Ohio State
Windy City Invitational
Buckeyes Claim First Place at Windy City Invite – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 15, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 7 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team claimed first place at the 2012 Windy City Invitational with a team score of 344.500 Saturday night at the UIC Physical Education Building in Chicago, Ill. With their performance, the Buckeyes post their first title at the Windy City Invitational since the 2006 campaign.
The seventh-ranked Buckeyes led a competition featuring six of the Top 12 teams in the nation. No. 2 Illinois (341.900) finished second followed by No. 3 Michigan (338.700), No. 8 Minnesota (338.100), No. 12 UIC (327.200), and No. 10 Iowa (316.800).
“I was pleased with the team’s performance,” said head coach Rustam Sharipov.
“Like we planned, we hit 75 percent of our routines. I think this will help the confidence for us and it’s a good start to the season. But we still need to go back to the gym and work even harder.”
The Scarlet and Gray began on pommel horse and was led by two-time All-American Ty Echard, who notched a team-high 14.60 to help the Buckeyes claim a meet-best 56.90 on the event. Redshirt Sophomore Michael Newburger finished second with a career-high 14.40, while junior John Laing scored a 14.10.
Next on rings, senior Philip Onorato led the squad with a 14.80 followed by freshman Drew Moling, who notched a 14.30 in his first collegiate meet.
Onorato continued the Buckeye momentum on vault when the Plano, Texas, native collected a team-high 15.10 for first overall on the event. Freshman Larry Mayer scored a 14.90 on his first collegiate vault to tie for second place overall. Ohio State led the field with a meet-high 58.60.
On parallel bars, a trio of freshmen led the Buckeyes to a 56.20 team score. Freshman Alex Nork led the pack with a 14.3 followed by Moling (14.10) and Danny Steiner (14.00).
On high bar, sophomore Kris Done notched a 14.60 to help the Scarlet and Gray score a 55.70 overall on the event. Junior captain Blaize Monks collected a 14.1 in his first meet of 2012 on high bar.
On the final event of the evening, Steiner impressed judges to score a team-high 15.30 on floor exercise for second place overall. Freshman Misha Koudinov collected a career-high 15.10 to tie for fourth place in the competition.
The Buckeyes begin their home schedule next week, hosting Oklahoma at 4 p.m. Saturday at St. John Arena.
