Top Performances Abound Despite NU Team Loss

Oklahoma City, Okla. ? Despite a 224.050-212.650 team loss to No. 4 Oklahoma, the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team conquered a plethora of individual event bests Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City, Okla. In all, the Huskers reeled in eight career-highs across the board with sophomore Jason Wassung picking up the most with three in the vault (9.60), still rings (9.15) and all-around (52.95).

The Huskers struggled to get things started on the opening pommel horse rotation, currently their highest nationally ranked event. Junior Nick Moore built a strong routine for a career-high 8.80 to begin the event, but things were unfortunately hit or miss from there, as Nebraska saw a series of three falls in the middle of its lineup before sophomore Paul Chumreonlert came up big with a 9.25 to finish off the order.

NU’s turn on the floor exercise immediately proved far more successful as senior Josh Koopman landed a career-high 8.95 to top his previous best of 8.85, which he earned in 2003. Koopman tied for fourth in the event with Oklahoma’s Jamie Henderson.

It was also in this second rotation that All-American Steven Friedman made his much anticipated comeback to collegiate competition after more than a year’s absence, receiving an 8.35 for his efforts.

"I was extremely nervous today," Friedman said. "I couldn’t sleep last night, and I’m still a little shook up which was my biggest downfall today.  I know that will improve with every meet I get through. All in all, I thought this was a pretty good meet for us as a whole. There were a few big scores we missed, and we’ll just need to make sure and count those in future meets."

Troubles with both over and under rotation plagued the Huskers on the vault as Nebraska endured four missed landings before freshman Stephen T?trault and sophomore Jason Wassung salvaged the rotation with a pair of career-high marks, earning a 9.50 and 9.60, respectively. Wassung’s outstanding routine awarded him top honors in the event, his first ever in collegiate competition. T?trault followed in second-place.

Wassung continued his success as the Huskers headed to the still rings where he stuck another career-high with a 9.15. This is the second time Wassung has broken his own rings record this season with the first occurring at Nebraska’s season-opener at the Rocky Mountain Open where he received an 8.75. However, not one to be outdone, Friedman tied Wassung’s score (9.15), easily slipping back into form as one of Nebraska’s top rings assets.

"Steven [Friedman] did a great job for us today," Head Coach Francis Allen said. "He did an awesome job on rings and a pretty good job of floor too, but he just ran out of gas. He needs to get some meets under his belt before he’s going to be in a condition to compete at his top level."

But it was Chumreonlert who racked up Nebraska’s top score in the event, sticking a career-high 9.60 on rings for fourth-place.

Heading into the final rotations, Nebraska faced a sizeable margin to catch the Sooners. NU wasn’t quite up to the challenge however as they failed to combine strong enough parallel bars or high bar performances to avoid the loss.

"We didn’t warm up very well and maybe that was the problem," Allen said. "But our momentum is still picking up and our team scores are gradually improving and that continues to always be out goal."

The Huskers now head into a heavy week, as they will take on No. 1 Ohio State on Friday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio. Nebraska then returns home on Sunday when they will host the Oklahoma Sooners at the Devaney Center at 2 p.m.

Team Scoring
1.Oklahoma - 224.050
2. Nebraska - 212.650

Individual Event Results (Top Three Finishers and Highest Husker)
Floor Exercise Score
1. David Iammatteo ? Oklahoma 9.35
2. James Myers ? Oklahoma 9.05
3. Mace Patterson ? Nebraska 9.00 (Season-High)

Pommel Horse Score
1. Josh Gore ? Oklahoma 9.70
2. Jamie Henderson ? Oklahoma 9.60
3. Brian Carr ? Oklahoma 9.35
5T. Paul Chumreonlert ? Nebraska 9.25

Still Rings Score
1. Jonathan Horton ? Oklahoma 9.825
2. Jamie Henderson ? Oklahoma 9.65
3. David Henderson ? Oklahoma 9.625
4. Paul Chumreonlert ? Nebraska 9.60 (Career-High)

Vault Score
1. Jason Wassung ? Nebraska 9.60 (Career-High)
2. Stephen T?trault ? Nebraska 9.50 (Career-High)
3. Brian Carr ? Oklahoma 9.30

Parallel Bars Score
1. Josh Gore ? Oklahoma 9.50
2. Jonathan Horton ? Oklahoma 9.45
3. Jamie Henderson ? Oklahoma 9.00

High Bar Score
1. Josh Gore ? Oklahoma 9.55
1T. Jamie Henderson ? Oklahoma 9.55
3. James Myers ? Oklahoma 9.525

All-Around Score
1.Jamie Henderson ? Oklahoma 55.750
2.Jason Wassung ? Nebraska 52.950 (Career-High)
3.Stephen T?trault ? Nebraska 52.350 (Career-High)