Huskers Fall to Sooners in Oklahoma

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Norman, Okla. ? The No. 10 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team scored a team mark of 337.75 in front of 1,238 fans at the LloydNobleCenter in Norman, Okla., against the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners on Friday night. Despite strong team and event scores, NU’s performance wasn’t quite enough to prevail over OU, which posted a score of 355.55 for the win.

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"We're doing much better. Just look at our scores," Nebraska Head Coach Francis Allen said. "We're starting to get a little team momentum built up, but we just have to have more meets. We want to be in a position to beat both Iowa and Minnesota so we can be in the top six"

 

Junior T.J. Schmidt earned his third pommel horse title on the year, tying Oklahoma’s Jason Laughton for first place with a score of 14.35. In addition to his title, Schmidt recorded a second-place finish on parallel bars with a score of 14.70. Senior captain Stephen T?trault posted a third-place finish in the all-around with a score of 83.40.

 

Despite a season-high score of 53.80 pommel horse, the first three competitors lost points due to falls. However, Schmidt was able to lead the bottom half of the rotation to better luck, as he tied for first with a score of 14.35. In addition to Schmidt’s stellar performance, T?trault and sophomore Kyle Shanahan each tallied career-high scores of 13.85 and 13.60, respectively.

 

NU continued on to floor exercise in the second rotation, where the Huskers notched a team score of 56.40. Floor exercise was full of highs for Nebraska, as junior Eric Daigle first posted a career-high score of 13.80 before sophomore Josh Rusler, a native of Norman, Okla., wowed his hometown crowd with another career-high score of 13.70. T?trault also tied his career high with a mark of 13.90. Despite the record-breaking scores, Nebraska was unable to crack the top-three in the event.

 

Nebraska struggled on vault for the second week in a row, tallying a team mark of 60.86. Sophomore John Robinson had a breakthrough performance though, carrying the Huskers in the third rotation with a career-high 15.70 on the vault, which blew his previous high of 15.00 out of the water. After three rotations, Nebraska fell slightly behind Oklahoma, 176.10-171.15.

 

NU kept swinging on the still rings in the fourth rotation, tallying a team mark of 56.80. Although Huskers were not able to crack the top-three on still rings, two Huskers claimed career-highs on the event. In just his first try on still rings this season, Shanahan scored a 14.35, while junior James Mauldin notched a career-high score of 14.35. As Nebraska wrapped up its fourth rotation, Oklahoma spread its lead, 239.30-227.95.

 

The Huskers had a rocky fifth rotation, as it scored a 53.35 on the event. Again, Nebraska was unable to crack the top-three and the Sooners kept forging ahead, 297.30-281.30.

 

Despite several rough rotations, Nebraska finished strong on parallel bars with a score of 56.46. Schmidt earned a second-place finish with a score of 14.70.

 

After an outstanding meet at Oklahoma, Schmidt and T?trault will face some of the nation’s top competitors at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas on Feb. 7-9. As a team, Nebraska will take a two-week break from competition with its next meet on Saturday, Feb. 16 as it travels to Stanford to take on the Cardinal at 9 p.m.

 

 

Team Results                                       Score

1. Oklahoma                                          355.50                                        
2. Nebraska                                           337.75                                      

 

All-Around Results                               Score

1. Ian Jackson, Oklahoma                      85.40

2. Kyle McNamara, Oklahoma                84.90

3. Stephen T?trault, Nebraska             83.40

 

Individual Event Results

 

Floor Exercise                                     Score

1. Russell Czeschin, Oklahoma              15.45

2. Bobby Shortle, Oklahoma                   15.30

3T. Reed Pitts, Oklahoma                       14.75

      Steven Legendre, Oklahoma            

     

 

Pommel Horse                                     Score

1T. T.J. Schmidt, Nebraska                  14.30

      Jason Laughton, Oklahoma

3. Jacob Messina, Oklahoma                  14.20                           

 

Still Rings                                            Score

1. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma                15.75

2. T. Abdullah-Simmons, Oklahoma         15.60

3. Jacob Messina, Oklahoma                  14.90

 

Vault                                                    Score

1. Ian Jackson, Oklahoma                      15.90

2. Bobby Shortle, Oklahoma                   15.85

3. Russell Czeschin, Oklahoma              15.75

 

Parallel Bars                                        Score

1. T. Abdullah-Simmons                          14.90

2. T.J. Schmidt, Nebraska                       14.70

3. Chris Brooks, Oklahoma                      14.55

 

High Bar                                              Score

1. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma                14.70

2. Jason Laughton, Oklahoma                 14.45

3. Jacob Messina, Oklahoma                  14.30