Huskers Usher In Postseason on a Winning Streak

The ninth-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team looks to continue its three-meet winning streak this week as it heads to Norman, Okla. for the 2005 MPSF Championships.  The meet begins with team competition on Friday, March 25, at 7 p.m., followed by the event finals on Saturday, March 26, at 2 p.m.

 

The Huskers enter postseason competition ranked fourth in the conference behind Oklahoma, Cal and Stanford and ahead of Air Force.  Nebraska capped off the regular season with its third consecutive victory, a win over Air Force on March 13, which pushed NU’s record to 13-6, 2-3 in the MPSF.  However, Nebraska’s score of 215.450 was not enough to hold on to the third-place conference finish that the Huskers were looking to secure, as they instead slipped into fourth behind Stanford.

 

Despite the drop in rank, the Huskers finished the regular-season on a positive note and will undoubtedly look to continue their success this weekend.  Individually, senior co-captains Mace Patterson and Steven Friedman had tremendous performances in their last home dual on March 13 that saw Patterson return to the 54-mark in the all-around and Friedman earn his first event title (SR) in almost two years.  As captains, the impact the two could have on not only Nebraska’s score, but its overall morale could make a major difference in the outcome of the competition.

 

In Saturday’s event finals, it will also be important to watch freshman Stephen T?trault, whose status as the conference’s top vaulter makes him a likely candidate to bring Nebraska its first MPSF event title since 2002.

 

Scouting the MPSF Competitors

No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners

Head Coach: Mark Williams

Top Gymnast: Jonathan Horton

Record: 8-1

2004 MPSF Finish: 2nd (219.600)

The No. 1 ranked Sooners have dominated the MPSF this season with a 5-0 record.  Led by head coach Mark Williams, Oklahoma has consistently marked in the 220-point range and has ranked among the top-five teams in the nation all year.

 

Coming into 2005, the Sooners were chosen number one in the national coach’s poll.  However, after suffering its first defeat since 2002 at the hands of Michigan, Oklahoma fell from grace and has since fought to regain a spot at the top.  The Sooners took a step in the right direction two weeks ago, as they marked their biggest win of the season, edging then-top-ranked OhioState, 222.825 to 222.675.

 

Leading Oklahoma this season is senior Josh Gore, junior Jamie Henderson and freshman Jonathan Horton.  Gore, a 2004 All-American on the parallel bars, heads up several events for the Sooners, while Henderson serves as OU’s primary all-arounder.  Horton, one of the strongest first year competitors in the conference, was recently selected to the U.S. Senior Men’s National team.

 

No. 2 Cal Golden Bears

Head Coach: Barry Weiner

Top Gymnast: Graham Ackerman

Record: 7-3

2004 MPSF Finish: 1st (220.225)

The 2004 MPSF Champion Golden Bears have had a roller coaster 2005 season.  Cal has proven it is capable of big scores and big wins, but also has fallen short in what should have been a sure thing.  The Golden Bears stunned then-top-ranked Illinois back in February at the Pacific Coast Classic, 219.950-218.850 to highlight their season.  However, Cal experienced an upset of its own a few weeks later when conference rival Stanford defeated the Bears, 222.675 to 219.775.

 

Individually Cal is led by a pair of senior co-captains, Graham Ackerman and Jay Yee.  Ackerman, a two-time NCAA Champion, has championed the floor and    vault rosters for the Bears this season.  He won both the floor and vault titles at the MPSF Championships in 2004 and has led Cal to the top team floor average in the nation (37.225).

 

Yee, a rings specialist, is considered by Cal           to be their strongest overall gymnast.  Yee finished first on the rings at the 2004 MPSF Championships and currently ranks fifth in the nation on the apparatus. 

 

No. 3 Stanford Cardinal

Head Coach: Thom Glielmi

Top Gymnast: David Sender

Record: 5-5

2004 MPSF Finish: 3rd (214.675)

With the loss of 2004 MPSF Gymnast of the Year, Dan Gill, the Cardinal have had to restructure their roster around the talent of freshman pair Sho Nakomari and David Sender.  The young gymnasts have both had a tremendous season for Stanford, including a vault title for Sender at the 2005 Winter Cup, and a slew of success for Nakamori on the parallel bars, an event where he currently ranks sixth in the nation.

 

As a team, Stanford boasts a 500 season, now 5-5 in the nation, 4-3 in the MPSF.  The Cardinal earned their fourth win in the conference in their final home dual of the season as they upset Cal, 222.675-219.775.  The score was Stanford’s highest of the year and boosted it into eighth, one place higher than the Huskers, in the national ranks.

 

No. 5 Air Force Falcons

Head Coach: Lou Burkel

Top Gymnast: Ryan Stromstad

Record: 0-12

2004 MPSF Finish: 5th (204.900)

In its last year under 25-year head coach Lou Burkel, Air Force has gone winless in 12 regular-season meets.  Now 0-13 overall, 0-9 in the MPSF, the Falcons enter postseason competition hoping to improve upon their fifth-place finish at the 2004 MPSF Championships.  In order to do that however, the Falcons will have to top four other teams that are consistently scoring between 216 and 222 points per meet, while Air Force has yet to even break the 200 point mark.

 

With the loss of 2004 standout Greg Stine who led Air Force in event titles last season, the Falcons have had to look elsewhere for leadership.  Like Stanford, Air Force’s young talent has stepped into the spotlight.  Sophomore Ryan Stromstad has set himself on the podium in the floor exercise numerous times this season, while freshman Tyler Sickles boasts Air Force’s only event title of the year, which he earned on the high bar (8.00) against Army.

 

In their last regular-season dual, the Falcons fell to Nebraska 215.450-195.350 at the DevaneyCenter on March 13.  The win pushed the Huskers to 13-6 on the season, while giving Air Force its ninth consecutive conference loss. 

 

MPSF History

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) first recognized collegiate men’s gymnastics in 1995 and has since become home to five programs across the western half of the United States. 

 

Stanford took top honors at the MPSF Championships during the first year, the only time in conference history for the Cardinal.

 

Since then, every team but Air Force has garnered at least one MPSF team title, with Oklahoma leading the way with five.  At the 2004 MPSF Championships, Cal upset the Sooners to end OU’s five-year sweep of the conference title.  The win was Cal’s third in MPSF history.

 

Over the last ten years, Nebraska has claimed two MPSF titles, one of which it shared with Oklahoma in 1999.  This was the last time Nebraska finished first and the Huskers have since not managed to place higher than third overall.

 

Individually, NU has placed at least one gymnast in the top spot in an event in seven of ten MPSF’s.  However, the Huskers have failed to claim a conference title since Josh Rasile’s 2002 vault finish.

 

Last year, Nebraska finished fourth (211.525), with only Mace Patterson owning a top-three spot with a third-place finish on the high bar (9.137).

 

Cradle of Coaches

Three of the five coaches in the MPSF Conference competed as Cornhuskers while earning their degrees from the University of Nebraska.

 

Lou Burkel, head coach at Air Force for the last 25 years, trained under legendary Nebraska coach Jake Geier from 1961 to 1964.  During the 1964 season, Burkel had the opportunity to compete with current Nebraska head coach Francis Allen as well as assistant coach Jim Howard.  Together, the trio helped the ?64 Huskers to a Big Eight title.

 

Mark Williams, the coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, also began his collegiate career in Nebraska.  Williams trained under Allen from 1977 to 1980, during which time he earned All-America honors, tallied a conference title on the high bar and was a part of back-to-back national championships in 1979 an 1980.

 

Allen’s Accomplishments

Nebraska head coach Francis Allen earned his 200th career win this season at the West Point Open in January.  Heading into the postseason, his record stands at 205-112-3, following a three-meet winning streak by the Huskers in the past few weeks.

 

The Nebraska alum reached his first hundred wins in 1989 after 20 years as the Huskers’ head coach.  This next milestone took Allen only 16 years to accomplish.

 

Allen is the second winningest coach in men’s gymnastics history with eight national titles, behind the legendary Gene Wettstone of PennState who claimed nine during his career.

 

Sweeping Up

The Huskers have swept at least one event in four of their last six regular-season duals.  The streak began on Feb. 20, with the trio of Mace Patterson, Jason Wassung and Stephen T?trault made a double-sweep of the all-around and the vault against Oklahoma.  Wassung banked a career-high score of 54.575 in the all-around for the top spot in that event, while T?trault dominated the vault with a 9.55.

 

The next week against Iowa, the trio struck again, taking the top three spots in the all-around for the second consecutive meet, this time with Patterson out front (53.35).

 

In the meet, Wassung and T?trault also teamed up with sophomore Paul Chumreonlert to control the pommel horse.  Chumreonlert came out on top with a career-high 9.65. 

 

Against Minnesota on March 6, Nebraska turned its focus to the parallel bars, where a title by Chumreonlert (9.15) led the way for a Husker sweep.  Wassung came in second (9.10), followed by Steven Friedman in third (9.05).

 

In their most impressive set of sweeps, the Huskers took five of seven events against Air Force in Lincoln on March 13.  The trio of Patterson, Wassung and T?trault claimed three of those top three spots, sweeping the all-around, pommel horse and vault.  Other Huskers to contribute were Chumreonlert on the still rings and parallel bars, and Friedman on the still rings. 

 

Mace an Ace for Titles

Senior Mace Patterson leads the Huskers in event titles heading into postseason play.  Patterson owns seven titles in four events for Nebraska, two of which were in the all-around.

 

A late bloomer this season due to injury, Patterson did not earn his first title until NU’s Feb. 26 win over Iowa where he took top honors on the parallel bars (9.35) and the all-around (53.35).  Since then, he has laid claim to five additional titles, four alone in Nebraska’s victory over Air Force, to close out the regular season.

 

This is the second consecutive season that Patterson has led the Huskers in event titles.  In 2004, the Oklahoma native claimed nine top spots and earned team high marks in five of seven events.  Thus far this year, Patterson has landed four team high scores heading into the postseason.

 

Bevy of Bests

Nebraska marked its best scores since the 2000 season in four of six events thus far this year.  NU bettered itself in the floor exercise (36.425), pommel horse (36.975), still rings (37.35) and parallel bars (36.15).

 

Ironically, the event where Nebraska has scored the highest this season, the vault (37.775), is one of two that the Huskers have yet to improve upon in 2005.  That’s because Nebraska nailed an impressive 37.925 on the vault in its final regular-season dual of 2004.  The meet also gave NU its highest team and high bar scores of the past five years with a 218.525 team finish and a 36.10 on the high bar.

 

Individually, sophomore Paul Chumreonlert earned Nebraska’s highest pommel horse score in five years when he landed a 9.65 on the apparatus at Iowa.  Chumreonlert has led the Huskers in the event all season and currently holds a pair of pommel horse titles.  He has also spent the entire season in the national horse rankings where he currently sits eighth overall.

 

Pulling Rank

Nebraska currently ranks in the top ten in every event as well as in the team standings nationally. 

 

For the last two weeks, NU has held the top national rank on the vault with a three-score average of 37.642.  In all, the Huskers have only been outscored on the apparatus three times this season, only one of which occurred in dual competition. 

 

Leading the Huskers in this accomplishment has been freshman standout Stephen T?trault, who currently ranks second in the individual vault ranks.  T?trault has earned four vaulting titles this season, the most for any Husker in a single event, and gained a team high score of 9.65 vs. OhioState on Feb. 18.

 

Oh Captains, My Captains

Entering postseason competition, Nebraska has still yet to combine all three of its senior co-captains in a single meet.  The Huskers started 2005 with Steven Friedman recovering from a torn bicep while Mace Patterson and Tony Burtle led the squad.  However, ironically, the very same meet that featured Friedman in his comeback was also when Burtle opted to redshirt the remainder of the season in order to undergo a pair of shoulder surgeries.  Consequently, Patterson is the only 2005 Nebraska captain to compete in every meet this season.

 

Matthews Steps In

Junior Nic Matthews has been substituted into Nebraska’s floor exercise lineup for freshman Stephen T?trault.  This is just the second alteration to the NU lineup this year, the first of which occurred midseason when junior Ray Hacker took over on the pommel horse for junior Derric Wood.

  

Matthews, normally a vault and high bar competitor, takes over on the floor due to his continued success in practice routines.  The move is not surprising, since Matthews entered the season as a favorite for a floor spot.  However, the move was held off in order to allow T?trault experience in the all-around.

 

In spite of the switch, T?trault will still be entered as an all-arounder.  He will simply be entered in the floor exercise as a seventh competitor and perform as part of the original six in the other five events.

 

On the Road

Nebraska broke a four-season slump this year as it claimed its first road win since 2000 when it docked a victory over Iowa, 215.325-214.150, on Feb. 26.  Before this, the Huskers last topped U.C. Santa Barbara five years ago.  Not only was this a major landmark as a road win, but it also gave the Huskers their first dual win of the season and kicked off a three-meet winning streak that would take Nebraska through to the postseason. 

 

Wassung’s MPSF Honors

Sophomore Jason Wassung is the only gymnast in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation to be named MPSF Gymnast of the Week twice in 2005.

 

The all-arounder earned his first distinction on Feb. 14 following at outstanding performance in Nebraska’s first dual meet against Oklahoma.  Wassung claimed his first collegiate title at the event with the top spot in the vault (9.60).

 

The Lincoln native’s next honor came just a week later following a pair of standout meets against OhioState on Feb. 18 and Oklahoma on Feb. 20.  Wassung owned the all-around title in both meets and posted his career-best all-around score of 54.575 in the dual with Oklahoma.

 

Charter, Podany Status

Sophomore Jon Charter and freshman Drew Podany have spent their rookie season with the Huskers honing their skills.  Although the pair have yet to compete for Nebraska, they still work out regularly with the team and are expected to earn permanent spots in the 2006 lineup.

 

Charter, a transfer from SpringfieldCollege, competed as an exhibition at the beginning of the season and has since concentrated on sharpening his routines.

 

Papillion, Neb. native Podany has been working on his pommel horse and rings routines and will likely play a major role for the Huskers next season.