Huskers Place Second with Season-High Score

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Iowa City, Iowa ? The ninth-raked Nebraska men’s gymnastics captured a season-high team score en route to a second-place finish in a close triangular meet at Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday night. NU scored a 343.500, while No. 6 Minnesota topped the competition with a score of 345.900 and Iowa finished third with a score of 342.600. The Huskers are now 2-4 on the road this season.

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“We had a terrible meet on pommel horse, but we were unbelievable on everything else,” Nebraska Coach Francis Allen said. “The guys did a great job on floor, vault and rings. We fell behind in the second rotation and the guys kept fighting. It took a total team effort to beat Iowa. We are going to have to learn how to fight and we did a great job. We had three or four of the best practices this week at Nebraska than we’ve had in the past four years and it showed during this meet. The guys are really jelling well together.”

 

Six Huskers posted top-three results on five different events, including junior John Robinson, who captured the first all-around title of his career with a score of 82.200. Junior Tony Maras captured his first event title of the season, placing first on still rings with a season-high score of 15.30, while senior T.J. Schmidt placed first on parallel bars with a season-high score of 14.90.

 

The Huskers came out swinging on rings, where they posted a season-high score of 58.95 on the event. Ringmen Tony Maras and Anthony Ingrelli paved the way for NU on rings, as the pair placed took first and second place, respectively. Maras scored a season-high of 15.30, while Ingrelli posted a season-high of 14.90. Freshman Cory Baumgarten (13.15) and senior James Mauldin (14.60) also blasted their previous season-highs on still rings.

 

NU kept up the momentum on floor exercise in the second rotation, where it notched a season-high score of 59.00, besting its previous high of 55.55. Freshman Josh Dilworth captured second-place honors on the event with a season-high score of 15.15, which bested his previous high of 14.20 by more than one point. Four other Huskers scored new season-bests, including junior Daniel Br?l? (13.70), junior Josh Rusler (14.70), junior Kyle Shanahan (14.25) and Schmidt (14.90).

 

Nebraska struggled in the third rotation, as the team scored a 49.65 on pommel horse, NU's lowest score of the season. However, the Huskers pulled together in the fourth rotation, posting a score of 56.65 on high bar. Br?l? earned his first top-three finish of the season on high bar with a score of 14.50, while Dilworth and Rusler posted season-high scores of 14.30 and 13.70, respectively.

 

NU continued on to vault in the fifth rotation, besting its previous high score of 61.35 with a score of 61.45. Maras held NU's best showing on vault with a fourth-place finish and a career-high score of 15.65.

 

The Huskers closed out the meet with another season-high score of 57.80 on parallel bars, which blasted their previous high of 55.85. Schmidt topped the charts on parallel bars with a season-high score of 14.90, while Br?l? earned another second-place finish with a season-high score of 14.80. While NU's showing on parallel bars was the best of the season, the late surge would not be enough to overtake the Gophers.

 

The Huskers have a two week break before continuing on the road again against No. 1 Oklahoma at Norman, Okla., on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m.

 

Individual Results:
All-Around
1. John Robinson (Nebraska) 82.20
2. Jonathan Buese (Iowa) 81.55

Floor Exercise
1. Geoff Reins (Iowa) 15.40
2. Josh Dilworth (Nebraska) 15.15
3. Aaron Fortunato (Minnesota) 15.00

Pommel Horse
1. Mike Jiang (Iowa) 14.50
2. Kit Beikmann (Minnesota) 14.20
3. Cole Storer (Minnesota) 13.80

Rings (winner plus Iowa)
1. Tony Maras (Nebraska) 15.30
2. Anthony Ingrelli (Nebraska) 14.90
3. Reid Urbain (Iowa) 14.80

Vault
1. Geoff Reins (Iowa) 15.95
2T. Andre Berry (Minnesota) 15.85                                                                                 
     Cole Storer (Minnesota) 15.85

Parallel Bars
1. T.J. Schmidt (Nebraska) 14.90
2. Daniel Br?l? (Nebraska) 14.80
3. Thomas O’Brien (Minnesota) 14.50

Horizontal Bar
1. Aaron Fortunado (Minnesota) 14.70
2. Daniel Br?l? (Nebraska) 14.50
3. Coiln McGuire (Minnesota) 14.35