Huskers Remain Unbeaten with a 228.05-213.975 Win over Minnesota

Behind a career-best performance from sophomore Jason Hardabura (Oakville, Ontario), the eighth-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team remained unbeaten with a 228.05-213.975 victory over Minnesota in front of 1,062 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Track Friday evening.

Hardabura finished first or second in all six individual events to finish first in the all-around with a score of 58.15, the highest all-around total by a Husker since former NCAA Champion Richard Grace’s 58.35 in the 1995 NCAA team finals. Hardabura finished first on four different events, including floor exercise (9.625), pommel horse (9.70), still rings (9.75) and horizontal bar (9.80). A sophomore, Hardabura placed second on vault (9.65) and parallel bars (9.625), setting personal bests in both events.

“Honestly, I saw it coming,” said Nebraska Coach Francis Allen on Hardabura’s performance. “He’s been working hard and doing the right things and his hard work showed tonight.”

“I just tried to take it from one event to the next,” Hardabura said. “As the meet went on, I knew I had a good chance of finishing strong. I wanted to win the team competition more than anything else. This is just a step. Minnesota is good, but Iowa is very good.”

Junior All-American Derek Leiter (Lincoln, Neb.) placed first on both vault (9.70) and parallel bars (9.775) en route to a second-place finish in the all-around with a score of 56.175 as the Huskers took the top three spots in five of the six events to improve to 6-0 on the season. The Huskers’ score of 228.05 is a season high. In addition, junior Blake Bukacek (Lincoln, Neb.) also posted career bests on horizontal bar (9.725) and vault (9.55), finishing second on high bar and third on vault. Freshman Martin Fournier (St. Hubert, Quebec) also earned top-three honors on still rings (9.30), parallel bars (9.40) and high bar (9.60) as he finished third in the all-around with a score of 55.95. Minnesota’s Jason Krob led the Gophers (0-9) with a third-place finish on pommel horse (9.625), while Todd Guilbeau placed fourth in the all-around with a score of 55.05.

The Huskers return to action this Sunday, Feb. 21, then Nebraska plays host to No. 4 Iowa at the Devaney Center Track beginning at 1 p.m. The Hawkeyes improved to 11-0 on the season with a 227.525-221.95 victory over Michigan State Friday evening in Iowa City.

Scoring
1. Nebraska 228.05
2. Minnesota 213.975

All-Around
1. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 58.15
2. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 56.175
3. Martin Fournier (Nebraska) 55.95
4. Todd Guillbeau (Minnesota) 55.05
5. Chad Conner (Minnesota) 52.90
6. Justin Conner (Minnesota) 50.95

Floor Exercise
1. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.625
2. Jim Koziol (Nebraska) 9.50
3. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 9.35

Pommel Horse
1. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.70
2. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 9.65
3. Jason Krob (Minnesota) 9.625

Still Rings
1. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.75
2. Jim Koziol (Nebraska) 9.70
3. Martin Fournier (Nebraska) 9.30

Vault
1. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 9.70
2. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.65
3. Blake Bukacek (Nebraska) 9.55

Parallel Bars
1. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 9.775
2. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.625
3. Martin Fournier (Nebraska) 9.40

Horizontal Bar
1. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.80
2. Blake Bukacek (Nebraska) 9.725
3. Martin Fournier (Nebraska) 9.60