Nebraska Men?s Gym Falls to Fifth-Ranked Iowa

Lincoln ? The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team fell to the fifth-ranked Iowa, 217.775-213.975, Sunday afternoon at the Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln in its first home meet of the season. Although the Huskers managed 10 personal-best scores and a team score that rivaled their 2003 best of 214.625, they still fell short as the Hawkeyes pulled out the win.

Leading the Huskers again was senior captain Josh Rasile, who took home an individual title on the still rings (9.60) and second place on the vault (9.425) despite an injured heel.

Also leading the Huskers was junior Mace Patterson who earned three personal-best scores on the floor exercise (9.15), still rings (9.05), and parallel bars (9.15) en route to winning the all-around title with a 54.20, bettering his personal best by almost two points.

With Patterson’s personal high bar best (9.35) set at the Rocky Mountain Open last weekend, he has set new benchmarks in nearly every event this season. Patterson’s performance in the parallel bars earned him the meet title in the event. Iowa’s Michael Reavis placed second in the all-around score of 53.40.

Despite these accomplishments, Head Coach Francis Allen feels Patterson still has room for improvement.

"Mace had some personal records today, but he is one of the leaders of this team and so those kind of things are to be expected," Allen said.

Sophomore Derric Wood tied Iowa’s Mike Kelly for the pommel horse title, with a score of 9.25.

Overall however, Allen was sufficiently pleased with his team’s performance against the Hawkeyes.

"I think this was a really good score for us," Allen said. "Iowa is a good team, and I think once we get Jason Wassung back, we’re going to be right next to them."

Next week the Huskers will head to West Point, New York, for the West Point Open. The team competition begins on Friday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. central time, with the individual event finals to be held on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m.