No. 4 Ohio State Continues Big Ten Schedule at No. 2 Michigan – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 30, 2014
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 4 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team continues its Big Ten dual meet schedule on the road at No. 2 Michigan Saturday at Cliff Keen Arena at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 3 Ohio State fell to No. 8 Illinois, 428.450-425.450, Sunday, Jan. 26 at Huff Hall in its first Big Ten dual meet of the season.
Two Buckeyes won individual event titles against the Illini, as redshirt senior Michael Newburger posted a 16.200 on pommel horse to claim his second consecutive title on the event and freshman Jake Dastrup notched a career-high 14.850 on parallel bars to claim first place overall.
Ohio State also posted a season-best 70.500 on floor exercise, led by junior Danny Steiner who scored a 14.850 on the event to finish in second place.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
Defending NCAA and Big Ten champion Michigan enters competition Saturday ranked No. 2 in the country with an average score of 435.275. The Wolverines have participated in two meets so far this season, claiming first place at both the Windy City Invitational (437.500) and the Stanford Open (433.050).
Junior Adrian de los Angeles claimed the parallel bars title at the Windy City Invitational with a 15.15, while freshman Tristan Perez-Rivera and de los Angeles claimed the floor exercise (15.55) and vault (15.30) titles at the Stanford Open, respectively.
As a team, the Wolverines rank No. 1 on rings (74.400) and vault (74.125), No. 2 on floor exercise (73.925) and parallel bars (72.925), No. 3 on pommel horse (72.025) and No. 10 on high bar (67.875).
Individually, Michigan holds No. 1 rankings on floor exercise and vault as senior Sam Mikulak (15.500) and de los Angeles (15.200) claim the top spots, respectively. In addition, junior Nick Hunter and senior Syque Caesar are tied for No. 3 on parallel bars (14.975) while de los Angeles is the team leader in the all-around at No. 6 (86.800).
LAST TIME AGAINST THE WOLVERINES
The Buckeyes and Wolverines meet for the second time this season, having previously competed against each other at the season-opening Windy City Invitational. Michigan claimed first place at that event (437.500) while Ohio State (436.050) tied for second place with Illinois.
The teams will compete against each other three more times this season starting Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. at the Arnold Challenge hosted by Ohio State at the Columbus Convention Center and ending with the Big Ten Championships March 28-29 in Lincoln, Neb., and the NCAA Championships April 10-12 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
BUCKEYES IN THE RANKINGS
TEAM
The Buckeyes remain the second-highest ranked Big Ten team as they rank No. 4 in the latest GymInfo National Rankings with a total season average score of 430.750. Ohio State also ranks within the Top 10 on four events as the team is No. 1 on pommel horse (72.650), No. 2 on vault (73.700) No. 3 on high bar (71.225), and No. 5 on parallel bars (71.600). The Scarlet and Gray ranks at No. 10 on floor exercise (70.075) and rings (71.500).
INDIVIDUAL
Individually, the Buckeyes hold rankings on all six events.
Steiner entered the floor exercise rankings this week at No. 12 (14.850) while Newburger continues to pace the team on pommel horse, holding the No. 1 spot on the event (16.225). Behind Newburger, freshman Jake Dastrup ranks No. 13 (14.500).
On rings, junior Drew Moling comes in at No. 9 (15.125), while junior Larry Mayer paves the way for the Buckeyes on vault, as he is currently No. 5 on the event (15.025). After Mayer, freshman Logan Melander ranks No. 8 (14.925).
On parallel bars, Dastrup ranks No. 7 (14.850) while senior Misha Koudinov comes in at No. 14 (14.675).
Koudinov also holds the No. 1 spot on high bar (15.000) while freshman Sean Melton ranks No. 10 (14.750) and senior Kris Done ranks No. 20 (14.300).
POMMEL HORSE SPECIALIST
With his individual event title on pommel horse against No. 8 Illinois, Newburger has collected two consecutive event titles this season. The Austin, Texas, native earned his first title at the Windy City Invitational with an NCAA record 16.250 score before claiming his second title against the Illini with a 16.200 score. The defending national champion on pommel horse, Newburger currently ranks No. 1 on the event.
BREAKING RECORDS
Two Buckeyes set or tied NCAA records at the 2014 Windy City Invitational. Newburger scored a career-high and Ohio State record 16.250 on pommel horse to earn the all-time best record on the event while Mayer tied the all-time best record on vault with his career-high and Ohio State record score of 15.800.
The previous NCAA record on pommel horse (16.00) was set by Daniel Ribeiro (Illinois) in 2009, while Mayer is now tied for the NCAA record on vault with Jake Dalton (Oklahoma), who originally set the current record in 2011.
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes return to action against No. 5 Cal-Berkeley Friday, Feb. 14 at St. John Arena at 7 p.m.
