No. 9 Nebraska Hosts Iowa and Minnesota for Senior Night

Ninth-ranked Nebraska will wrap up its regular season with a triangular against No. 6 Minnesota and No. 10 Iowa on Saturday, March 20, at 7 p.m., at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Eight seniors will be honored following the meet, including Bo Benak, Daniel Brule, Adrion Hernandez, Tony Maras, John Robinson, Josh Rusler, Kyle Shanahan and Stefan Wallof.

NU would like to show its appreciation to all youth gymnasts on Saturday night with Youth Team Night. All gymnasts eighth grade and under to wear their club team t-shirt, sweatshirt, or jacket will get into the meet for FREE. In addition all fans will be able to enjoy $1 admission and $1 Pepsi products as a part of Pepsi Pack the House.

The Huskers are 7-5 in competitions this season, with wins over Ohio State, Air Force, Arizona State, Washington and UIC and losses to Oklahoma, Minnesota and Stanford. The Huskers and the Gophers matchup for the second time this season, while Iowa and Nebraska meet for the first time in 2010.

#9 Nebraska (7-5) vs. #6 Minnesota (8-7)
Series History: Minnesota leads, 17-16-1
Last Meeting: Minnesota won, 350.550-342.400, at Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 30, 2010

Scouting No. 6 Minnesota
Minnesota and Nebraska meet for the second and final time in the 2010 regular season. Recently, the Gophers have climbed to No. 6 in the national rankings after posting a team-record score of 353.900 last week in a victory over Iowa and Illinois-Chicago. Several individual Minnesota gymnasts are nationally-ranked, including Aaron Fortunato, who is the No. 5-ranked gymnast on the high bar this season. He is also rated as the No. 11 gymnast in the all-around. Adam Reichow and Colin McGuire are ranked seventh and eighth on the floor exercise, respectively.  Harris Coleman is eighth on the pommel horse. Reichow and Andre Berry are tied for No. 10 on the vault, while McGuire is 17th also on vault.

#9 Nebraska (7-5) vs. #10 Iowa (6-9)
Series History: Iowa leads, 12-10-1
Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 343.500-341.600, at Iowa City, Iowa, on Feb. 14, 2009

Scouting No. 10 Iowa
Although Nebraska meets up with Iowa for the first time since last season, the Gophers and the Hawkeyes are familiar foes, as the two teams will meet up for the third time this season. In their first meeting, Iowa defeated Minnesota at the Windy City Invitational, 339.600-337.650. However, the Gophers recently overtook the Hawkeyes, 353.900-346.750, at Minnesota.

Iowa ranks 10th-nationally behind Nebraska with a three-score average of 344.767. Three Hawkeyes are nationally-ranked, including Jonathan Buese, who is 19th in the all-around with an average of 84.50. Ben Ketelsen and Reid Urbain rank 17th and 18th respectively on floor exercise.

Up Next for Nebraska
The Huskers will have a two-week break before heading to Norman, Okla., for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on Saturday, April 3, at 7 p.m.

Eight Seniors Honored at Senior Night
The 2010 Nebraska senior class has been valuable to Husker Gymnastics over the course of their time at Nebraska.  Together, their leadership and efforts have helped Nebraska to three-straight NCAA Championship appearances since 2007. In their last season at Nebraska, they have performed at the highest level, in hopes of finishing their careers where they started, at the 2010 NCAA Championships in West Point, New York, in April.

A native of Omaha, Neb., Bo Benak joined the Nebraska gymnastics team in 2006 after competing for Sokol South Omaha Gymnastics. Benak not only works hard in the gym, but has remained a strong force in the classroom for the past five years. He has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll nine times in his career. Benak is on track to graduate in May of 2010 with a degree in industrial technology education.

Daniel Brule came to Nebraska in 2007 from Atlanta, Georgia, where he competed for the Atlanta School of Gymnastics. Since his freshman season, Brule has been a solid competitor on floor exercise, vault, parallel bars and high bar for the Huskers. He has earned six top-three finishes in his career, and has helped the Huskers at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 NCAA Championships. Brule is a geography major at Nebraska.

A native of Round Rock, Texas, Adrion Hernandez came to Nebraska from Alamo Gymnastics. He quickly became an asset to the team, as he competed on floor exercise, vault and high bar throughout the 2007 season. Although Hernandez has battled injuries for the past few seasons, he continues to work hard in representing the gymnastics team as he attended the 2009 NCAA National Student-Athlete Development Conference and is a Multicultural Representative on the 2009-2010 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.  An economics major, Hernandez will graduate in August of 2010.

Tony Maras joined the Nebraska gymnastics team in 2007 from Ramsey, Minn., after competing for Midwest Gymnastics. A 2010 co-captain, Maras has proven to be a continuous leader since he first came to Nebraska. He quickly became a go-to competitor for the Huskers on floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault and parallel bars. At the 2008 NCAA Championships, Maras advanced to the event preliminaries on vault. Again, at the 2009 NCAA Championships, he advanced to the preliminaries on still rings. This season, he hopes to make a push for All-American honors. Maras is on track to graduate in August with a degree in economics.

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, John Robinson came to Nebraska in 2007 after competing for Weyandt's Gymnastics Academy. One of three all-arounders for the Huskers, Robinson has been an invaluable member of the gymnastics team since his freshman season. He competed in the all-around at the 2009 NCAA Championships, where he earned a spot in the vault event preliminaries. This season, he was invited to the 2010 Winter Cup Challenge, where he became the one of three Huskers in history to advance to the Winter Cup finals. Despite suffering an injury mid-way through the 2010 season, Robinson has been working his way back into the lineup in time for the conference and NCAA Championships. A marketing major, John is on track to graduation in May of 2011.

Josh Rusler joined the Nebraska gymnastics team in 2007 after competing for Bart Conner Gymnastics in Norman, Okla. Rusler has been a go-to competitor on floor exercise, pommel horse, vault and high bar since his freshman season. In addition to his athletic success, Rusler has made unprecedented contributions in the classroom and the community. Rusler has earned Academic All-MPSF honors twice in his career and he was honored as one of 30 Nebraska student-athletes to receive a Life Skills Hero award last season. A broadcasting major at Nebraska, Rusler will graduate in August of 2010.

A native of Monument, Colorado, Kyle Shanahan came to Nebraska after a stellar prep career with the Colorado Training Center. A 2010 co-captain, Shanahan has been competing in the all-around since his freshman season. He has captured nine event titles in his Husker career and numerous top-three finishes on every event. Shanahan was an all-around finalist at the 2009 NCAA Championships, where he captured an 11th-place finish overall. This season, Shanahan also became one of three Husker gymnasts to make the Winter Cup finals. He celebrates continuous success in the classroom, as he is a two-time Academic All-MPSF honoree and has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll four times in his college career. An international business major, Shanahan will graduate in May of 2010.

Stefan Wallof joined the team from Rowlett, Texas, where he competed for the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy. Wallof made an immediate impact on the team, competing in four competitions during the 2007 season. During his senior season, Wallof has become a regular in the parallel bars lineup and recently added still rings. He has been a success in the classroom, as he is a seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. Wallof will graduate in May of 2010 with a civil engineering degree.

Last Time Out: Huskers Notch Career-High Scores in Third-Place Finish
Behind several career-high performances, ninth-ranked Nebraska posted a score of 347.500 for third place as it took on then-No. 1 Oklahoma and then-No. 2 Stanford at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday, March 7. The Cardinal placed first in the triangular with a season-high and NCAA season-best score of 361.650, while OU earned a second-place finish with a score of 360.300.

"This was a tough competition for Nebraska," Head Coach Chuck Chmelka said. "I'm awfully proud of how we fought through until the very end. We really could have given up many times, but we kept fighting. Overall, we did what we were trying to do. Realistically, we knew what Stanford and Oklahoma were going to put up against us, but we did what we needed to do. I'm really happy with this team today."

Oklahoma and Stanford dominated the individual standings. Senior Kyle Shanahan was the only Husker to place in the top-three finishers at the competition, earning a second-place finish on high bar with a mark of 14.95.

Despite the team's third-place finish, nine Huskers earned career-high marks in the competition, including freshmen Andreas Hofer, sophomores Cory Baumgarten, Michael Heredia, Matthew Forrest and David Jacobs, junior Bear Danley and seniors Kyle Shanahan, Josh Rusler and Stefan Wallof. In addition to numerous career-highs event scores, Shanahan and Hofer both posted career-high all-around scores of 87.05 and 86.90, respectively.

Nebraska opened the meet on floor exercise with a season-high team score of 58.95. Baumgarten, who competed on the event for the first time since NU's last meet against Oklahoma, sparked a series of floor high scores with his career-high 14.45. Heredia set a career-high with a score of 14.60, while junior Bear Danley and freshman Andreas Hofer posted career-high scores of 14.35 and 15.05, respectively. Shanahan rounded out the floor lineup with a solid score of 14.85. After the first rotation, Stanford (59.70) led both Nebraska (58.95) and Oklahoma (56.80).

The Huskers struggled on pommel horse in the second rotation, posting a score of 52.20. Rusler came out swinging with a strong pommel horse routine, tallying a score of 13.25, which is his best mark of the 2010 season. Hofer and Jacobs highlighted NU's horse lineup with matching scores of 13.35. Following the second rotation, Stanford maintained the lead with a 121.00, while Oklahoma moved to second (114.65) and Nebraska slipped into third place (111.45).

Despite a rough second rotation, the Huskers came out strong on still rings in the third rotation with a score of 57.70. Wallof, who has not competed on still rings since the 2007 season, earned a career-high score of 13.30. Baumgarten notched another career-high score on still rings with a 14.40, while Hofer posted his second-highest score of the season with a 14.15. Ring specialist Anthony Ingrelli suffered an equipment malfunction, but managed to post a score of 14.10, while seniors Shanahan and Tony Maras placed fourth (14.60) and fifth (14.55) on the event, respectively.

Behind several career-high performances, Nebraska earned a team-best score of 63.05 on vault in the fourth rotation. Baumgarten notched his third career high of the day with a mark of 15.70. Maras tied his career-high of 15.75, while Shanahan blasted his previous career-high score of 15.10 with a score of 15.85. Forrest made his collegiate debut on vault, earning a score of 14.75, but suffered a knee injury on his landing. Following the fourth rotation, Oklahoma overtook the lead with a score of 237.00, while Stanford moved to second (236.60) and Nebraska remained in third (232.20).

Nebraska kept up the momentum in the fourth rotation, notching another season-high team score of 57.50. Four Huskers posted career-high scores on the apparatus, including Shanahan (14.90), Hofer (14.70), Jacobs (13.75) and Wallof (14.15). After the fourth rotation, Stanford took the lead with a 302.15, while Oklahoma moved to second (295.95) and Nebraska stayed in third (289.70).

NU finished the meet with a score of 57.80 on high bar. Shanahan led the way for Nebraska with a mark of 14.95 for second place. Rusler notched a career-high score of 14.50, while Jacobs posted a career-high mark of 14.45. Despite the late surge, Nebraska's score would not be enough to overcome the Sooners or the Cardinal. The Huskers fall to 7-5 on the season and 41-28-1 all-time against Oklahoma and 9-0 all-time against Stanford.