Ohio State
No. 4 Michigan
Buckeyes Beat Wolverines in Senior Day Dual
3/9/2024 6:14:00 PM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Ohio State scored a season-best 412.150 to defeat No. 4 Michigan on Saturday in Covelli.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 7 Ohio State men's gymnastics team (8-2, 1-1 B1G) beat No. 4 Michigan (11-2, 1-2 B1G) by a 412.150-407.400 margin on Saturday on senior day. This is the Buckeyes' highest team score of the season.
Kameron Nelson captured the first win of the meet by earning a career-high 14.800 on floor and sticking his final pass. Kristian Grahovski earned a win on pommel horse with a career-high 14.450. Nelson earned his second win of the day with a stick and career-high 15.050 on vault. Tyler Rockwood earned a career-high 14.400 to win the parallel bars title.
Event Results
Floor
Ohio State earned its best floor score of the season with a 70.900 to take a 70.900-70.300 lead after the first rotation. The Buckeyes had four career-highs on floor – Nelson (14.800), Kazuki Hayashi (14.400), Jesse Pakele (14.250) and Jacob Harmon (13.800). Justin Ciccone earned a season-best 13.650. Hayashi was the event's runner-up.
Pommel Horse
The Buckeyes also earned their best team score of the season on pommel horse with a 67.200 to extend their lead to 138.100-133.800. OSU had three gymnasts earn a career-high – Grahovski (14.450), Pakele (13.950) and Michael Nguyen (13.050). Parker Thackston (13.750) and Rockwood (12.000) rounded out the Buckeyes' lineup.
Rings
Ohio State combined for a 66.950 on rings and led by a 205.050-201.550 margin midway through the meet. Donovan Hewitt tied for second by tying his season-high 14.000. Pakele recorded his third career-high of the day with a 13.250. Rockwood (13.500), Nelson (13.200) and Grohovski (13.000) also competed on rings.
Vault
The Buckeyes scored a season-high 73.300 on vault as each of the five gymnasts had a 14.400 or higher and held the 278.350-272.800 advantage. Ohio State had the top two scores as Nelson captured his second win and Ciccone stuck his vault (14.850). Hayashi (14.550) and Hewitt (14.400) each had season-best scores and Zach Snyder led off the rotation with a 14.450.
Parallel Bars
OSU's fourth season-best total was a 68.250 on parallel bars to increase the lead to 346.600-340.450 with one rotation remaining. Behind Rockwood's career-high and win, Jakob Murray posted a career-high of 14.000 to take third. Hayashi and Caden Spencer each scored a 13.500 and Grahovski rounded out the OSU lineup with a 12.850.
High Bar
The Buckeyes wrapped up the meet with their second-highest high bar total of the season (65.550). Spencer led the way with a third-place finish (13.600), while Thackston scored a career-high 13.450. Hayashi (13.400), Rockwood (12.750) and Harmon (12.350) rounded out the OSU lineup.
What They Said
Head Coach Rustam Sharipov: "I'm really proud of this team for the last four weeks and what they've done in the gym, grinding and working on the little things, and now it's starting to pay off. We still believe that this is not the ceiling of what we can do – we can still improve. We have a short week before we travel to Illinois next weekend. Our goal remains the same – we're not competing with anybody; we're just doing our job. That's what I believe and the guys are starting to believe in themselves. They need to take care of their business for the second half of the season. We're going to be happy for today and this weekend but it's back to work on Monday."
Up Next
Ohio State travels to No. 2 Illinois next Saturday for a dual meet at 3 p.m. ET. The meet will be broadcast on B1G+.
Ohio State hosts the NCAA Championships on April 19-20 inside the Covelli Center with the qualifiers on Friday and the Championships on Saturday. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased HERE for single session tickets and HERE for all-session tickets. All seating is general admission. View the full 2023-24 Ohio State men's gymnastics schedule HERE.
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