Buckeye Loss Doesn't Discourage Huskers

The Huskers may have dropped their second consecutive dual of the season, 223.975-216.60, Friday, Feb. 18, as they butted heads with No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, but NU head coach Francis Allen says his team did exactly what they came to do.

 

“We keep getting better every meet and that’s what we go into every competition aiming for,” Allen said.  “If we’d have had a great meet we’d have been in the 223-range too, but being at 216 was our goal and we achieved that so I’m proud of our guys.”

 

Nebraska wasn’t able to avoid the loss despite team-high marks on every event but the pommel horse in addition to a slew of landmark individual performances throughout the roster.

 

Freshman Stephen T?trault led the way with his second event title on the vault of the season with a career-high 9.65.  The Lincoln native earned a total of three career bests, the most of any Husker on the evening.  Nebraska earned 12 career-high scores overall.

 

“I was happy to contribute to the team,” T?trault said.  “We stepped it up today as a team and I’m proud of everybody’s performances.”

 

Nebraska opened the meet on the pommel horse where junior Nick Moore stuck a career-high 8.85 to start the rotation for the Huskers.  Moore has bettered his score in this event by almost half a point in every meet this season.

 

It was also on the pommel where T?trault saw his first career best of the competition (9.25), while junior Ray Hacker made his season debut on the event with an 8.35.  However, the Buckeyes mounted the horse in record-setting fashion as sophomore Willie Ito broke the Ohio State pommel horse record with a 9.90 for first place in the event.  This is the second time Ito has bested this record for the Buckeyes this season.

 

Sophomore Jason Wassung led the floor exercise for the Huskers in the second rotation, grabbing a career-high 9.20 for third place in the event.  Floor was the only event that Wassung had not bested yet this season.  He also won the all-around competition with a career-high 53.750.  Senior Josh Koopman also earned a career high in the event (9.15) for fourth place.

 

After three falls put a notoriously strong NU vaulting lineup behind the pace, Nebraska senior Mace Patterson got things back under control with a season-high 9.40.  The score rejuvenated the remainder of the event and paved the way for the event-winning mark from T?trault (9.65).  This is the highest score of any Husker on the vault since All-American Josh Rasile also earned a 9.65 against Oklahoma and Air Force in March of 2004.

 

With half of the competition behind them, the Huskers had amassed season high team scores on both the floor exercise (36.15) and vault (37.15) to trail the No. 2 team in the country by only two points heading into the final three rotations. 

 

Senior Adam Tietze kicked off the last three events on the still rings for Nebraska with a career-high 8.55, followed by an outstanding routine by Steven Friedman as the NU senior banked a 9.40 for fourth in the event.  Up next was sophomore Paul Chumreonlert who did Friedman one better with a 9.50 that slipped him onto the podium in second place.    

 

T?trault gained one last career best score of 9.20 on the high bar to lead Nebraska in that event, while Chumreonlert finished on the parallel bars with NU’s highest bars score of the season (9.25) for second place.

 

However, the Huskers ran into what has become a perennial problem this season in the final two events of the meet.  Botched skills and bobbled landings plagued Nebraska on both the high bar and parallel bars, which allowed the Buckeyes to stretch their legs and cross the finish line for their ninth win of the season. 

 

Despite a few rocky routines that kept them out of the team lead, Nebraska still managed season-high event scores in the still rings (36.55), parallel bars (35.20) and high bar (35.20) before the night was done.  The only event the Huskers didn’t top was the pommel horse where they finished with a 36.05.

 

“Having Mace (Patterson) and Steven (Friedman) back in the lineup really improved our overall performance tonight,” Allen said.  “The whole thing is starting to come together.  I’m really excited about this whole group of gymnasts and the only thing to do now is get home and get ready for Oklahoma.”

 

NU’s clash with OhioState was just the first of two meets for the Huskers this weekend.  Nebraska now flies back to Lincoln on Saturday evening to get set for their first home meet of the season as they welcome the Oklahoma Sooners to the DevaneyCenter on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m.  This is the second time in just a week that the two conference rivals face each other with the Huskers dropping a 212.65-224.05 loss to the Sooner in their last match up.

 

 

Team Scoring

1. OhioState ? 223.975

2. Nebraska ? 216.600

 

Individual Event Results (Top Three Finishers and Highest Husker)

 

Floor Exercise                                       Score

1.  Grant Osborne ? Ohio State               9.375

2.  Jimmy Wickham ? Ohio State            9.25

3.  Jason Wassung ? Nebraska               9.20 (Career-High)

 

Pommel Horse                                       Score

1.  Willie Ito ? Ohio State                        9.90

2.  Ronald Ferris ? Ohio State                 9.75

3.  DJ Bucher ? Ohio State                     9.70

4. Paul Chumreonlert ? Nebraska           9.35

 

Still Rings                                             Score

1.  Randy Monahan ? Ohio State            9.80

2.  Paul Chumreonlert ? Nebraska           9.50

3.  DJ Bucher ? Ohio State                     9.45

 

 

Vault                                                     Score

1.  Stephen T?trault ? Nebraska              9.65 (Career-High)

2.  Pej Ebrahimi ? Ohio State                  9.55

3.  Jimmy Wickham ? Ohio State            9.45

 

 

Parallel Bars                                          Score

1.  DJ Bucher ? Ohio State                     9.65

2.  Paul Chumreonlert ? Nebraska           9.15 (Career-High)

3T. Grante Osborne ? Ohio State            9.00

       Willie Ito

       Nic Searcy

 

High Bar                                                Score

1.       Ron Ferris ? Ohio State                    9.925

2.   Randy Monahan ? OhioState            9.85

3.  DJ Bucher ? Ohio State                     9.425

4.  Stephen T?trault ? Nebraska              9.20

 

All-Around                                             Score

1. Jason Wassung ? Nebraska                53.750 (Career-High)

2. Mace Patterson ? Nebraska                51.400 (Season-High)