NCAA Championships Begin Thursday for No. 9 Ohio State – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
April 8, 2015
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL – Live Results, Ticket Info, Web Stream | Weekly Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 9 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team continues the postseason at the 2015 NCAA Championships April 9-11 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. The Buckeyes open competition Thursday night, April 9, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT in the second of two qualifying sessions, with the team and all-around competition held Friday, April 10, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT and the individual championships held Saturday, April 11, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.
Ohio State will face No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Illinois, No. 8 Iowa and No. 12 Army in Session II on Thursday, while No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Penn State, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 7 California, No. 10 Air Force and No. 11 Nebraska compete in Session I. The top-three teams from each qualifier advance to the team finals.
FOLLOW ALONG
Friday night’s team final will be broadcast on Fox College Sports Atlantic. Fans can find a live stream of all four sessions at www.ncaa.com. Live scoring will be available on SoonerSports.com. Live scores, updates and photos will be available on Twitter,
@OhioState_MGYM and @OU_MGymnastics.
BUCKEYES IN THE RANKINGS
TEAM
Ohio State finished No. 9 in the final CGA regular season rankings. The Buckeyes own the No. 2 team average in the nation on high bar (73.013) and are ranked sixth on vault (73.288). The team is ranked in the Top 10 in two additional events: rings (eighth, 72.450) and parallel bars (eighth, 71.788). In average all-around score, OSU is ranked ninth with a national-qualifying average of 429.663.
INDIVIDUAL
Senior Drew Moling ranks fifth nationally on high bar with a national-qualifying average of 15.025 and seventh nationally on rings with a score of 15.163. Junior Alex Johnson is sixth on high bar (14.963), while freshman Alexander Wilson is ninth on vault (15.038).
OHIO STATE AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Buckeyes have won three NCAA team titles, with the most recent title coming in 2001 at St. John Arena. Three members of the 2001 squad notched individual event championship titles as Jamie Natalie won the all-around, Daren Lynch won on vault and Raj Bhavsar, a 2008 U.S. Olympian, won on parallel bars.
Ohio State won its second national crown at the 1996 NCAA Championships. Former Buckeye and three-time Olympian Blaine Wilson captured the all-around, rings and parallel bars titles while Drew Durbin earned a national championship on pommel horse.
The Buckeyes won the program’s first national championship in 1985. Twin brothers Noah and Seth Riskin were named co-champions on parallel bars at the event finals.
Ohio State gymnasts have earned 27 NCAA individual championships. Most recently, redshirt senior Michael Newburger won the 2013 NCAA Championship on pommel horse. Former Buckeye Blaine Wilson leads the Ohio State record books with six national championships, followed by Drew Durbin and Jamie Natalie with three each.
JOHNSON WINS B1G HIGH BAR TITLE
Johnson won a gold medal on high bar at the 2015 Big Ten Event Championships March 28.
The Marysville, Ohio, native used a season-best mark of 15.325 to win the first conference title of his career, along with First Team All-Big Ten honors. Johnson is the second Buckeye in a row to win the Big Ten high bar crown after Sean Melton claimed the title last season.
BUCKEYES TAKE FIFTH AT B1G TEAM FINALS
Behind a fourth-place all-around finish from Moling, Ohio State placed fifth overall at the 2015 Big Ten Team Championships March 27. The Buckeyes finished with a team score of 429.350.
As a team, OSU posted the top score of the day on high bar (73.650), qualifying all five competing athletes on the apparatus for event finals. The team also turned in a season-best score of 73.850 on vault.
Penn State won the B1G title on its home floor with a team score of 436.700.
SCARLET & GRAY SHINE AT B1G EVENT FINALS
All five Buckeyes on high bar qualified for event finals, with four finishing in the top five. Along with Johnson, the Big Ten champion, sophomore Andrew Rickly placed third with score of 14.725. Moling finished fourth with a 14.675, while freshman Seth Delbridge tied for fifth with a 14.450. In addition, senior Alex Nork was eighth (14.400).
Moling also earned a fifth-place finish on parallel bars with a 14.700. On vault, Wilson made the podium with a sixth-place score of 15.000. Senior Larry Mayer earned a 10th-place result (14.700).
ALL-B1G TEN SELECTIONS
Johnson and Moling were named First Team All-Big Ten for the Buckeyes, while Rickly earned Second Team honors. Moling was also recognized as Ohio State’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
BUCKEYE REDSHIRTS
Injuries and illness forced the Buckeyes to redshirt three of their top returning gymnasts for the 2015 season.
Melton, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and an All-American and Big Ten champion, has dealt with a lower back issue throughout the year. He last saw action against Illinois in January.
Jake Martin, also an All-American and Big Ten champion, is recovering from an illness early in the season. He last competed against Penn State in February.
Jake Dastrup, an NCAA qualifier on four events in 2014, has been held out of action in all competitions this season after suffering an injury in the preseason.
