No. 9 Nebraska Gymnasts Upset No. 6 Ohio State

Lincoln, Neb. - Behind outstanding performances by Nebraska all-arounders, the ninth-ranked Husker men's gymnastics team toppled No. 6 Ohio State, No. 11 University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) and No. 13 Air Force in a quadrangular competition in front of 650 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday afternoon. The Huskers notched a season-high team mark of 348.250 for first place, while Ohio State earned a 346.600 for second place. UIC earned a third-place finish with a score of 340.200, while Air Force placed fourth with a score of 332.700.

"I'm really happy with how we competed today," Nebraska Coach Chuck Chmelka said. "We still had some misses, but we did a lot better on floor exercise and pommel horse. We have a lot of work to do, but we had a much better hitting percentage today. We are very happy with this win."

All-arounders Kyle Shanahan and Andreas Hofer took the top two spots in the all-around competition, as Shanahan earned a season-high score of 86.60 for first place and Hofer earned a season- and career-high mark of 86.20 for second place. Hofer had an impressive afternoon, earning event titles on vault (15.85) and parallel bars (14.50). He also placed third on high bar with a score of 14.80. Shanahan placed second on floor exercise (14.90) and second on high bar.

Senior Tony Maras earned his first event title of the season with a first place finish on rings with a score of 14.95. Junior Anthony Ingrelli also cracked the top-three finishers on rings with a score of 14.90 for third place. Sophomore Michael Heredia earned a third-place finish for the first time this season on vault with a score of 15.75.  

Nebraska started the competition off on the right foot, posting a season-high team score of 58.50 on floor exercise. Hofer led the way for Nebraska, earning a season- and career-high score of 14.80 on the event. Seniors Josh Rusler and Daniel Brule also notched season-highs, with scores of 13.85 and 14.60, respectively. Shanahan rounded off the lineup with his second highest score of the season with a 14.90. After one rotation, Air Force took the lead with a 62.10, while Nebraska was in second (58.500), Ohio State was in third (54.75) and UIC was in fourth (54.70)

The Huskers moved on to pommel horse in the second rotation, earning another season-high team score of 54.25. NU's newcomers put together solid pommel horse performances, as both David Jacobs and Hofer earned season- and career-high scores of 13.80 and 13.65, respectively. Shanahan notched the Huskers' top pommel horse score with a 14.00.

NU kept the momentum on still rings, posting a score of 57.75. Ring specialists Maras and Ingrelli each posted season-high scores on the apparatus, earning scores of 14.95 and 14.90, respectively. Shanahan also posted a solid score of 13.75 on the event. After three rotations, UIC took the lead with a score of 171.95, while Ohio State moved to second (171.65), Air Force was in third (170.60) and Nebraska moved to fourth (170.50).

Nebraska posted a score of 62.50 on vault in the fourth rotation, behind stellar performances by Heredia, Hofer and Maras. Heredia notched a career-high score of 15.75 on the event, while Maras earned a season-high score of 15.45 and Hofer earned his second highest score of the season with a 15.85. Following four rotations, Nebraska took the lead with a score of 233.00, while Ohio State remained in second (230.60), UIC moved to third (226.85) and Air Force moved to fourth (226.30).

The Huskers earned another season-best score of 56.40 on parallel bars, capped by several season- and career-high individual performances. Senior Stefan Wallof started NU off with a career-high parallel bars routine, posting a score of 13.85 on the apparatus. Wallof blasted his previous high of 13.40, which was set against Oklahoma last weekend. Jacobs earned a season- and career-high score of 13.15, while Hofer tied his career-high with a 14.50. After five rotations, the Huskers narrowly edged Ohio State for first, 289.400-289.150, while UIC was in third (283.60) and Air Force was in fourth (277.20).

The Huskers came out swinging on high bar in the sixth rotation, earning a season-high team score of 58.85. Shanahan earned a career-high score of 15.20 on the event, while Danley earned a season-high score of 14.50. Brule also posted a season-high of 14.35, while Hofer earned a career-high mark of 14.80 and Jacobs notched a career-high score of 14.35.

Nebraska is now 7-3 on the season and 10-8 all-time against Ohio State. The Huskers move to 3-0 against UIC and 19-2 against Air Force.

NU will have a two-week break from competition before hosting No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 4 Stanford on Sunday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at the Devaney Sports Center.