Huskers Open Season with Second-Place Finish

Colorado Springs, Colo. ? The 2006 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team rang in the new season Friday with a second-place finish (196.10) at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo.  The defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners (208.85) came away with top honors over the Huskers for the second consecutive year, while Washington (174.85) rounded out the top three.  In the all-around, NU sophomore Stephen T?trault finished third (48.50) overall.

“I think we really rallied together as a team,” Head Coach Francis Allen said.  “We made some mistakes here and there, but I think we can see those, make corrections and end up being a very good team this season.”

Nebraska began the evening on the pommel horse, one of its top events of 2005.  Unfortunately, the Huskers did not immediately find a parallel in 2006 as a series of falls wrought havoc on four of NU’s six-man lineup.

But as the Huskers eased into the remainder of their events, experience and leadership took hold beginning with a stellar ring routine from senior Ray Hacker that earned him a score of 8.25.  Jason Wassung followed with another good set that resulted in a team-high still rings mark of 8.50.

The Huskers then moved to the vault and continued the impressive pace they set on the event in 2005 when they spent three weeks as the No. 1 vaulting program in the nation.  Seniors Nick Moore and Tony Burtle landed a pair of 9.10 marks, while sophomore Stephen T?trault, a 2005 NCAA vaulting All-American, finished the event with a score of 9.15.  Moore’s score of 9.10 was a career-high on the vault.

On the parallel bars, senior Derric Wood garnered NU’s highest score in the event with an 8.35.  Wood continued his success on the high bar, scoring a solid 8.65 after having not competed in the event since his sophomore campaign. 

Nebraska ended the night on the floor exercise where Burtle (8.30) led the way, followed by senior Nic Matthews with a score of 8.10.

Individually, the Huskers advanced seven gymnasts into tomorrow’s event finals where the top eight finishers on each event from today’s competition meet again to contend in the six disciplines.  Only three gymnasts from any one team may advance on the same event.  A complete list of NU athletes competing in Saturday’s event finals is available below.

In addition to the current Nebraska gymnasts who will compete tomorrow, a future Husker also hopes to make his presence known.  As a member of the USOTC, NU recruit Kyle Shanahan advanced to the finals on multiple events.  Shanahan signed a letter of intent with the Huskers in November of 2005 as one of four scholarship gymnasts who will join the program for the 2007 season.

The individual event finals for the 2006 Rocky Mountain Open begin tomorrow at 2 p.m. central time.

Team Scores
Team                            Score
1.  Oklahoma                 208.85
2.  Nebraska                  196.10
3.  Washington (club)     174.85
4.  Arizona State (club)   171.90
5.  Air Force                  170.05
    USOTC*                   205.60
*USOTC competed as part of a separate division and as such is not included in the final team standings.

NU Individual Event Finalists
Floor Exercise
Tony Burtle
Nic Matthews

Pommel Horse
Stephen T?trault
Jason Wassung
Derric Wood

Still Rings
Jason Wassung
Ray Hacker

Vault
Stephen T?trault
Tony Burtle
Nick Moore

Parallel Bars
Derric Wood
Jason Wassung

High Bar
Derric Wood
Stephen T?trault
Tony Burtle