Huskers Open Season this Weekend

Lincoln -- The 10th-ranked Nebraska men's gymnastics team will kick off the 2004 season on Friday, Jan. 16, as they head to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the Rocky Mountain Open. The Huskers take on reigning national champion Oklahoma, Iowa, Air Force, and an Arizona club team for two days of competition beginning with the team competition on Friday at 8 p.m. and followed by the event finals on Saturday at 2 p.m.

In 2004, the Huskers return 10 letterwinners from last season and add three freshmen to the roster, including all-around gymnasts Paul Chumreonlert and Jason Wassung , as well as Shawn Trumbo who will compete primarily on the pommel horse. The talent of these three newcomers combined with that of team captain Josh Rasile, junior Mace Patterson who finished fifth in the all-around at the 2003 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, and a deep Husker roster could prove extremely successful for the 2004 Nebraska team.

2004 Season Outlook
In 2004, the Nebraska Cornhuskers men’s gymnastics team will feature 13 gymnasts hailing from throughout the United States and one foreign country. In its 65th year of existence, the Husker program, under the direction of long time head coach Francis Allen, looks forward to perhaps its most successful season in almost a decade. With the help of assistant coaches Jim Howard and Chuck Chmelka, Allen will strive to mold this season’s team into a top-three finisher at the NCAA Championships in April.

"The entire staff is really excited about this year," Allen said. "We’re not even going to look like last year’s team."

After placing one gymnast in the 2003 NCAA finals, NU is aiming even higher in 2004.

Three new faces in the Husker lineup will try and return the Huskers to the national elite. True freshmen Paul Chumreonlert, Shawn Trumbo and Jason Wassung arrive for the 2004 season ready to provide Nebraska with the depth and talent that the Huskers have been seeking. Chumreonlert and Wassung are expected to fill in the number two and three spots in the Nebraska all-around rotation, while Trumbo will compete on the pommel horse, an event Allen believes the Huskers will shine on in 2004.

In addition to the trio of talented newcomers, NU also looks forward to the return of a pair of gymnasts who were sidelined with injuries in 2003. By the end of the 2003 season, two Huskers were out with knee injuries, but both Tony Burtle and Nic Matthews are back into competition form, and will be valuable to the Huskers in 2004.

"At the end of last season we lost two acrobats, which is unusual because those guys aren’t prone to injury," Allen said.

Burtle will return to the Husker lineup for his junior year on both the floor exercise and vault. Matthews will come in for his second year as an all-around competitor.

In addition to Burtle and Matthews’ injuries in 2003, another Husker gymnast suffered season-ending injuries in the off-season. Senior Steven Friedman suffered both shoulder and knee injuries in the summer of 2003. His plans for 2004 include a redshirt season and hopes for a full return in 2005. The loss of Friedman, a 2003 All-American, will leave a void in the Husker roster, as he gained individual titles in the all-around against Air Force and Oklahoma, and a third-place finish in the all-around at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships last season.

Derric Wood’s status entering the 2004 campaign was also a question mark. After beginning his collegiate career with a second-place finish at the 2003 season opener, Wood made a comfortable position for himself among the top 20 all-around gymnasts in the nation for the next 10 weeks. By midseason, Wood began to experience health complications and underwent corrective abdominal surgery last fall.

While Wood is still recovering from the surgery, he will be an active competitor in 2004, and Allen said Wood could make a huge difference for the team.

"Wood could make or break our team this season," he said. "If he is active and on top of his game, then he’ll be key for us."

Senior Josh Rasile will captain the 2004 Huskers while competing in the floor exercise, still rings, and vault. Rasile has been a consistent performer and has continued to improve his routines. Beginning in 2001 with his arrival at NU, a then 17-year-old Rasile went on to finish fifth on both the floor exercise and vault at the MPSF Event Finals. In 2002, Rasile placed eighth in vault at the NCAA Championships only after failing to land on his final run. Last season brought more of the same success, as Rasile grabbed fourth and fifth place on the floor exercise and still rings,respectively, at the MPSF Championships, and added two MPSF Athlete-of-the-Week titles during the year.

Junior Joshua Koopman, an Iowa native, will once again add depth to the Nebraska roster. After setting a career-high mark on the high bar (8.65) last season against Ohio State, Koopman went on to compete on the floor exercise, parallel bars, and high bar at 2003 NCAA Championships.

"We used Koopman in the parallel bar, high bar, vault, and floor exercise last year, and he really did a decent job for us," Allen said.

Junior Mace Patterson will lead the Huskers as their top all-around competitor in 2004. During an outstanding 2003 season, Patterson finished sixth in the parallel bars, fourth in the high bar, and fifth overall in the all-around at the MPSF Championships. Last year, Patterson held team-high marks on the pommel horse (9.40) and the high bar (9.20), and set his own personal-career highs in all six individual events as well as the all-around. This season, Allen said that Patterson could hit the 54 mark and push this team toward its goal.

Junior Adam Tietze enters the Nebraska lineup in 2004 for his third season as a Husker. A walk-on, Tietze has competed in several events over the past two years, including the vault, parallel bars and pommel horse and will try his hand at the still rings this spring. A utility gymnast, Tietze has provided depth and a good deal of experience to this Nebraska team after qualifying for the Junior Olympic team three times during his stint at the Cypress Academy of Gymnastics in Texas.

Sophomore Ray Hacker, the only NU gymnast from the East Coast (Fairfax, Va.), spent his first year with the Huskers filling in on the pommel horse and still rings, and even saw action on the parallel bars against Air Force. A success in both the gym and the classroom, Hacker entered collegiate competition and immediately found his place on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2003. This season Hacker will continue to work with the parallel bars, high bar, and the pommel horse, adding depth in all three events.

Nicholas Moore, a sophomore out of Indianapolis, competed in three meets on the floor exercise and pommel horse in 2003. This season, Allen plans to use Moore once again on the floor, but he would also like to utilize him on the vault, an event that Moore has shown great promise in during the offseason training.

Chumreonlert, a freshman from Texas, comes to Nebraska after a brilliant gymnastics career at the Houston North Gymnastics Club. As skilled as he is athletic, Chumreonlert could very well be a future star in the Husker program. Allen said Chumreonlert has all of the physical tools to compete in the No. 2 all-around position as a true freshman.

Trumbo, a native of Cypress, Texas, enters his freshman year at Nebraska after training at the Houston North Gymnastics Club. Trumbo will compete in the pommel horse in 2004.

Wassung, a Lincoln native, completes the 2004 roster. After spending the majority of his gymnastics training under the direction of Husker assistant coach Chuck Chmelka, Wassung will continue to work with Chmelka as a Husker. In 2004, Wassung is expected to be extremely valuable as an all-around competitor.