Unbeaten Huskers Down No. 4 Hawkeyes 229-227.325

The eighth-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team improved to 7-0 on the season with a 229-227.325 victory over fourth-ranked Iowa in front of 862 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Track Sunday afternoon. The victory over Iowa, which falls to 11-1 on the season, ended the Hawkeyes’ streak of 10 consecutive dual-meet victories dating back to a 231.70-229.70 Nebraska victory during the 1997 season

The Huskers were paced by sophomore all-arounder Jason Hardabura (Oakville, Ontario), who won four of six event titles en route to winning his third straight all-around title with a score of 58.125. Hardabura set personal bests on pommel horse (9.725) and horizontal bar (9.875), and placed first on both floor exercise (9.675) and still rings (9.80). Hardabura was second in the all-around after five events, but clinched the title on high bar where he set a career-high with a 9.875 to win the competition. Hardabura’s score of 58.125, coupled with his all-around score of 58.15 on Friday against Minnesota, is the first time a Husker gymnast scored a 58 or better in consecutive meets since former NCAA Champion Richard Grace accomplished the feat in the 1995 NCAA Championships.

“Jason was a star for us today,” Nebraska Coach Francis Allen said. “Our goal was to come in and hit 80 percent of our routines and we were on track. We are right where we want to be at this point of the season. Iowa is a good team and they challenged us, but our team responded and we came out with the win.”

The Huskers also received strong performances from juniors Blake Bukacek (Lincoln, Neb.) and Derek Leiter (Lincoln, Neb.) and senior All-American Jim Koziol (Omaha, Neb.). Bukacek set a pair of career highs, placing second on vault (9.575) and tying Leiter for third on high bar (9.75). Leiter, who finished third in the all-around with a 57.35, placed first on parallel bars (9.70) and was second on floor exercise (9.60), while Koziol finished second on pommel horse (9.725) and was fourth on floor exercise (9.50).

The Hawkeyes, last season’s NCAA runner-up, were paced by junior Todd Strada, who finished first on vault with a 9.60 en route to a second-place finish in the all-around (57.90).

The Huskers return to action this Friday, Feb. 26, when the Huskers travel to Oklahoma to face the Sooners beginning at 7 p.m. The Huskers’ next home meet is Sunday, March 14, when the Huskers play host to Penn State, beginning at 1 p.m.

Team Scores
1. Nebraska 229.00
2. Iowa 227.325

All-Around
1. Jason Hardabura (NU) 58.125
2. Todd Strada (UI) 57.90
3. Derek Leiter (NU) 57.35

Floor Exercise
1. Jason Hardabura (NU) 9.675
2. Derek Leiter (NU) 9.60
3. Shane de Freita (UI) 9.55

Pommel Horse
1. Jason Hardabura (NU) 9.75
2. Jim Koziol (NU) 9.725
t3. Todd Strada 9.70
t3. Doug Jacobsen 9.70

Still Rings
1. Jason Hardabura (NU) 9.80
2. Kevin Agnew (UI) 9.75
3. Todd Strada 9.725

Vault
1. Todd Strada (UI) 9.60
2. Blake Bukacek (NU) 9.575
3. Barry Wilken (UI) 9.525

Parallel Bars
1. Derek Leiter (NU) 9.70
t2. Jason Hardabura (NU) 9.625
t2. Todd Strada (UI) 9.625

Horizontal Bar
1. Jason Hardabura (NU) 9.875
2. Todd Strada (UI) 9.80
t3. Blake Bukacek (NU) 9.75
t3. Derek Leiter (NU) 9.75