Huskers Face No. 1 Illini in Minnesota

After opening the 2011 campaign at the Rocky Mountain Open last Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo., the No. 9 Nebraska men's gymnastics team returns to the road this weekend to take on No. 1 Illinois and No. 7 Minnesota at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Nebraska's trek to Minnesota will offer a preview of Big Ten Conference competition, as the Huskers prepare to join the league for the 2012 season. Big Ten foes are certainly no strangers to the Huskers. Last season, Nebraska squared off against Minnesota, Ohio State and Iowa in regular-season action, before facing Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa in the second session of the NCAA Team Qualifier in West Point, N.Y.

In fact, Saturday's meeting with the Golden Gophers will mark the fourth head-to-head matchup with Minnesota in the last 12 months.

Youth Movement Going Strong at Nebraska
Nebraska's lineup in Minneapolis is expected to feature plenty of youth, led by sophomore all-arounder Andreas Hofer and freshman all-around CJ Schaaf. Hofer captured three individual event titles for the Huskers a year ago, including his first career all-around crown in a triangular with Minnesota and Iowa at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln on March 20. Hofer's all-around score of 88.40 was the top mark in NU history since the NCAA adjusted its scoring system in 2008.

Sophomore Wyatt Baier adds to NU's youth movement after posting a 15.90 on vault at the Rocky Mountain Open last weekend. Baier's mark was the best of the night on any event for the Huskers. Other freshmen making their Husker debuts last week included Eric Schryver, Wyatt Aycock, Micah Christensen, Donovan Arndt and Andrew House, while redshirt freshman Mark Ringle and juniors Michael Killeen and Will Eastman also made their NU debuts.

Overall, Nebraska's 2011 roster features eight true freshmen along with one redshirt freshman. The Huskers' 20-man roster also has eight sophomores.

All-American Ingrelli Adds Experience to Husker Lineup
While Nebraska features plenty of young gymnasts this season, the Huskers also return All-American Anthony Ingrelli. The senior from Milwaukee, Wis., captured the first All-America honor of his career last season with a sixth-place showing on still rings at the NCAA Individual Event Finals.

Ingrelli became the first Husker to claim an All-America award since 2007, and the first since Josh Rasile in 2004 to earn the honor on still rings.

Ingrelli is far from the only returning Husker with NCAA Championships experience. In addition to sophomore Andreas Hofer, who finished as NU's top all-arounder at nationals a year ago, seniors Cory Baumgarten and Bear Danley also represented Nebraska at the championships. Junior David Jacobs also competed in three events at nationals.

Sizing Up No. 1 Illinois
Illinois heads to Minnesota after posting the nation's top team score in the opening weekend of competition. The Fighting Illini registered a 355.400 to lead No. 2 California (349.650) by nearly six full points.

Illinois, guided by Coach Justin Spring, notched the nation's top event scores on floor exercise (60.900), pommel horse (57.200) and parallel bars (59.300), while adding the third-best score on high bar (58.300) and seventh-best score on vault (56.700).

Last season, Illinois finished fourth at the NCAA Championships after taking second in the first session of team qualifying. The 2010 Illini featured Nissen-Emery Award winner Luke Stannard, who earned All-America honors on pommel horse to close his career. He has since joined Illinois as an assistant coach.

Paul Ruggeri continues to be a force for the Illini. The three-time NCAA champion (high bar 2008, 2009; parallel bars, 2009) posted the nation's No. 2 all-around score on the opening weekend with an 88.900. Ruggeri was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 17, after capturing two titles (all-around, high bar-15.800) at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago.

Returner Chad Wiest added All-America accolades with a third-place finish on floor exercise at the individual event finals. Tyler Williamson also claimed an All-America award on rings for the Illini.

Sizing Up No. 7 Minnesota
Minnesota welcomes Nebraska and Illinois to the Twin Cities after posting a 340.700 on the opening weekend of competition at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago.

The Golden Gophers, led by Coach Mike Burns, rank fourth nationally on parallel bars (57.100), fifth on pommel horse (55.100), sixth on floor (56.700), eighth on vault (55.800) and ninth on high bar (53.900).

Like Nebraska, Minnesota features a youthful lineup after losing eight seniors to graduation in 2010. Freshmen Matt Frey and John Scallon both earned top-five individual finishes at the Windy City Invite to open their careers.

DJ Repp leads the Golden Gophers as their top all-arounder, ranking 12th nationally (82.000) after the first competition of the season. He also ranks among the nation's top 20 on floor exercise and vault.

Huskers Start Season with Runner-up Finish at Rocky Mountain Open
No. 9 Nebraska opened the 2011 season with a second-place finish at the Rocky Mountain Open at the Cadet West Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 15.

The Huskers' season-opening score of 334.50 trailed only the team champions from No. 3 Oklahoma (346.500) among the four collegiate teams at the event. The Sooners captured their 12th straight Rocky Mountain Open title. The hosts from No. 13 Air Force took third at 327.300, while Arizona State finished fourth (311.600). A team from the U.S. Olympic Training Center also competed at the event and posted a 350.75, but their scorers did not factor into the team competition or individual awards.

Second-year Nebraska Coach Chuck Chmelka said he was pleased with the performances of the young Huskers, and is eager to see the improvements they can make after the opener.

"I thought we did well for the first meet, especially with 10 new faces," Chmelka said. "I see a lot of potential with this team, and we are going to get a lot better. With the exception of floor, I thought we looked very good tonight. On vault and high bar we hit every routine and that's great."

Nebraska performed the strongest on vault, as all six Huskers posted scores of 15.10 or higher, including sophomore Wyatt Baier's 15.90 - the highest score by a Husker on any event on the night.

Andreas Hofer, who led the Huskers with an 81.40 in the all-around, added a 15.40 on vault, as did NU's other all-arounder in the competition - freshman CJ Schaaf - who notched an 80.90.

In addition to Schaaf making his collegiate debut for NU, nine other Huskers made their first appearances, including six freshmen. The top performing newcomers were Eric Schryver, who placed third on pommel horse (14.00), and Baier, who tied for third on vault.

Freshmen Wyatt Aycock, Micah Christensen, Donavan Arndt, Andrew House, redshirt freshman Mark Ringle and juniors Michael Killeen and Will Eastman also made their first appearances.

Baier's Big Score Ranks High on National Vault Chart
Sophomore Wyatt Baier put his name high on the national vault rankings with his 15.900 score at the season-opening Rocky Mountain Open.

Baier's big score matched Illinois' Chad Wiest for the second-best mark in the country after the first week of competition, trailing only two-time NCAA vault champion Steven Legendre from Oklahoma (16.400).

Other Huskers with top-20 rankings on individual events include All-American Anthony Ingrelli on still rings (12th, 14.500), freshman Eric Schryver on pommel horse (13th, 14.000), sophomore Andreas Hofer (81.400) and freshman CJ Schaaf (80.900) in the all-around and freshman Wyatt Aycock on pommel horse (20th, 13.700).