Huskers Host Gophers, Sun Devils in Final Home Meet

The No. 9 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team will host No. 7 Minnesota and No. 17 Arizona State in its final home meet of the season this Sunday, March 15, at the Devaney Sports Center at 2 p.m. Nebraska will honor three senior gymnasts, T.J. Schmidt, James Mauldin and Jacob Ives, on the Senior Day festivities immediately following the meet. Nebraska will also sign autographs after the competition in the southeast corner of the Sports Center near the Coaches Club area.

The three teams clash for the second time this season. NU first faced Arizona State at the Rocky Mountain Open on Saturday, Jan. 10. The Huskers came out ahead of the Sun Devils, 332.400-312.950, and NU leads the series 3-1. Nebraska and Minnesota last competed on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Iowa City, where Minnesota topped the Huskers, 345.900-343.500. Nebraska is on the winning side of a 16-15-1 series with Minnesota.

Nebraska is 2-6-0 on the year after falling three separate times to No. 2 Oklahoma. The Huskers posted their highest score of the season in their triangular against Iowa and Minnesota, with a score of 343.500.

Although Sunday’s meet is the last home competition of the season for the NU gymnastics team, Nebraska will return to action on Friday, March 20, at Chicago, Ill., for a 7 p.m. triangular against the University of Illinois at Chicago and Air Force. The Huskers then have a two-week break before travelling to Stanford for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship on Saturday, April 4.

Scouting the Gophers
No. 7 Minnesota
2009 Record: 11-9-0
Head Coach: Mike Burns (Fifth Season)
2008 Overall Record: 8-12
2008 NCAA Finish: Eighth

A Quick Look at the Gophers
No. 7 Minnesota holds a 9-8 record on the 2009 season with a three-score average of 348.417. Three Gophers hold top-10 national ratings, including senior Kit Beikmann, who ranks fourth nationally on pommel horse with an average of 15.083. Junior Cole Storer ranks ninth on vault with an average of 15.917, while junior Aaron Fortunado is rated seventh with a 14.783 average.

Minnesota last competed against No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Oklahoma at home, where the Gophers placed third with a score of 347.950. Despite the loss, Minnesota earned a season-high score of 60.20 on floor exercise, boosting the Gophers to No. 4 in the nation on floor exercise this week.

The Gophers will host one more regular season meet against Illinois on March 21, before travelling to the Big 10 Championships on April 3-4. Minnesota will then play host to the 2009 NCAA Championships on April 16-18 at the Sports Pavilion. Tickets are available at www.GopherSports.com or by calling 1-800-UGOPHER.

Scouting the Sun Devils
No. 17 Arizona State
Head Coach: Scott Barclay (16th Season)
2008 NCAA Finish: N/A

A Quick Look at the Sun Devils
Arizona State ranks 17th nationally with a three-score average of 324.850. Although no Sun Devils hold spots in the individual ratings, the team is 17th on floor exercise, pommel horse and parallel bars, 15th on still rings, 16th on vault and 18th on high bar. ASU’s best finish came at the Southwest Cup, as it posted a season high team score of 332.70.

Huskers Hang on to No. 9 in National Poll
For the eighth-consecutive week, the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team holds on to its top-nine ranking in the GymInfo weekly poll. NU was rated ninth by the latest GymInfo Poll released Monday, March 9.

In addition, the Huskers rank 11th nationally on floor exercise (57.067), 13th on pommel horse (54.617), sixth on still rings (58.367), ninth on vault (61.667), ninth on parallel bars (56.417) and eighth on high bar (56.600)

Individually, senior T.J. Schmidt ranks 12th on pommel horse (14.567) and ninth on parallel bars (14.750), while junior Tony Maras ranks 15th on still rings (14.900) and Daniel Brule ranks 16th on high bar (14.500). Junior Robinson also ranks 19th in the all-around with an average of 83.283.

Last Meet Recap: Huskers Fall to No. 2 Oklahoma in Norman
Norman, Okla. ? The No. 9 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team scored a team mark of 342.400 in front nearly 600 fans at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman, Okla., against the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, Feb. 28. Despite strong team efforts, NU was unable to top OU, which posted a score of 358.300 for the win.

"We hit 85 percent of our routines," Nebraska Coach Francis Allen said. "We were just a little sloppy here and there just enough to let OU run away with it. We’ll take the 85 percent though. We have two weeks to prepare for our next meet. The guys just need to clean up a little. We had a few errors with some of our big hitters and just weren’t sharp, but we have two weeks to prepare for our next home meet."

Junior John Robinson placed second in the all-around with a score of 82.50 behind Sooner all-arounder Steven Legendre. Junior Daniel Br?l? was the only Husker to crack the top three on the individual events with a third-place finish on high bar.

Nebraska opened the dual on pommel horse with a score of 53.25 behind strong performances by seniors T.J. Schmidt and James Mauldin. Schmidt pulled together a score of 13.65, while Mauldin scored a 13.60. Junior Josh Rusler, a native of Norman, Okla., impressed his hometown crowd with his second-highest pommel horse score of the season with a 13.15. After the first rotation, Nebraska trailed Oklahoma, 58.75-53.25.

The Huskers continued on to floor exercise in the second rotation, tallying a score of 56.65. Br?l? started NU off on the right foot, posting a season-high score of 14.00. Freshman Josh Dilworth led the way for the Huskers with a team-best score of 14.40. The Huskers continued to follow the Sooners after the second rotation, 117.50-109.90.

NU shook the nerves in the third rotation, posting a new team-high on vault with a score of 62.20. Several Huskers held career- and season-high scores on vault, including senior Jacob Ives, who posted a career-high score of 15.15. Sophomore Cory Baumgarten also notched a career-high with a score of 15.40, while Robinson posted a season-high of 15.60 and Dilworth tied his career-high of 15.85. After three rotations, Oklahoma led Nebraska, 177.15-168.35.

Keeping the momentum in the fourth rotation, Nebraska put together a score of 58.45 on still rings. Baumgarten posted another career-high score with a 13.55, while Schmidt posted a career-high score of 14.60. Sophomore Anthony Ingrelli held NU’s top score of with a 14.75. As Nebraska wrapped up its fourth rotation, Oklahoma spread its lead, 241.65-230.55.

The Huskers got off to a good start on high bar in the fifth rotation, as Baumgarten notched yet another career-high score of 13.35. Rusler posted a season-high of 13.90, while junior Kyle Shanahan posted a season-high score of 14.40. Br?l? rounded out the lineup with a score of 14.45 for third place, helping NU to a score of 56.25. After five rotations, Oklahoma held a score of 300.75, while Nebraska held a 286.80.

Nebraska wrapped up the meet on parallel bars, with a score of 55.60. Junior Tony Maras tried his hand at parallel bars for the first time this season, posting a score of 12.55. Junior Stefan Wallof earned a career-high score of 13.25, while Schmidt and Mauldin held the team’s highest scores of 14.50 and 14.30, respectively.