Experienced Huskers Prepare For Championship Drive

Following its most successful season since 2000, the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team returns to competition this year chalked full of experience.  The Huskers lost only one gymnast, All-American Josh Rasile, from their 2004 squad and welcome three new recruits to the roster.  Freshmen Stephen T?trault and Andrew Podany and transfer Jon Charter give the Huskers a total of 14 competitors.

 

The Nebraska program, which enters its 66th year of existence in 2005, is home to one of the oldest and most successful traditions in collegiate gymnastics.  Head Coach Francis Allen will lead the Huskers this season for an unprecedented 36th year along with help from long-time assistant coaches, Chuck Chmelka and Jim Howard.

 

The Seniors

Plagued by injuries in 2004, the healthy Huskers plan on rebuilding and refocusing their attention on a ninth national title.

 

With five seniors gracing the roster, Nebraska has the depth of talent and experience that it lacked in recent seasons. The return of senior All-American Steven Friedman creates a bright spot in several events, most notably the rings, vault and parallel bars.  Friedman redshirted in 2004 after lighting up the parallel bars during an explosive junior season in 2003 that earned him All-America honors in the event.  Friedman also finished 13th in the all-around at the NCAA Championships.

 

With the loss of Friedman last season, senior Mace Patterson stepped into the top all-around spot and quickly adjusted to his leading role.  Patterson reaped a season-high all-around score of 54.975 against Oklahoma and Air Force, Nebraska’s highest since a 58.150 from NCAA Champion Jason Hardabura in 2001.

 

Patterson also earned five team-high scores (AA, FX, PH, PB and HB), tied Rasile for the most individual event titles (nine), and qualified for the NCAA all-around finals before suffering a chest injury that left him unable to compete.  Now healthy, he returns for his senior season with one thing on his mind, a national title.  With Patterson’s intense attitude, Allen feels that 2005 will be Patterson’s most successful to date, while his contributions could make or break a meet.

 

“Mace is an outstanding gymnast,” Allen said.  “The team is going to lean on him a lot this season, and I really think he’s going to come through for us.  He’s going to make a huge difference.”

 

Joining Patterson on the high bar will be senior Tony Burtle.  A phenomenal acrobat, Burtle will also have a starring role on floor and vault, two events where he excelled in 2004.  Burtle earned a pair of second-place finishes on the vault last season, the first of which came during Nebraska’s stunning defeat of OhioState (9.475) and the second just weeks later against Minnesota (9.35).

 

Friedman, Patterson and Burtle were selected as co-captains of the 2005 team.

 

Rounding out the seniors are Josh Koopman and Adam Tietze, both three-time letterwinners who made remarkable strides in 2004.  Koopman earned career-high scores of 8.65 and 8.95 on the vault and parallel bars, respectively, and competed in events across the board, filling in on several occasions on the floor exercise.  This season, Koopman will once again compete in several events at different times throughout the season, but with major concentrations on the parallel bars and high bar lineups.

 

Tietze will return to the pommel and rings routines this season after stepping into the lead-off roles in both events in 2004.  Before last season, he had not competed on the rings during his collegiate career, but earned a season-high score of 8.35 during the Rocky Mountain Open team competition.  Tietze also earned a career-high mark in the pommel horse (8.45).

 

The Juniors

Complementing its solid core of senior talent, Nebraska boasts an outstanding supporting cast of underclassmen.  Topping the list are juniors Ray Hacker, Nic Matthews, Nicholas Moore and Derric Wood.  Hacker and Matthews will rotate between events, while Wood and Moore will concentrate on the all-around and pommel horse, respectively.

 

Hacker made the leap into full-time competition in 2004, participating in nearly every event.  Allen said he expects Hacker to once again provide event depth, while spending a majority of his time on pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar.

 

As a freshman, Matthews competed in every meet, including an all-around showing at the Rocky Mountain Open.  Last season, Matthews once again found himself in the all-around with his best showing against Minnesota where he earned a career-high score of 52.425 for third place.  Matthews specializes in the floor exercise, still rings and vault, three events that Nebraska will need to fill after the loss of Rasile.

 

Wood is a welcome and important part of the all-around force that the Huskers plan to utilize as a major aspect of their 2005 strategy.  After a monumental freshman year that landed him among the nation’s top-20 all-arounders, Wood struggled to overcome injuries in 2004.  Now fully recuperated, Allen said he expects Wood to return to his former level and reclaim a spot in the national rankings.

 

“Wood turned some heads his freshman season,” Allen said.  “It’s going to be interesting to see what he can do now that he is a little more experienced and healthy again.”

 

Sidelined by injury during 2004, Moore returns to the Nebraska roster this season focusing mainly on the pommel horse, an event with the possibility of becoming Nebraska’s best this season.

 

The Sophomores         

Both of Nebraska’s sophomores, Paul Chumreonlert and Jason Wassung, competed regularly for the Huskers in 2004.  Chumreonlert made his leap into the collegiate scene with a bang, spending several weeks ranked among the nation’s best in the still rings.  Chumreonlert also excelled on the pommel horse, advancing as far as the event qualifier at the NCAA Championships after earning a 9.275 for the top seed in his session.  This season, Chumreonlert will occupy a premier all-around spot for the Huskers in an effort to utilize his already well-rounded abilities.

 

“Paul has everything it takes to be a phenomenal gymnast,” Allen said.  “We’ve just got to put him in the right situations and let him go.”

 

Wassung also produced an outstanding freshman season.  After overcoming an injury that took him out of the first few meets, Wassung returned to compete on the floor exercise, pommel horse, vault and parallel bars.  Against Oklahoma and Air Force, he earned three career-high marks in the floor (9.05), pommel horse (8.60) and vault (9.05).  This year, Wassung will once again compete on floor exercise and parallel bars, with an added emphasis on the pommel horse.

 

The Newcomers

This season the Huskers welcome three new talents to their roster: Jon Charter, Andrew Podany and Stephen T?trault.

 

Charter, a transfer student out of SpringfieldCollege in Massachusetts, will contend for time in the floor exercise this season.

 

Podany, a native of Papillion, Neb., and two-time high school All-American, is one of two true freshmen in 2005.  Although he is not currently slated as a regular competitor, he could challenge for a position in the floor and vault rosters.

 

T?trault, Nebraska’s other true freshman, is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  A former member of the Canadian Junior National Team, T?trault moved to Lincoln in 2000, where he attended LincolnEastHigh School.  This season, T?trault will have the opportunity to step into the all-around on occasion, an event where Allen feels T?trault will excel with experience.

 

“T?trault is already pretty good all the way around,” Allen said.  “If he has any weakness, it’s that he has yet to really develop a strong sequence on the rings and that is something that will come with time.”