Ohio State Opens 2008 at Windy City Invite – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Buckeyes face competition from six ranked opponents, including preseason No. 1 Stanford
COLUMBUS, Ohio As in years past, the Ohio State men’s gymnastics team will kick off its 2008 season at the 38th-annual Windy City Invitational at 8 p.m. EST Saturday at Physical Education Building on the campus of host school UIC. At the meet, No. 4 Ohio State will compete against preseason No. 1-ranked Stanford, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Illinois, No. 9 Iowa and No. 13 UIC.
“It’s exciting to start the season at the Windy City, especially this year with the preseason No. 1-ranked Stanford team joining the competition,” Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, said. “Teams from the West usually do not compete at this invite but it will be a great chance to see how we stack up against the country’s top squad.”
BUCKEYES IN THE WINDY CITY
For the 29th-consecutive season, Ohio State will open its season at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago. Last season, the Buckeyes finished the competition in third with a team score of 209.5, falling behind Big Ten rivals Michigan (212.75) and Illinois (209.75).
In all, the Buckeyes have captured the invite’s title on 10 occasions. Most recently, Ohio State won in 2006 and had back-to-back wins in 2003 and 2004. OSU also secured victories in 1985, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2000.
FORECASTING THE STANDINGS
Ranked fourth in the 2008 College Gymnastics Association preseason coaches’ poll, the Buckeyes find themselves starting out at their lowest preseason position since the 2005 season when they narrowly missed the national title, dropping to Oklahoma, 225.675-225.45.
Coming in at No. 1 is Stanford with eight first-place votes. As host of the 2008 NCAA Championships, the Cardinals look to be the team to beat this season. Defending national champion Penn State holds the second spot while Oklahoma rounds out the Top 3.
Out of its conference rivals, only Penn State ranks higher than Ohio State on the preseason ballot. Forming a Big Ten block, Michigan is ranked sixth, Minnesota seventh, Illinois eighth and Iowa ninth. Like in 2007, the run for the conference crown again looks to be close. Last year, the Buckeyes grabbed a program record third-consecutive team title, outscoring Penn State, 217.75-217.65, in Minneapolis, Minn.
A GLANCE AT 2008
Ohio State has its work cut out this upcoming season in its continual quest for both national and conference titles. In a league where four of six teams earned berths to the NCAA tournament last year, including 2007 National Champion Penn State, the Buckeyes are among good company in its league.
For the second season in a row, the Buckeyes have a tough road to travel before entering the postseason. Starting with back-to-back duals, Avery’s squad welcomes California Feb. 16 and Penn State Feb. 24 before playing host to Oklahoma March 8. While all three foes continually rank amongst the nation’s Top 10 squads, the Nittany Loins and Sooners finished first and second, respectively, at the NCAA Championships last year. Capping off a string of tough meets, Ohio State hits the road to face Michigan March 22.
In April, the Buckeyes head off to Rec Hall located on the campus of Penn State University for the 2008 Big Ten Championships April 4-5. Ohio State takes a bye week before crossing the country to Stanford, Calif., with hopes of qualifying for the NCAA team championships.
THREE’S COMPANY
In 2008, Ohio State will be led by seniors DJ Bucher and Jimmy Wickham and junior Jake Bateman. The trio was voted captains by their teammates Jan. 5 at the Varsity Exhibition at Steelwood Athletic Training Center, the Buckeyes’ practice gym. So far, Bucher and Wickham have helped Ohio State to three-consecutive Big Ten championships titles while Bateman has contributed to two crowns.
Bucher, a native of Mason, Ohio, has served as a leader on the competition floor since his freshman year when he became the first Buckeye to earn three All-America honors (pommel horse, rings and parallel bars) as a rookie. A six-time All-American, Bucher also owns three Big Ten individual event titles.
Since joining Ohio State in 2005 as a walk-on, Wickham has excelled on floor and vault, ending his junior season holding the country’s top average on vault with a 9.3 in the GymInfo national rankings.
Bateman, the 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, has been a consistent all-around competitor in his first two-seasons as a Buckeye. From a standout freshman season in which he represented Ohio State in 5-of-6 regular-season meets and both the Big Ten and NCAA championships, Bateman nearly earned All-America status on high bar as a sophomore.
ADDING TWO
Joining the Ohio State mix in 2008 will be Sean Regan of Libertyville, Ill., and Brandon Wynn of Voorhees, N.J. Ranked among the Top 12 gymnasts at the junior level, Regan and Wynn come to Ohio State with extensive competition experience on the national platform.
In August, Regan earned a spot on the 2007-08 U.S. Junior National team at USA Gymnastics’ VISA Championships. He has competed in four of the last five Junior Olympic Championships, including a ninth-placed finish in the all-around at the 2007 championships.
Trained at Will-Moor School of Gymnastics, Wynn has advanced to the event finals of the last two Junior Olympic championships. The 2006 Region VII all-around title winner, finished second on rings and 21st in the all-around at the 2006 Junior Olympic Championships.
FAST FORWARD: PREVIEWING THE WINDY CITY
The 38th-annual Windy City Invitational will host seven of the nation’s ranked men’s gymnastics program, six of which hold Top 10 preseason ranking.
NO. 1 STANFORD
Picked to lead the pack is Stanford, who finished third at the past two national championships and added a largely talented recruiting class over the offseason, featuring six of the nation’s top recruits.
Head coach Thom Glielmi enters his sixth season at the helm of the Cardinals with a talented squad, including returning national champions David Sender (vault) and Alex Schorsch (rings) with rookies Tim Gentry, a three-time junior national all-around champion, and Ryan Lieberman, a three-time junior national team member.
NO. 6 MICHIGAN
With a young squad, including eight freshmen, head coach Kurt Golder will look to improve upon the squad’s fourth-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Golder, in his 12th season with the Maize and Blue, will look to juniors Joe Catrambone and Ralph Rosso to lead the team in the all-around while Kent Caldwell is expected to continue to post top marks on floor and vault. After a strong freshman season, pommel horse and vault specialist David Chan returns, earning All-America status on vault.
NO. 7 MINNESOTA
In their fifth year under the command of head coach Mike Burns, the Golden Gophers continue to look to rise in the national standings. Turning in their best season since 1990, Minnesota qualified for its first NCAA finals in 17 years to take sixth in 2007. Returning All-Americans Adam Reichow, Kit Beikmann, Cole Storer and Andre Berry, also named 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, will aid Minnesota’s run for another golden year.
NO. 8 ILLINOIS
Yoshi Hayasaki, in his 31st year as the Illini head coach, brings a balance mixed of experienced veterans and skilled freshmen as Illinois looks to continue its streak of finishing in the nation’s Top 5. The senior class, which owns a collective 11 All-America nods, is led by 2007 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year Wes Haagensen with six national laurels. Classmates Ross Bradley, who is returning from injury, Jon Drollinger, Chris Silcox and Tyler Yamauchi, 2007 Big Ten vault champion, will be in charge of leading the Illini’s rookies this season.
NO. 9 IOWA
Starting where they ended the season with a No. 9 ranking, Tom Dunn, Iowa head coach, and the Hawkeyes look to gain speed this year with help from their freshman and sophomores. Upperclassmen Jacob Becker and Geoff Reins will try to mimic their 2007 seasons, both earning their first All-America honors at the NCAA championships. Becker will be a leader for the Hawkeyes on both pommel horse and parallel bars while Reins will help Iowa on floor and vault.
NO. 13 UIC
The Flames are captained this season by junior Anthony May and sophomores Nikolai Korepanov and Andrew Stover, marking the first time in program history in which two sophomores were named leaders of the squad. Last year, May took 13th in the all-around at the NCAA individuals finals after UIC narrowly missed out on qualifying for the team competition. After standout freshman seasons, Korepanov, the 2007 ECAC Freshman of the Year, and Stover are expected by head coach CJ Johnson to bring the same competitiveness to the table in 2008.
FACETIME ON THE BIG TEN NETWORK
Ohio State men’s gymnastics will make its debut on the Big Ten Network as the network comes to historic St. John Arena for a co-ed meet between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions. The competition will be held in Columbus Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. and will air on tape delay at 4 p.m. March 2.
On the road, the Buckeyes’ meet against conference-foe Michigan will be the final test of the regular season and its second competition aired on the Big Ten Network. The matchup will run at 8 p.m. March 29 on delay from the meet scheduled at 7 p.m. March 22 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
WILSON RETURNS TO COACHING STAFF
Blaine Wilson, former Buckeye (1994-97) and three-time Olympian, rejoined the men’s gymnastics coaching staff for his fourth season as Ohio State’s volunteer assistant. While helping the Buckeyes in the gym, Wilson will be training under head coach Miles Avery. The native of Columbus, Ohio, looks to become the first American gymnast to make four Olympic teams as he readies for the Olympic trials in June for the 2008 Beijing Games.
The most decorated Buckeye to date, Wilson captured six NCAA individual titles, secured five-consecutive U.S. all-around titles (1996-2000) and earned a silver medal in the team competition at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. In addition, he led Ohio State to three Big Ten championships (1994-96-97) and the program’s second national championships in 1996.
WHIZ KIDS
In July, Ohio State garnered its first national academic team honors from the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) for posting a 3.4 cumulative grade point average (GPA), the highest mark of any Division I NCAA team. Ending Stanford’s four-year streak as the country’s top academic squad, the Buckeyes were named the 2007 National Academic Team Champion as seven gymnasts received first-team All-America Scholar-Athlete kudos and three garnered second-team distinctions.
CLASS OF 2012
Next fall, Ohio State welcomes Philip Onorato and Alexy Bilozertchev, the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 recruits, respectively. Both Onorato, 2004 and ’05 Level 10 Junior Olympic National all-around champion, and Bilozertchev, 2007 VISA junior all-around title holder, bring routines tested at the national and international level.
Competing overseas, Onorato finished second in the all-around at both the 2005 Stella Zakharova Cup and the 2006 Pan American Championships where he took gold on rings (15.275) and silver on floor (14.425). In all, Onorato, a member of the World Olympics Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano, Texas, has collected six international, seven state and 13 national titles.
Training with the OSU Boys Team under his father, Ohio State assistant coach and two-time world champion Dmitri Bilozertchev, Alexy captured his first national junior all-around title Aug. 15 at USA Gymnastics’ VISA Championships, tallying an 84.850. The Hilliard, Ohio, resident sealed his victory with a win on pommel horse (14.3) in the final rotation. In addition, Alexy finished second on parallel bars (14.85) and third on floor (14.35). Before winning the all-around at the 2007 VISA Championships, Alexy placed fourth at the 2006 event.
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes welcome league-rival Illinois for a co-ed meet with the Ohio State women’s team and N.C. State at 7 p.m. Jan. 26 in historic St. John Arena. At the home opener, all Ohio State students will receive free admission with a valid BuckID.
