAMPIONSHIPS
The men’s gymnastics team joined Ohio State football and men’s basketball as all three teams have noted the top seat in their respective polls before entering into postseason action. With a 7-4 overall record, Avery’s squad moved into the No. 1 spot for the first time in the 2007 season after defeating then-No.1 Michigan, 220.5-215.85, March 17 at St. John Arena. The men’s basketball team moved to the top of the coaches poll after its win over Minnesota (Feb. 18) and earned the No. 1 ranking in both the AP and coaches polls after downing Wisconsin (Feb. 24). In the fall, Buckeye football was first in the national polls for the entire season.
